Tuner problem in live situation

S

Sine

Inspired
Yesterday I had problems with the tuner. Everything works fine when there is silence, but during the concert it is impossible to use the tuner. It simply does not respond. I do not know what is the problem. I've been using Fractal for years and this is the first time I've had problems with the tuner. Well, it was first gig with FM9.
 
My tuner acted strangely at our gig last weekend. All strings worked except the D and G which flipped around erratically. I tuned those by ear. Back home....it's fine. Maybe it was just one of those "needed to reboot" problems.
 
As a rule I keep a clip-on tuner as Plan B. They've never failed me.

This doesn't address your question about the FM9, but I don't think the FM9 has enough hours on stage to trust it yet.
 
elvis said:
As a rule I keep a clip-on tuner as Plan B. They've never failed me.

This doesn't address your question about the FM9, but I don't think the FM9 has enough hours on stage to trust it yet.
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Yes, I'll have to find an alternative because I can't rely on it for now.
 
I've been using the FM9 on stage in a rock band every weekend since January 2022 and most every weekend at P&W, not to mention weekly acoustic shows and rehearsals, etc.

I have never once experienced what you describe with the FM9's tuner. And I have BF-tuned guitars, so I use offsets.

There has to be some other misconfiguration that explains your issue.
 
Ironically, I had a similar issue this last weekend that I haven't experienced before. My experience was similar to the others reported. It was better when I switched to the neck pickup but was still flipping around. I checked the input's as well as the offsets and everything looked correct. I have not updated to the latest firmware yet. I will this week as I have another gig Saturday.
 
I have two other tuners on my board along with the one in the FM and they all pretty much tell the same story on every string!
 
Greg Ferguson said:
How many hours being tested by how many people will it take?
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Great Question! Probably I am underrating the amount of time the FM9 has been out since I only just got one. But I like to see a couple years of widespread use.

Given that the FM9 is so similar to the AXEIII, it's reasonable to extrapolate as well.

In any case it's based on my feelings, so maybe not useful advice.
 
earlier i simply wrote "turn the tone pot down.."


so now, i edit to clarify, here is the Fractal Wiki on the topic of the tuner..

How to tune​

Use the neck pickup, hit the string with your thumb, turn down Tone. This will decrease the impact of transients and harmonics.

"With any tuner the rule of thumb is to use the neck pickup.
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The clue from the story here is that you are gigging and its loud with stuff going on.. so I suspect that ^^^ is the issue, not the FM9
 
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I have not gigged with my FM9 yet but have a good number of gigs scheduled through the summer where I will be using it.

Questions:
How loud was the crowd noise?
Was there loud recorded music playing through PA while you were tuning?
Which way were you facing?

The only reason I ask is that I have experienced tuners in the past that drifted when there was high background noise in the room/venue. I learned to turn my volume pot down a little and face away from the noise source while tuning which helped. Electric guitar pickups still work like a microphone in that they will pickup background noise that could interfere with a tuner - especially if its loud enough. I don't know if this is the issue but ...

On the intro to Stone Temple Pilots "Dead and Bloated" Scott Weiland yelled into Dean Deleo's Gibson Les Paul pickup. That's the most recent one I can think of - I can't remember which one, but a band from the 70's did this too. The link above is the actual recording session. Here's the result on the record:
 
Mystic38 said:
Use the neck pickup, hit the string with your thumb
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In case you don't want to temporarily stow your pick, you can achieve this result by striking the strings over the neck on a non-harmonic fret position (example 21st or 22nd fret). This will also greatly reduce the transients and harmonics from the pick.

But in my experience transients (in terms of tuning) only impact the pitch detection very early in the note (max first second or so). After that the pitch usually settles down and stabilizes. If you have a trem it might take slightly longer depending on how hard you pick the note. So its a good habit not to move your tuning peg too early with a pick or if your guitar has a tremolo.

Another important hint is to tune up and not down - I will actually flat my strings a little and give them a good pull with my picking hand then tune up to the right pitch. This ensures you don't have any slack behind the nut.

Slack in front of the nut is a different problem and might require Viagra.
:cool:
 
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