Classical Guitar Tuners

Notable Classical Guitar Tuners

There are some excellent classical guitar tuners on the market today. The list of tuners below contains links that you can follow to learn more.

• Matrix Tuner Pickup for Acoustic Instruments: This budget tuner is designed for acoustic guitarists who already have an electric guitar tuner. The Matrix tuner has a suction cup that is placed on the top of the body of an acoustic instrument. Attached to the suction cup is a standard guitar cable that can be plugged into an electric guitar tuner. When the guitarist plays a note, the suction cup's piezo pickup detects the vibrations and sends the signal down the cable to the tuner.

• Sabine STX1100 Chromatic Auto Tuner: The Sabine STX 1100 tuner has been popular with musicians for years because of its versatility, accuracy and ease of use. A microphone picks up the guitar's sound, and colored lights on the tuner clearly let you know when you're in tune. The tuner has built in music stand mounts on the back to attach it to a music stand while practicing or performing. If you are using a guitar with a pickup, the Sabine has ¼" in and out jacks so you can put the tuner in your guitar's signal path, making it easy to glance down at any time and check your pitch. This one's an old standby.

• Korg AW-1: The Korg AW-1 is one of the most popular of the new clip-on tuners that have become the rage in recent years for their simplicity and ultra-portability. This tiny tuner clips on the headstock of your guitar and uses a piezo pickup to identify the note the guitar is playing. The small screen can be adjusted so it is easy to see while you are playing in any position. Another useful feature is the auto power off that will shut the tuner down when no signal has been detected for twenty minutes to conserve battery strength.

• Peterson StroboFlip VS-F Virtual Strobe Tuners: Designed to emulate the classic strobe tuners of years past, the Peterson StroboFlip is a high quality tuner in a tiny package. The older strobe tuners were revered for their accuracy, but were as big as a toaster; the StroboFlip will fit in your shirt pocket. The virtual strobe display is clear, bright and easy to read from any angle.

Try Before You Buy

Whenever possible, try to test out classical guitar tuners in a guitar store before you purchase one. Some less expensive tuners work very well when plugged in, but provide an inconsistent reading when they use their internal microphones to pick up a guitar's sound. This can be incredibly frustrating. Spending a few extra dollars on a tuner that works well will help your guitar playing because you will always be confident that you are in tune. .