Re: [Harp-L] Tuner

["Jim Greenwald" <staggerin@xxxxxxxxx>]

Ken makes an important point. Along this line, remember that the harmonica
produces a relatively weak fundamental frequency. The 2nd and 3rd harmonics
are very strong and influence the tuner quite a bit. That's another octave &
octave and a half higher respectively - so a wide range of sensitivity is
crucial for accuracy.

re: the original question
The Seiko ST-747 is a good tuner in the 20-30$ range and works very well for
harp - with great ballistics (doesn't jump all over the place) and I've
verified its' accuracy with the super fine Turbo Tuner.
The trouble is, in this price range, you're making a lot of compromises. In
the case of ST-747, it's strictly a "daylight" device - no backlight, and no
auto shut-off.
The convenience of auto shut-off can be a major money saver, if you're as
scatter-brained as I am.

Cheers,
Staggerin' Jim
Listen to Roots Harmonica at http://www.live365.com/stations/staggerinjim

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ken Hildebrand" <airmojoken@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>; <mfugazzi67@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, June 23, 2008 11:07 AM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Tuner


> Something to pay attention to when buying a tuner is its frequency range.
>
> I have a Boss TU-12 chromatic tuner that has a note frequency range of
> C1 (32.70 Hz to B5 (987.77 Hz).
>
> I was retuning a regular D harp after replacing the 9 blow reed,
> and I couldn't get the meter to register, then I did some homework
> and learned about the tuner's frequency range.
>
> When the Turbo Tuner ST-122 chromatic tuner was mentioned some time ago,
> one of the first things I did was look at the frequency range, which is
> C0 (16.35 HZ) to C8 (4,186.0 Hz), which is alot better than the Boss 
> TU-12.
>
> By the way, for reference... middle C on the piano is C4 (261.63 Hz).
>
> Just something to be aware of when buying a tuner, and you want to use
> it on higher pitched and lower pitched harmonicas.
>
> Ken H in OH