Guy Snape4/12/06 15:13
Post by Guy SnapeAny recs for tuners? I'm looking at the Intellitouch PT1 and the Seiko
STX1, both clip on ones so I can tune in a noisy room without messing
about unplugging leads. They both cost about 33 UKP - anything to choose
between them?
Hello Mr Snape,
Funny you should ask, because there's been a bit of discussion here about
tuners lately (six weeks ago thereabouts).
The Intellitouch PT1 (which has been around for about 9+ years now) is I
think American made (although it could be assembled in China for all I
know...) The PT2 is just as good for most guitarists and is about 27 quid in
the UK. Mine just got accidentally broken recently after 7-8 years service.
There is an entirely separate company called Intelli who make a range of
about 9 Korean-built electronic tuners and metronomes. Just how there could
be such similarity in brand names for almost identically functioning
products I'm not sure... ? curious...
In the last year or so, Intelli have come out with two self-contained
clip-on tuners called the Intelli IMT 500 and IMT 900 - and which everyone -
I read from and talk to - seems to think is better all round than the
Intellitouch or any other tuner. Intelli are surely building on the
Intellitouch products - but do seem to have improved on it.
The difference in electronic functionality seems to be the same difference
as with the PT1 and PT2 (ie. additional memory functionality for irregular
tunings) with the exception that the IMT 500 & IMT 900 and PT1 all have
backlighting - where as the PT2 doesn't. Although there is a price
difference between PT1 and PT2 there appears to be none between IMT500 and
IMT 900. Intelli are selling mega numbers of these things now.
I borrowed an Intelli 500 this Sunday in a loud session to check tuning and
I was amazed at how quickly I re-tuned using it. I clipped it to the
headstock and saw 3 strings OK and 3 slightly flat. Took all of 10/12
seconds to check it and tweak. The Intelli LCD needle pointer was faster
and easier to use than the Intellitouch LCD chevrons.
A few people on this NG have already got one of these Intelli 500 tuners -
Wade, Dorgan Mike in Oz etc. I am just about to buy one on-line. They cost
UK (and here's the rub) £17.99 (£16.99 + £1 p&p).
URL:
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Paradiddles-Music-Store_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ0QQf
tidZ1QQtZkm
Something I learned from the US Intellitouch literature on-line is that the
best results are obtained by striking the string with a fleshy thumb (not a
pick) and plucking gently and if poss' - damping any other vibrating
strings. That goes for most electronic contact tuners. Apparently, most of
us pluck too loudly for the built-in contact mics to get a clean reading.
The E string reading as a 'B' problem is caused by vibrating the E
too loudly and causing the tuner to pick up the B harmonic. It's a useful
PDF download with a detail about unconditional warranty which would appear
to justify the higher cost. I think the details come in the box.
Second thing I noticed is that according to the wording of the PDF user
instruction sheet, from 2006 models (that's what it says) the Intellitouch
PT1 is *unconditionally guaranteed*. So if it packs up working you just
post it back also enclosing return postage/packing and they repair or
replace as appropriate.
The Intellitouch units have come down in price quite sharply and have
probably been cash cows for some time. The lifetime guarantee may be a
marketing ploy against the frontal attack from Intelli. That may end up
being another important difference between the 33-40 quid for one product
and the 17-22 quid for the other. But of course you can buy two Intelli for
every 1 Intellitouch.
CR