the Peterson "digital" strpbe tuner

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In article <1115867587.542242.275980@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> genericaudioperson@hotmail.com writes:

> is the electronic/digital strobe tuner by Peterson as good as the
> classic light-bulb one?

It's harder to see from across the room, but as far as functionality
goes, sure it's as good.



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thanks, Mr. Rivers

I like the look of them. But I was wondering if it really is a true
"strobe" tuner. If it's digital, is the "strobe" stuff just a gimmick?

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On 12 May 2005 20:44:45 -0700, genericaudioperson@hotmail.com wrote:

>thanks, Mr. Rivers
>
>I like the look of them. But I was wondering if it really is a true
>"strobe" tuner. If it's digital, is the "strobe" stuff just a gimmick?

I'm not familiar with the tuner, but a post here a few months ago
led me to G-tune, which is definitely a digital tuner (it's a Windows
program) and has every feature I've ever heard of (except stretch
tables for tuning pianos, but if you have the table I'd think you
could use this):

http://www.jhc-software.com/gtune.htm

It's da bomb for guitar tuning and adjustments.

You might ask about the Peterson on rec.music.makers.piano where a
piano tech might be familiar with it.

-----
http://mindspring.com/~benbradley

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I own a 490 Peterson "real" strobe, bought about 10 years ago since it
was the only really accurate tuner available at the time, and I need
the storable preset feature for pedal steel use. It has always worked
great, and compared the the typical guitar tuner it is WAAAAY more
accurate.

Last year I bought a Peterson VS-II with the "simulated" LCD strobe and
I can assure you is it just as accurate and sensitive, I have done side
by side tests. For instrument tuning, the VS-II is just as good and a
lot more convenient.

Luthiers may still want to see the upper partials displayed on a real
strobe, for everyone else the VS-II is perfect.

The step up from a Boss or whatever tuner to a VS-II is huge, the
accuracy and slop of the Boss is a joke comparatively, the VS-II is not
just marketing.

I think the simulated strobe only become feasible with the electronics
and DSP chips available now as compared to 10 years ago. Boss, Fender,
Sabine, all the others are using the same old technology.

A Boss TU-12 is $90 and the VS-II is $200, and the Peterson is a lot
more tuner for the money.

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Thanks, Scott.

It looks like the VS-II is a winner.

I have one question: why would a luthier want to "see the upper
partials displayed", and how does the traditional strobe tuner
accomplish this?

i love learning about this stuff.

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thanks Ben,

that software looks like a cool thing for me to pick up as well besides
the Peterson.

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genericaudioperson@hotmail.com wrote:
> Thanks, Scott.
>
> It looks like the VS-II is a winner.
>
> I have one question: why would a luthier want to "see the upper
> partials displayed", and how does the traditional strobe tuner
> accomplish this?
>
> i love learning about this stuff.

I am a little foggy on this, but it is my understanding that some
luthiers use the upper partials as part of their intonation setting
procedure. There are more methods than simply checking the 12th fret
harmonic against the fretted note at the 12th fret. I use the VS-II
for setting intonation on my guitars using the simple 12th fret check
and this is plenty accurate for me, so I never really pursued these
other methods. With the VS-II you can set your intonation, no way you
can do this with a Boss tuner and get it set properly, they are too
sloppy.

As far as seeing the upper partials, they appear as the outer rings in
the display on the "real" strobe. The note is exactly in tune when
none of the rings are rotating. Check the Peterson website I think
there is a demo.

The upper partials are also used for tuning steel drums and some other
things according to the manual.

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In article <1115955885.102646.16930@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> genericaudioperson@hotmail.com writes:

> I like the look of them. But I was wondering if it really is a true
> "strobe" tuner. If it's digital, is the "strobe" stuff just a gimmick?

Yes, it's a gimmick. There is no digital rotating disk. Its reason for
being is that many people like the strobe display and find that it's
easier to tune with than a meter or illuminated arrows.



--
I'm really Mike Rivers - (mrivers@d-and-d.com)
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo