Floor tuners?

Tony Harris · Post by **Tony Harris** » 9 Aug 2002 4:05 am

Anyone had any experience with the little tuners that sit on the floor? I usually tune my guitar or lapsteel before I start with a little hand-held Sabine - the best I've ever used. But I like the idea of being able to check tuning later in the evening without having to unplug, and I believe these pedals mute the signal while you tune. I see they're made by Boss, Sabine, and Fender which is a lttle cheaper. Does going through them affect the sound? Could I see the display clearly enough on the floor when I'm not wearing my glasses?

"Blind Boy" Harris.

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 9 Aug 2002 5:47 am

I believe Ricky Davis and Dale Watson use them.

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 9 Aug 2002 6:35 am

Best way to get the pitch into the tuner would be to stick it onto your axe and use a built-in microphone. The you don't have to worry about degrading your sound by running it thru a tuner, or muting your signal, or making another output cable for your tuner where the signal is present even when the volume pedal is off. I have seen these but they didn't let you tune custom temperaments accurately.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 9 Aug 2002 7:58 am

One of the best gizmos I have ever bought was a little bracket/shelf that clips to a leg and holds my Boss tuner. I don't remember who made it but they used to advertise in "Steel Guitar World" when it was in publication. I have a Goodrich pedal with two outputs and I keep the tuner plugged into one of the outlets. The Boss tuner has an in and an out but using this setup causes some distortion to the tone from my steel.
Erv

Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 9 Aug 2002 10:18 am

As Jim said.....we use the Boss Stage Tuner(which is different from other Boss tuners).
I put it in line from my steel to the input of the volume pedal. It sits right there next to my right foot and I can check up on strings without making awful noise in the middle or between song. There is absolutely NO change in sound and love it cause I change strings alot and of course I always have a string here and there that's new and needs to be tweeked till it sits up.
So it cuts the signal when you stomp it to tune it....and then stomp again, your back on....never miss a note. I prefer to tune by ear.....but you "Do not" get to do that on stage during a set......so there ya have it> the best addition to my rig in a dang long time. It's easy to see cause Green dot in the middle is 440....and one red dot to the left or right of that green dot is 5 cents....so you can see where your particular notes go on this tuner.....after you figure out where your notes are after you tune your particular steel. And for those notes that come out just shy of 440...you can share a red dot and green dot...and there you have half of 5 cents....yeeee haaa
Ricky

Tony Harris · Post by **Tony Harris** » 12 Aug 2002 6:10 am

Thanks Ricky,
I've just been to a music store to try one - it seems to 'grab' the note quickly and hold it steady. And if it doesn't affect the tone, I'll go for it....

Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 12 Aug 2002 8:55 am

I'll stake my Fulawka guitar on that is "does not" affect the tone.
Have fun.
Ricky