Re: quick question re. Boss TU-2
The TU-2 just isn't all that accurate. Sometimes it's "close enough" live, but why gamble when there are better tuners out there these days?
Once my Strobostomp 2 bites the dust (only a matter of time), I'll be getting one of these, a Sonic Research ST-200 footswitchable strobe tuner
While the TU-2 isn't all that accurate- it's not a half step off, and I (no offense to the OP) would tend to believe being a half step off to be an operator error rather than device error.
I probably will not own another Korg- I've got a DTR-2 which sucks. I spend more time bouncing between flat and sharp- tuning is a chore with it- and it's completely not worth the extra hassle- in the end I end up ball parking it anyway, so having the tuner that's "good enough" is better. The human ear is not going to hear +/- 3 cents in context.
When I was a kid, the hot tuner was the Boss TU-12- I had a Sabine ST-1000- a fine tuner, but nowhere near as cool as the Boss. I used it for a few years, then came the pedal tuners- you could step on the pedal and it muted your signal- that was awesome. The first one I ever saw was the Arion Stage Tuner. The concept was great, but it didn't tune to half steps and it was cheap plastic. It was also kind of hard to read in the dark- the LED screen was off set, so you'd have to move your tuning key to see if you were flat or sharp and go from there.
The TU-2 came a few years after that- and it was a HUGE leap forward. Faster, better features, more rugged... I got one of those when they first came out (97-ish?) and it's served me well. I also got a TU-12, just because I could, and I'd always wanted one.
Bottom line- yes, the TU-2 (and TU-12) are old technology, and as much as you might want to believe that the +/- 3 cents make a huge difference... for most
intensive porpoises- it really doesn't. I know the house tuner at a world class studio that I've worked at is a Sabine ST-1100- an almost 20 year old, inexpensive chromatic tuner. If you have a TU-2 and it's working for you, there's no reason to "upgrade." If you're buying a new tuner, I'd look at something other than a TU-2, one of the newer models like a Korg or that Sonic Research tuner looks pretty sweet. If you're looking to get "the best" regardless of whether or not it really makes a difference... do what you're going to do and brag about it on the intArwebs.
