The electric guitar in its traditional form is not always the most "in tune" of instruments. Firstly, as anyone who does their own intonation adjustments knows, it's quite impossible to get even the finest guitar perfectly in tune for all positions and keys up and down the neck. The whole operation is one big, often frustrating, compromise. If cowboy chords sound tuneful and harmonious, there will be some spot higher up on the neck where things sound a little wonky, and vice versa. Every adjustment that achieves tuning perfection in one area inevitably throws some other area just slightly, noticeably out of whack. Thus, tuning and intonation adjustments are much more black art than science, and over time most players that handle this sort of thing for themselves learn to tweak the tuning of their instruments to suit their playing style and preferences. We all make do.
The second factor contributing to the electric guitar's reputation for sketchy tuning doesn't have as much to do with the instrument as it does the players. Electric guitar music has always been dominated by non-classically trained musicians, and in fact, many of the most highly regarded electric guitarists in history have been essentially self-taught amateurs. In rock music, the genre which most of us self-taught amateur types specialize in, thing like tuning have always been subservient to a higher purpose, which is of course, rocking out. There are a number of great examples of this phenomenon in the classic rock archives. Jimi Hendrix's live recordings are often referenced, as some of them feature notoriously out-of-tune versions of songs like "Wild Thing." Jimi knew that mere tuning issues shouldn't be allowed to interfere with rocking, and thus the rule was written, and handed down to rockers through the ages.
One doesn't hear many overt tuning discrepancies in modern electric guitar music. The days of live Hendrix and some early Van Halen recordings—where Eddie and crew just tuned to each other by ear, resulting in some odd slack tunings—are mostly behind us. This modern revolution of consistent tuning and intonation is thanks to the proliferation of high quality, inexpensive electronic tuners. For most of us that play live regularly, the pedal tuner has been an especially revolutionary piece of gear. Besides the tuning consistency they offer us, stompbox tuners fit right into our pedalboards, let us tune silently on dark stages without unplugging anything, and can often do double-duty as signal splitters, buffers, power sources, or handy killswitches. In the early days only a few pedal tuners of high quality were widely available, but the last few years has seen an explosion of these essential pedalboard tools. Let’s check out a handful of the best modern pedal tuners.
Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner
The quintessential pedal tuner is, as most players know, the legendary Boss TU-2, originally released in 1998. This ubiquitous white stompbox is the most popular stage tuner of all time, as well as the most popular Boss pedal of all time, and it seems like just about every guitarist that plays live with any regularity has one mounted to their pedalboard. The TU-2 was discontinued in 2009, replaced by the TU-3, which features a few relatively minor tuning and functionality improvements, but wisely leaves the essential perfection of its predecessor unmolested. Besides their compact, indestructible enclosures, ease of use, bright LEDs, and excellent tuning accuracy, the Boss pedal tuners have achieved supreme popularity because they have other handy functions as well: They can distribute power to other pedals on the board with a simple daisy chain connector, they have dual outputs, silent tuning capability, and a very respectable buffered bypass for shoring up long cable runs. If you don't have one, get one.
Boss Waza Craft TU-3W Chromatic Tuner
Even at the height of the boutique guitar pedal explosion (which is still happening, right?) Boss pedals have always held their own. Its seems that most pedalboards these days are a mix of Boss classics and boutique models, with many professionals still playing Boss pedals exclusively. Boss has further reinforced its dominant presence by releasing its own line of pseudo-boutique effects: the Waza Craft line. This line of premium pedals has thus far offered reissued and improved versions of Boss classics like the DM-2 analog delay and the SD-1 overdrive, and has met with universal acclaim from players and professional pedal critics alike (including the team here at Tone Report). One of the newest additions to the line is the sleek, blackest-black, TU-3W. For fifty bucks more than a standard TU-3, the Waza tuner offers an improved, hi-fidelity buffered bypass, enhancing one of the original's best features, while also offering a switchable true bypass function. The Waza Craft TU-3W looks cool as hell, and is unquestionably the ultimate version of this timeless Boss classic.
Peterson VSS-C StroboStomp Classic
The strobe tuners from Peterson have long been regarded as the cream of the crop for those that do fine intonation and pro setup work, or those that have the extra money to spend and simply want the most accurate pedal tuner available. Peterson's StroboStomp is a classic among luthiers, guitar technicians, and others who make their living getting electric guitars in optimum playing condition. The newest version of this venerable tuner is the VSS-C StroboStomp Classic. It tunes with unprecedented accuracy, to within +/- 0.1 cents, features pristine, buffer-free true bypass circuitry, and has a fully featured XLR DI output for studio work. In addition, this model can also connect to a computer for software updates, making it totally future-proof and infinitely upgradeable. Many musicians have sworn allegiance to the Peterson for its many "sweetened" tuning presets, which basically allow one to tune just about any instrument in any way imaginable. There are numerous guitar and bass presets, several Buzz Feiten tuning system modes, as well as bluegrass and pedal steel settings and an orchestral mode. The StroboStomp classic sells for around 200 bucks street price, and is worth every penny.
TC Electronic Polytune 2
If there's one line of pedal tuners that's really beginning to threaten Boss's market dominance, it's the Polytune series from Denmark's TC Electronic. TC's original Polytune was met with immediate acclaim due to its superior compactness, ease of use, tuning accuracy, and strikingly innovative feature set. The company has wisely capitalized on this success by expanding and enhancing the Polytune line with mini versions, clip-on versions, and an improved version of the original Polytune, the Polytune 2. The line's biggest game-changer was the polyphonic tuning mode, which was the first of its kind in the world, allowing the player to tune all six strings at once with a single strum. This feature makes on-stage tuning tweaks super fast and easy, especially when you're not quite sure which string or strings have gone out of whack. In addition, the Polytune 2 features up to +/-0.1 cent accuracy in strobe tuning mode, a wicked bright LED with auto-dimming, and true bypass switching for truly transparent functioning. It also features the crucial silent tuning, Drop D and capo tuning modes, and a power output for supplying electrical juice to your other pedals. Combine these features with a sub-100 dollar street price, and the Polytune 2 is pretty tough to beat.
T-Rex Tune Master
With the release of the original Boss TU-2, guitarists began to think of the pedal tuner not just as a tool for achieving reliable, consistent on-stage tuning, but also as a Swiss Army knife of sorts for splitting the signal, killing it entirely, or buffering long cable runs. It is this last capability that is probably the most important, with many players keeping a pedal tuner in their rig as much for buffering purposes as anything else. Denmark's T-Rex has focused its efforts on this particular feature with its new Tune Master chromatic tuner, which combines a bright, easy-to-use, no-nonsense chromatic tuner with a really excellent on-board buffer. It can be operated in true bypass mode as well, but the sweet, clean buffering is the star of the show. It's superb for driving long signal runs and reinforcing one's tone with an extra bit of heft, liveliness, and upper harmonic shine. The best part is that the Tune Master also offers a gain control for its buffered output, a tiny knob labeled "beef," that can be used to goose the guitar signal with a clear, gorgeous, uncolored clean boost. By focusing on this aspect of the pedal tuner, T-Rex has really brought something fresh and new to the game, making the Tune Master one of the most interesting and useful stompbox tuners to come along in years.