Electric guitar tuners - best thing since sliced bread for a batchelor?

[5129frederick]

One of my (profitable! ) hobbies is buying and selling acoustic and electric guitars.  The trouble is I'm not in the least bit musically inclined.  The only quavers I know of are the ones that come out of a packet (think about it - Quavers?)  Thus said I had to go to a music shop because I didn't have the model number of a particular guitar.  The bloke in the shop just glanced at it and told me everything about it, telling me that I'd made an exceedingly good buy, but that it was out of tune.  When I told him I couldn't tune it by ear he laughed and admitted neither could he.  He then clipped on an electronic tuner on to the end of the arm, and tuned it in perfectly in less than a minute!  It seemed a perfect answer and was only about £12.00.  We parted in high spirits. 

It seems an absolute Godsend.  Anybody out there have one, and are they worth the money?  

[xtf70]

You've never lived until you've tuned a 12-string guitar by ear...

[ronnie-dog]

yep....i got one.  cost about 8 squid from A**zon !!

They are so clever, must be made by aliens !!!

[**bustysinclaire**]

What a cheat !!!!!

lol, tis a skill to do it well by ear, but I have to admit even my OH has succumbed to using the tuners now. Soo accurate.

[5129frederick]

You've convinced me!  Tops my shopping list this month.  Wife reckons I'll get my money back first sale.  She's usually right.  Laughed on the way to the music shop - I came face to face with a busker on the side of the road.

"What do you play?"  He asked.

"The fool!"  I replied.

[wskneil]

Always just tuned by ear, but then again I use loads of odd tunings . Mind you would have been useful when I used to teach fingerpicking ( many years ago when I was at Uni!) trying to get 10 guitars in tune with mine. I just used to take the guitars off them as they walked though the door and tuned them myself... saved a lot of time!

 I met a superb guitar builder in Nottingham who couldn't play at all. I used to love dropping in when he had finished a new guitar to be the first person to play it!

[5129frederick]

BOUGHT IT.  A Snark.   A  bit more than on the net, but there was no messing about.  I don't have to wait in for the postman, and it doesn't affect my paypal account.  If I thought about it, it would be one more item I'd never got around to getting.  It's a bit like buying duck eggs on the side of the road.  If you say you'll pick them up on the way back, you never do.

[wskneil]

And it helped a local business stay trading

[rednoise2001]

Hi, I got myself a Snark digital tuner for my Strat a few months ago, its a brilliant piece of kit, you`ll love it.

Pete.

[cee-dee]

There's one guitar that those tuners can't tune!

[rednoise2001]

Go on then, which one

[cee-dee]

An Air Guitar.

[rednoise2001]

Boooooo...that was terrible..  but i did make me chuckle 

[5129frederick]

SNAP!     I picked up a Strat sunburst in perfect condition.  Arm as straight as a die.  Not a mark on it.  Heavy, though.  Goes up next month.  Small world, eh?

[5129frederick]

Finally got to use it! .  It was an anniversary present so it stayed in the wardrobe until last Monday - St. Patrick's Day.  I couldn't believe it  It was sooooo EEEESY!  I had the whole ting tuned in less than a minute.  I wonder if they do the same thing for a piano - I could buy one and set myself up as a piano tuner using the same principle.