Re: What tuner do you use?
I have several methods:
Usually I think of the first note in stairway to heaven's verse, that's an A. if I need a second opinion, I think of the first note in sweet home alabama; that's a D.
I have an LG cell phone that plays MP3s and has external speakers, so sometimes I fire its mp3 player up and turn on a song I know the notes of, like SRV's Little Wing is an Eb, and so on.
If I'm at home, have my TonePort hooked up, and am sitting at the computer, I'll use the electronic-supersonic-robotronic computer tuner that it has. This is not preferred.
My favorite way is to tie my old canoe on tob of the car, and tie rope that goes from he front tow hook to the tip of the canoe as tight as I can get it and a little bit more, tie my top secret canoe ratchet-knot, and then pluck the rope and voila! it's usually an A-flat.
Also I have this really great Guild that stays in tune no matter what, so I just tune all my electrics to it's A string.
-Hunter
p.s. I am completely serious about 4 of the 5 methods listed above.