Experiences with Peterson Strobe Tuners

MrCrossroads83

MrCrossroads83

Experienced
Hi everyone,

I am planning to purchase a Peterson StroboStomp HD tuner and try the world of strobe tuning after 25 years of playing guitar.
Does anyone still remember the Korg GT 2 tuner? That was my first tuner :D
I get the idea of a more precise tuning and think that will help me a lot especially when recording guitar tracks on music production with "Beatmaker 3" on my ipad pro.
I think the guitar can sound better when recorded on tracks with many synthesizer-based sounds with a precise tuning.
But what I really want to know is:
How reliable and longlasting are Peterson tuners?
I am a little bit afraid of the fact that the StroboStomp HD has a big display with HD resolution, many knobs and even USB connection as I often had experiences with products that had lot of features and were a bit complicated and therefore not really longlasting technology (Did anyone say smartphones? ;))

As I want to put this tuner on my remote-pedalboard for use with the FM 3 (two button softclick footswitch, Fractal Audio EV-1 or EV-2 (not sure at the moment) and a tuner) and therefore do not need a FC-6 and safe some money I have no problems with spending some money for the Peterson StroboStomp HD tuner if it is really reliable and longlasting.

Greetings from Germany and stay healthy :)
 
Fro68 said:
I have one that I use to set intonation or when changing strings and my AxeIII isn’t on. It works great.
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Ok, thanks.
What about the Tuner of the AXE fx III?
Is it on the same level of accuracy as the Peterson?
No one ever talks about the built in tuners in Fractal Audio Devices or I missed it out 😀
 
I use a Peterson strobo rack in my AxeFX rack(not that the built in is bad I just prefer the Peterson) and a stroboplusHD on my bench for string changes and intonation. I at this point won’t use anything else.
 
MrCrossroads83 said:
Ok, thanks.
What about the Tuner of the AXE fx III?
Is it on the same level of accuracy as the Peterson?
No one ever talks about the built in tuners in Fractal Audio Devices or I missed it out 😀
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I've never seen a comparison, but I'd be surprised if one is more accurate than the other. In other words, I don't think you'd find any difference between the Peterson strobe tuner and the AxeFX strobe tuner, since they presumably both use the same technique.

On the other hand, there is definitely a difference between a metered tuner (like a conventional tuner or the AxeFX tuning meter) and a strobe tuner (like the StroboStomp or the AxeFX strobe tuner). Basically, one answers the question "what pitch is this sound?", while the other answers the question "Does this sound match the reference pitch?". When you're talking about a guitar string, those two techniques can give differing results :).
 
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Precise tuning will only get you so far. Guitar is an imperfect instrument. It will never intontate perfectly for every note on the fretboard. Strings are pulled sharp by the pick and settle into their ringing note. The harder you pick, the more sharp it's pulled. Fretting pressure affects the pitch too. It's a moving target. 0.00001 cent accuracy is just not needed. Find a tuner that you like the display and response of and don't worry about accuracy specs. Just about any tuner out there is plenty accurate at pitch detection. How it shows that to you is another story. The rest is up to your tuning technique and your consistency.
 
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The accuracy really comes more into play for setups than regular tuning. I use my Axe for regular tuning but I use either my Peterson strobo rack or my Peterson VSAM for setups.
 
dpeterson said:
Industry standard. It's the brand that all others compare themselves to. And it's a great name lol.
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Yeah, I thought maybe you would be biased about that. Lol

But they are great. Since I have a couple of Anderson's with Buzz Fieten tuning, I like the presets for tuning offsets.
 
I have a StroboStomp HD! I love it, but I only really keep it on hand for setups these days because I didn't want to add it to my regular signal chain (and the Axe-Fx's tuner is good enough). I couldn't say if it's any more accurate, but I do find it much easier to read - the frame rate on the Axe-Fx tuner feels a bit too low sometimes, so I've found myself misinterpreting it and over / under-shooting more often.
 
unix-guy said:
Looks like it has 1 set of values for Offsets (a value per string) and you can either use it or not. So more like "a preset" ;)
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Hah, I'm sure you're right. I don't do multiple tunings, so I just set up the offsets people said came from the Peterson, and haven't looked at it since. Thought I remembered multiple settings, but I guess not.
 
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My Strobostomp HD is fantastic and has all sorts of handy bells and whistles.

No more accurate than the Axe FX 3 strobe wheel as far as I can tell, though.
 
I am not talking about strobe mode on any unit but about Real strobe tuning technology like it is on Peterson tuners:

Did anyone experience some issues these tuners and playing with other bandmates who do not use strobe tuners?
 
As I mentioned above, a strobe tuner, whether in the AxeFX or a StroboStomp, can give different results than a conventional tuner. The two AxeFX tuners can even disagree on occasion. I've never seen a difference that would be enough to worry about in a live setting though.
 
I've owned many Peterson Strobe models... I prefer a polytune 3...

Objectively- sure- doing intonation it's useful, but I don't think our ears and eyes are accurate enough to get anything out of a strobe tuner- I find them to be difficult and frustrating. I know they have a purpose, but to me- a PolyTune is more suited for a guitar than anything else ever made. TU-3 isn't bad either... but I respect them, but don't like strobe tuners.
 
I’ve spent an incredible amount of time with Peterson tuners. You won’t be disappointed. I typically run multiple tuners at the same time. If you are into using offsets and tweaking tunings the Peterson Strobo Plus will save you lots of time. (I prefer the PLUS to the Stomp)
The Axe tuner offset is easy to program but there is only one.
The Axefx tuner is spot on and very accurate. You don’t need to have another tuner.
 
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