What is the best clip-on tuner for tracking a low B?

#67
Even the harmonic will shift a little according to saddle position. Best bet is to intonate, harmonic or not.

I’m hearing all about the PolyTune clip here, they also have a UniTune clip for $30 as opposed to $50 that doesn’t do polyphonic tuning, which doesn’t work for bass very well anyway. Save yourself $20 and go the uni route.. my question is does the UniTune have Bass mode well?
 
#68
bassdudepat said:
Even the harmonic will shift a little according to saddle position. Best bet is to intonate, harmonic or not.

I’m hearing all about the PolyTune clip here, they also have a UniTune clip for $30 as opposed to $50 that doesn’t do polyphonic tuning, which doesn’t work for bass very well anyway. Save yourself $20 and go the uni route.. my question is does the UniTune have Bass mode well?
Click to expand...

From the manuals it doesn't seem to have a switch for bass mode but from YouTube comments and user reviews people appear to be satisfied with the way it works with basses. I took a leap of faith and ordered one yesterday. Will report back once it arrives and I get to test it. And yes, I play five strings.
 
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#70
bararan said:
From the manuals it doesn't seem to have a switch for bass mode but from YouTube comments and user reviews people appear to be satisfied with the way it works with basses. I took a leap of faith and ordered one yesterday. Will report back once it arrives and I get to test it. And yes, I play five strings.
Click to expand...
I look forward to your review!
 
#71
bassdudepat said:
Even the harmonic will shift a little according to saddle position. Best bet is to intonate, harmonic or not.

I’m hearing all about the PolyTune clip here, they also have a UniTune clip for $30 as opposed to $50 that doesn’t do polyphonic tuning, which doesn’t work for bass very well anyway. Save yourself $20 and go the uni route.. my question is does the UniTune have Bass mode well?
Click to expand...

An open harmonic will not shift in pitch due to intonation AFAIK. It can shift in position.
 
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#73
bassmeknik said:
I have tried many clip on's, hands down I like the DeltaLab CT-30. Works great on my 5ers.

I like it so well I own 3, they work well on 12 string acoustics too (another fussy instrument to tune imo).
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I also have the DeltaLab, and it works fine with my G&L M-2500. When I was at GC checking out clip-ons, I mentioned I play bass, and the salesperson thoughtfully asked if I ever played a five. I said yes, and she recommended the DeltaLab, saying it worked better with the low B than the others.
 
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#74
bassdudepat said:
I look forward to your review!
Click to expand...

Sorry it took a little longer than expected but here is the review -if you can call it that.

UniTune tracks low B with great ease. Definitely much better than all other headstock tuner and on par with or better than any pedal or rack tuner and I've ever used.

It does have a small flaw though: it sometimes displays E string as B although it detects the pitch correctly. With higher E notes there was no such problem. I first thought I'd received a faulty unit as I observed this with all my basses and requested a replacement unit from Sweetwater. The replacement unit arrived today (kudos to Sweetwater for lightning-fast shipping and excellent customer service) but it also shows a B instead of E about half the time when I hit the open E string, so I guess it's due to a design flaw. I've decided to keep the replacement tuner as I love it otherwise and this is something I can live with but I felt that I should mention this in case it's a deal breaker for some.

I'll probably contact TC Electronic and alert them to the issue as it is a fantastic tuner otherwise.
 
#75
bararan said:
Sorry it took a little longer than expected but here is the review -if you can call it that.

UniTune tracks low B with great ease. Definitely much better than all other headstock tuner and on par with or better than any pedal or rack tuner and I've ever used.

It does have a small flaw though: it sometimes displays E string as B although it detects the pitch correctly. With higher E notes there was no such problem. I first thought I'd received a faulty unit as I observed this with all my basses and requested a replacement unit from Sweetwater. The replacement unit arrived today (kudos to Sweetwater for lightning-fast shipping and excellent customer service) but it also shows a B instead of E about half the time when I hit the open E string, so I guess it's due to a design flaw. I've decided to keep the replacement tuner as I love it otherwise and this is something I can live with but I felt that I should mention this in case it's a deal breaker for some.

I'll probably contact TC Electronic and alert them to the issue as it is a fantastic tuner otherwise.
Click to expand...
B is the strongest overtone when you play an open E, so its reading the overtone instead. not a big deal really.
 
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#76
shwashwa said:
B is the strongest overtone when you play an open E, so its reading the overtone instead. not a big deal really.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

I still find it odd that the dominant overtone gets captured by the tuner but as I said, it's definitely not a deal breaker for me. Just felt the need to mention it for completeness' sake.
 
#77
I just picked one up last night and it suffers the same E as B issue on 2 of my Basses but doesn’t seem to on the 3rd. Not a big deal though, it still tracks and tunes correctly. I’m pleased with it overall. I do wish the clip had a bit more purchase and maybe had a swivel.
 
#80
My new TC Unitune reads the low A(not the harmonic) on my fifths tuned BTB676!
AEBF#C#G#
Probably due to it's neck thru construction.
Better vibration transfer.
BTB A.jpg
 
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