Snark shade - This settles it for me - No snark 'bout snarks

[bigbean]

A while ago there was some serious shade thrown on this forum about how low grade, rank amateur, lame, cheesy and clueless it is to play with with a visible tuner hanging on your headstock during a performance situation. This actually frosted my onions, gave me the red ass and set my BS detector off at the same time. If you added making me sneeze and break wind while reading those posts it could have been life threatening!

Well - Na, Na, Na-Na-Naa!

Here is Waddy Wachtel playing in a recent video with Ringo, Joe Walsh, Leeland Sklar, Benmont Tench and Russ Kunkle with a big 'ol snark on his headstock. Also Leeland Sklar has a headstock tuner.

So there!

Me, Waddy and Lee say it's OK. Plus, Ringo doesn't seem to care.

In the first photo is Waddy with his snark. The second photo is Waddy smiling because he knows he is in tune.






I'd like to point out that this isn't a home movie. It's a performance video with frickin' Ringo. I'm positive that there was an LD on on this shoot and it was cut by real people and reviewed by Ringo and Joes' management before it was posted.

 

[radtz]

I'm lovin' your post. Why would anyone care if they can see your tuner? God forbid the crowd should see your evertune guitar.

 

[57joonya]

Makes sense in a studio . I don’t know if they play shows with them . Though some very well know musicians do .I have no problem with it at all . I just don’t like the look of keeping it on . I use mine all the time . I just take it off usually…

 

[1955]

I gave up pedals and went straight to amp many years ago, played with a tuner on my headstock for tons of gigs. Never got any grief for it, but then again, I was too busy making a living playing music to worry about what armchair critics worried about.

 

[nojazzhere]

A while ago there was some serious shade thrown on this forum about how low grade, rank amateur, lame, cheesy and clueless it is to play with with a visible tuner hanging on your headstock during a performance situation. This actually frosted my onions, gave me the red ass and set my BS detector off at the same time. If you added making me sneeze and break wind while reading those posts it could have been life threatening!

Well - Na, Na, Na-Na-Naa!

Here is Waddy Wachtel playing in a recent video with Ringo, Joe Walsh, Leeland Sklar, Benmont Tench and Russ Kunkle with a big 'ol snark on his headstock. Also Leeland Sklar has a headstock tuner.

So there!

Me, Waddy and Lee say it's OK. Plus, Ringo doesn't seem to care.

In the first photo is Waddy with his snark. The second photo is Waddy smiling because he knows he is in tune.

View attachment 941002 View attachment 941003

Given the choice of using a Snark (or in my case a D'Addario Micro or Mini) and being in tune......or NOT using one and NOT being in tune......guess which I choose.

 

[radtz]

Amusingly I just bought my first tuner pedal today. Back when I played out we would pass around an electronic tuner and just stay in tune with each other all night. I switched to "snarks" and they are great. I just bought the pedal tuner because it just seemed like with all of the pedals I'm farting around with at home, something was missing.

 

[backalleyblues]

I don’t have a problem with headstock tuners per se, but a snark? Getouttahere!! Not very accurate tuners imo, much prefer my polytune used in chromatic mode. Would
Love to get a petersen but that is some serious coin there...

Franc Robert

 

[Kandinskyesque]

I've never had a problem with keeping the tuners on the headstock.
However a close friend of mine that I've tended to rely on his encyclopaedic knowledge on all things guitar made a pretty strong statement about disapproving of them a few weeks ago, so now I'm not so sure.
He's coming from a different angle from me, to be fair, he's spent the last 25 years as the guitar tech for various people from Bryan Adams to Simple Minds to name but two.
His point was that while it wouldn't reflect too much from the performers point of view but it would show a complete lack of professionalism on the guitar tech's part.
One other reason I might be moving away from headstock tuners is that I haven't found one to accommodate my aging eyesight. They're becoming more difficult to read these days.

 

[radtz]

I've never had a problem with keeping the tuners on the headstock.
However a close friend of mine that I've tended to rely on his encyclopaedic knowledge on all things guitar made a pretty strong statement about disapproving of them a few weeks ago, so now I'm not so sure.
He's coming from a different angle from me, to be fair, he's spent the last 25 years as the guitar tech for various people from Bryan Adams to Simple Minds to name but two.
His point was that while it wouldn't reflect too much from the performers point of view but it would show a complete lack of professionalism on the guitar tech's part.
One other reason I might be moving away from headstock tuners is that I haven't found one to accommodate my aging eyesight. They're becoming more difficult to read these days.

another reminder that my perspective isn't the only perspective...

 

[kbold]

At least Leland has a TC polytune.
Some people have better taste than others.

Also, a bass is a tad more difficult to tune exactly (IMO), so may be warranted especially in a recording environment.

 

[Tonetele]

Seriously, what's the big deal about a tuner on a headstock? If it works, okay. no-one seems to complain about capos.

 

[Wound_Up]

I don’t have a problem with headstock tuners per se, but a snark? Getouttahere!! Not very accurate tuners imo, much prefer my polytune used in chromatic mode. Would
Love to get a petersen but that is some serious coin there...

Franc Robert

Not accurate? My Snark HZ is accurate to 0.1 Hz

I normally use a Unitune clip-on from tc electronic in strobe mode, though.

I'm pretty sure your polytune in chromatic mode is less accurate than my Snark in Hz mode.

If so, it seems like you could just use a snark for that level of inaccuracy. Save yourself $50

 

[telemnemonics]

Being overly obsessive with gear appearance is like putting a lift kit in a (city drivers) 4wd truck.

Sorry yeah I bought two TC unitune clips for $10 each (SDOTD) and my pretty guitars are still pretty, plus they get tuned more often.
Which hardly matters since I'm not overly obsessive...

And I like black guitars that disappear on stage!

Edit: desnarked the snarky first sentence!

 

[Peegoo]

The people that have a problem with clip-on tuners are usually geezers like me because they never saw George Harrison or Eric Clapp or Jiminy Page with one in the 60s and 70s.

BUT! I have no problem with 'em. I have no need to make a fashion statement. I do have a need to play in tune, and I will use all the help I can get.

If you have not tried the USB-rechargeable BOSS clip-on tuner, holy cats...never suffer dead batteries again. These are superb:

Boss TU-05 Rechargeable Clip-on Chromatic Tuner

Clip-on Instrument Tuner with High-contrast Color Display and USB Charging

www.sweetwater.com

 

[bigbean]

I own a bunch of snarks, a bunch of those cheapy Reverb headstock tuners, a couple of Boss headstock tuners and a low profile d'addario, plus two tuner pedals, three plug in tuners and two multi effects pedals with tuners in them. Of course, there is a tuner app on both cell phones and all four iPads.

I try to keep a headstock tuner in every bag or case, one on every music stand and one on my bench.
It never works out.

Every week at some point I want a tuner and have to go find one.

Obviously, if this is a big problem then I don't really have any big problems.

 

[boneyguy]

.....
His point was that while it wouldn't reflect too much from the performers point of view but it would show a complete lack of professionalism on the guitar tech's part.
.......

I have no idea what that means!! Are you able reword it so I can understand what it means.

'Reflect' what exactly? Is a 'lack of professionalism' related to the reflecting??

 

[beyer160]

I have no idea what that means!! Are you able reword it so I can understand what it means.

'Reflect' what exactly? Is a 'lack of professionalism' related to the reflecting??

Part of a guitar tech's job is to keep the performers' instruments in tune. If Johnny Rockstar plays with his whammy bar too much and knocks his axe out of tune, the tech is supposed to be right there behind him with a freshly tuned spare at the end of the song. If Johnny Rockstar is using a headstock tuner to tune up onstage, that means the tech isn't doing his job.

 

[Orpheum]

Oh the lucky guitarists who all have a guitar tech following them everywhere to solve all the problems they may encounter!

 

[Wound_Up]

Part of a guitar tech's job is to keep the performers' instruments in tune. If Johnny Rockstar plays with his whammy bar too much and knocks his axe out of tune, the tech is supposed to be right there behind him with a freshly tuned spare at the end of the song. If Johnny Rockstar is using a headstock tuner to tune up onstage, that means the tech isn't doing his job.

Hardly. I've seen multiple players tune up on stage. You know...those times when they wanted to keep using the same guitar and there was no tech standing behind them with a tuner, ready to take their guitar, tune it, and hand it back in the middle of a performance. Because techs don't do that AFAIK lol. What guitar player is going to stand there on stage in the middle of a performance without a guitar while the tech tunes it up? None that I know of. They're gonna step over there to the tuner(or whatever they need to do), take 20 secs and tune up, and keep going.

Guitar players aren't helpless, professional or not.

Being overly obsessive with gear appearance is like putting a lift kit in a 4wd truck.

Sorry yeah I bought two TC unitune clips for $10 each (SDOTD) and my pretty guitars are still pretty, plus they get tuned more often.
Which hardly matters since I'm not overly obsessive...

And I like black guitars that disappear on stage!

Same. I got those Unitunes when they were on sale a few weeks ago. Pretty sure the deal was posted here when I initially saw it so I went and ordered 1. The next day I went ahead and ordered a second and the next day I was going to order a 3rd but the sale was over lol

 

[Skyhook]

I haven't gigged since I got my clip on tuner so the jury's a bit out on this one for me...
However... my little clip on thingie(thomann CTC-50) is so damn good I bought a spare!
(Which might prove to be a good choice since it feels fragile as an eggshell to handle. However...)

It's precise and steady. None of the almost-almost-almost and then a sudden jump way too far on the display, which
seems to plague a lot of tuners. Yes, I'm looking at you too, TU-3 and I am disappointed!

What I'm worried about though is horror stories I've read about clip-ons leaving marks in the finish on the headstock.