arzajac
883 posts
Nov 09, 2012
7:14 PM
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I got a Peterson Strobe tuner (model 420, circa 1973). I think when tuning a harp, there is always a margin of "good enough". Well, since I got this tuner, that margin had shrunk to a very thin line. To be frank, I now realise that all the harps I have tuned before I got this are absolute crap - not even close.
This tuner is almost as old as I am (I was built in '71). If it ever were to stop working, I don't think I would want to go back to anything else but they cost an arm and a leg. I have seen the smaller Virtual Strobe Tuners at reasonable prices.
Has anyone compared the use of the Peterson Virtual Strobe tuners to an actual strobe tuner? Are they comparable? How different is it?
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Last Edited by on Nov 09, 2012 7:15 PM
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STME58
283 posts
Nov 09, 2012
8:11 PM
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I haven't used a strobe tuner since high school band in the 70's. I hadn't given much thought but figured the solid state tunners were pretty accurate just like a solid state watch. Most of my playing is on trombone so corections are easily made on the fly, and I can't play chords. Checking the tune of a harmonica with a Korg or Seiko tuner I generally find them to be pretty close right out of the box and only drift out just before reed failure. Is this because the solid state tuners just check for close? Can I really trust the soid state tuner when it says I am 1 cent off? (as if I could hold the pitch steady to 1 cent)
What is it about the strobe tuner that you feel is giving you an advantage in tuning the harmonica?
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arzajac
884 posts
Nov 09, 2012
8:27 PM
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It's the precision. When I tune with a needle tuner, I can play the octave and get the same pitch reading on the needle even though I hear beating. At that point it's trial and error to figure out whether I am a cent or two high or low on one of the two reeds. I can tune down a little only to hear beating still because I overshot the mark and now I would need to tune up. The needle is no help because it just says that the pitch is in the ballpark.
With the strobe tuner, I know at every measurement whether I am a hair sharp or flat. If I overshoot the mark I can tell right away and know exactly what to do to fix it.
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S-harp
73 posts
Nov 10, 2012
1:47 AM
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I use Peterson's IPhone app. Works great!
And only around $10.
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The tone, the tone ... and the Tone
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barbequebob
2083 posts
Nov 10, 2012
7:43 AM
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The Strobe Soft (if I've got the name correct) which is designed for use with a computer tends to be more flexible than some of the pedals and definitely more than the one made for the iPhone because the iPhone and some of the pedals are really designed for guitars, which are always tuned ET, but if that's the only tuning you use on your harps, that's fine, but if you're doing JI, the old strobe types or the software and a few other models may be a better choice.
One thing to remember is that in the final analysis, you do need your ears. For the last 20 years, for doing JI, I know exactly what to listen for and so I do it like the way Hohner always did it when they had people working there from families with perfect pitch hearing, and that's totally by ear and with JI, it's not just perfect individual notes and octaves, but smooth sounding chords as well.
All of their newer tuners are accurate to within 1/1000th of a semitone and the ones made 30 years ago are accurate to within 1/300th of a semitone, and even that's FAR more accurate than any of those cheap tuners most guitar players use that are LED/LCD with a meter by a country mile.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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S-harp
74 posts
Nov 10, 2012
8:16 AM
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" ... more flexible than some of the pedals and definitely more than the one made for the iPhone because the iPhone and some of the pedals are really designed for guitars, which are always tuned ET, but if that's the only tuning you use on your harps, that's fine ... "
True ... you can't preset for JI but that's no problem really for that price. I don't tune my harps EQ ... but different variations of 19-limit. I first use a +/- cent tuning chart ( wich I know by heart) and then adjust the octaves and overall compromising feel by ear.
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The tone, the tone ... and the Tone
Last Edited by on Nov 10, 2012 8:45 AM
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MP
2551 posts
Nov 10, 2012
10:56 AM
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". When I tune with a needle tuner, I can play the octave and get the same pitch reading on the needle even though I hear beating. At that point it's trial and error to figure out whether I am a cent or two high or low on one of the two reeds"
heh, heh, :-)yeah arzajac, that used to drive me nuts.
i'm lucky cuz i got fairly good ears. even so, it takes me at least an hour to get things in order on the first round.
one thing i do is clean and then plink the hell out of the reeds to settle them in before i even touch them with the file or rotary tool.
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MP
affordable reed replacement and repairs.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
click user name [MP] for info-
repair videos on YouTube.
you can reach me via Facebook. Mark Prados
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harpwrench
624 posts
Nov 11, 2012
9:30 AM
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Re the OP
When the tuner goes down or out of cal, Peterson's service dept can fix it. Resistors drift, caps leak, it -will- fail on you at some point. I'd recommend getting the strobosoft or iPhone app for backup, and check the calibration of the 420 every time you fire it up.
The virtual strobe is accurate, but once you're used to analog it's not easy to give up.
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Custom Harmonicas
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arzajac
885 posts
Nov 11, 2012
2:00 PM
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Thanks everyone.
Joe - That's very helpful, thanks! Analog versus Digital - That's exactly what I wanted to know. It's hard to tell from the YouTube videos about the Strobostomp, Stroboclip, etc...
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arzajac
886 posts
Nov 11, 2012
2:00 PM
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Thanks everyone.
Joe - That's very helpful, thanks! Analog versus Digital - That's exactly what I wanted to know. It's hard to tell from the YouTube videos about the Strobostomp, Stroboclip, etc...
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