A tuner pedal question

Charlie Bernstein

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At an acoustic pub gig last night, my tuner worked well at first but slowly ran more and more poorly until it wasn't tuning at all. The display remained bright, but notes didn't register at all when I plucked a string.

So I switched to a headstock tuner and just used the pedal for muting for the rest of the night.

Today I took the tuner off the pedal board and tried it solo — just guitar > cable > pedal . It worked pefectly.

It's a fairly new Tomsline AT-07 tuner. The power was via a Truetone 1 Spot and daisy chain.

The pedal chain: four acoustic instruments > four 1/4" cables > four EQ pedals > one ABCD box > tuner > preamp > XLR cable > PA

So I'm wondering: Does the placement of a pedal tuner in the chain make a difference?

Or do I just need a new pedal?

Thanks!
 

Midnight Toker

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Tuner should be the first pedal in
Yep.
My aby switcher has a tuner out jack, so that's actually first in my chain, but it's not a powered device, so it really doesn't matter. Tuner after eq isn't a preferred setup....but I get you are running a 4 guitar setup and need varying eq for each. No way around that?
 

Rocky

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A tuner doesn't have to be first in the chain (some fuzzes react badly to buffered signals), but they do need to be ahead of any modulation or pitch shifting pedals - if they're turned on.
 

zulu

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Placement in the chain doesn't really explain the problem you had. Did any other equipment misbehave? I've had some weird pedal problems running from questionable power sources - like a generator.
 

Charlie Bernstein

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How about switching EQ OFF while tuning ?
Maybe. Hm. Don't know whether that would shut off the signal. But it's an extra couple of steps I'd rather not have to take every time I want to tune.

It's a thought, though. Might have to go that route.
 
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Charlie Bernstein

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A tuner doesn't have to be first in the chain (some fuzzes react badly to buffered signals), but they do need to be ahead of any modulation or pitch shifting pedals - if they're turned on.
Good to know for general reference. As you know, there are no modulating or pitch-shifting pedals.
 

Charlie Bernstein

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Placement in the chain doesn't really explain the problem you had. Did any other equipment misbehave? I've had some weird pedal problems running from questionable power sources - like a generator.
No. The tuner just became reluctant to do its job and finally went on strike altogether. It still lit up just fine. It just didn't tune.

It was fine solo the next day. Maybe it just overheated. It used to work just fine.
 

Midnight Toker

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Maybe. Hm. Don't know whether that would shut off the signal. But it's an extra couple of steps I'd rather not have to take every time I want to tune.

It's a thought, though. Might have to go that route.
Should just bypass the eq. Only 1 step (literally!) ;)
 

Charlie Bernstein

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Are they eq pedals? If so, just step on it to bypass, tune, then step again to re activate the eq. (Which ever of the 4 guitars' eq's you are tuning)
Yup. That's why I said "an extra couple of steps" in post 8.

Anyhow, good thought. Might try it. Not optimal because, as you can imagine, to board is a welter of cables, so I can only reach the EQ buttons by hand. (My toe can reach the other pedals.) There's only a foot or so of room between my mic stand and guitar rack, so a wider board isn't practical.

This Saturday I tried giving the pedal its own 1 Spot. Not much better. So I think I've narrowed it down to either getting a better tuner or setting the EQ volumes higher will solve it.

Several trustworthy folks have said get a better tuner. (Leaning toward a Polytone.) Still haven't heard back from the PA guy to find out whether his rig can handle the stronger signals if I turn up the volume — he already has me turned down pretty low.

Meanwhile, I'm using headstock tuners and mostly using the pedal to mute. Primitive but effective.
 
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Nuuska

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. . .. So I think I've narrowed it down to either getting a better tuner or setting the EQ volumes higher will solve it.

. . .

If you have a master volume on your EQ and it is way down - then the signal from guitar gets attenuated and therefore tuner has problems.

If this is the case - then why are the master volumes so low on your EQ:s ?
 

Charlie Bernstein

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If you have a master volume on your EQ and it is way down - then the signal from guitar gets attenuated and therefore tuner has problems.

If this is the case - then why are the master volumes so low on your EQ:s ?
It is indeed the case. The PA can't handle a bigger load. The PA guy is trying to figure out what to do.

Meanwhile, a few people have suggested a better tuner, like a Polytune or a Peterson. I wonder.
 

Nuuska

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Well - your gain structure in the chain is wrong.

Lets make some assumptions.

First just a guitar - tuner - preamp ! Can the pa handle this ? There must be output level control on that preamp.
What make & model is it ?

Now we add the EQ in the chain = guitar - EQ - tuner - preamp. There should be no nominal change of level, because EQ master is used to compensate the level changes that EQ provides. Or are you using some extreme EQ-settings? Picture of EQ might help.

Adding the 4/1 select box does not add gain - so nothing changes when we add guitars and EQ:s - there is always just one in use.

Since the guitars come via EQ:s - the preamp is actually no more needed - because EQ:s are already doing the impedance conversion from piezo/high or soundhole humbucker/singlecoil/mid to low impedance.

And we have not even started to look at your guitars - what kind pickups do they have? passive/active ?

To put it short - you seem to have the signal level too low at the tuner in order not to have it too loud for the pa - that means you are cranking the gain and/or output level on that preamp - that feeds pa - too high
 
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