Cheap tuners

I couldnt give you any in depth explanation between cheap and the more expensive tuners, but I have a Seiko tuner and I got it for like..10 bucks it works fine. Most tuners, at least the music store I go to, are pretty unexpensive and work pretty well.

If you buy another tuner, make sure you get a chromatic tuner. "Guitar" tuners with only the 5 notes EADGB are pretty worthless.

I've got one of the standard Quik Tunes and one of their chromatics, and they're both pretty sorry. Their indications swing all over the place, and it's hard to tell when you're in tune. I've got a Seiko ST-727 that works MUCH better.

I've had good luck with the Musician's Friend CT-440 chromatic. Very compact, runs on 2 AAA batteries, and was around $14.99 the last time I bought one. The meter is a Liquid Crystal Display, and it has red LEDs to indicate sharp or flat, one either side of the green "right on" LED. For the price, I could stuff one in the pocket of all my guitars' gig bags.

Check into models by Korg.

I have a Korg CA-30 (Chromatic Tuner), which I had thrown in when I bought my guitar. I believe over here they sell for about $A30. So in US terms that's probably about $5? :P

Anyhoo, seems to work well for me. I believe others here have the same though am not sure how happy they are with it.

I have a tuner in my pc (AP Tuner), a Korg CA-30, a Korg DT-7 (needed for intonating my Buzz Lightyear tuning system) and a tuner in my Pandora PX4. None seems to be decidedly "better" than any other. From experience, I'd recommend the CA-30, it's got everything you need for both electric and acoustic guitars.
Although, there's a new breed of tuners appearing, that don't plug in or use a microphone, they clip to the headstock and use the vibrations, from the strings, to tune. Not having tried one, I can't tell you how good they are.

You get what you pay for. When I first started out I had a tuner that went berserk. The needle was all over the place. Then I got one with led lights and had the same problem. Often it would not recognize the low E. It made me angry so I got a Peterson tuner that's ridiculously accurate.

I know some really, really, really cheap tuners. They're called your ears. Try 'em sometime. : )

Well, I can say I've seen players who've been playin' for decades who can tune by ear. That is pretty cool. They get close. Maybe really close. Still, I'll bet you no player can tune better than the best tuners. I kind of think about it like a computer. No human can remember, sort or swiftly filter data like a computer.

I've had lots of players ear tune my guitar, and I've checked with a tuner right after. They've never gotten it right. Ear tuners tune to zero-beat Pythagorean tuning. It's not right for an equal-tempered instrument. It's suitable for quickly correcting something on the fly when you're in the middle of a song and realize one string's off.

That is true. Youre ear will never be as accurate as an electronic tuner but that shouldnt stop you from trying and becoming proficient at it. Its just another great skill to have under your belt.

Im sure all (or most) of the great guitarists out there would give the same advice. We're all gonna have to learn it sooner or later...

EDIT: Oh and btw "JediSteven". I have a KORG tuner that only costs six bucks. See if you can find one o' those.

That is true. Youre ear will never be as accurate as an electronic tuner but that shouldnt stop you from trying and becoming proficient at it. Its just another great skill to have under your belt.Certainly. And you REALLY need to be able to recognize when it's out of tune, which is pretty much the same thing. I've run across some folks who were annoyingly arrogant about their ear tuning ability, which is why I guess I've got a bit of an attitude about it myself.
:roll:

Yea, I want to learn to tune by ear and will. But right now I just want to learn to play a song or two. I think as I practice my ears will develop. It's already happing. I tuned my guitar and started doing my scales and it just sounded wrong. So I tried out a tuner I got on my computer and it showed that I was out of tune. Hooked up my little tuner (that just said I was in tune) and it showed me I was out of tune. Messed around with both of them and finaly got it sorted. I am just worried about learning bad stuff because my guitar is out of tune. Plus I just got an acoustic and don't want to fight with two guitars. So I bought a Korg CA-30. Thanks for the the help.

P.S. This web site is like crack. I can't leave it alone.

I have a Korg GA-30, it cost me like 15 bucks and works great to tune my acoustic or electric. the only thing is when i plug my electric into the tuner i dont get a reponse. So i just tune through my amp. Anyone know why that doesn't work?