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I'm trying to pick out a gift for someone and they recently picked up the acoustic guitar as a hobby. So far they've only bought the guitar and a few picks so I figure it would be cool to get them something to further that hobby. Getting them a tuner was suggested but I know practically nothing about guitars so I was hoping to get some advice from any guitarists out there.
A quick search on Amazon for "Acoustic guitar tuner" results in this model being at the top of the list:
http://www.amazon.com/Snark-Instrument-Clip--Chromatic-Tuner/dp/B003VWKPHC/ref=sr_1_1?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1305681607&sr=1-1
Not sure if that's any good. If anyone has any other suggestions I'm all ears.
I'm looking to spend something in the vein of $50 or so which places this at the very cheap end of my price range. So if there is a model that would be considerably better for a beginner or if there is something else you would suggest as a gift for an aspiring acoustic guitar player that would be great!
 
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The one you've selected is perfect for a starter.
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guitar tuner
i use this 1 i think its great i would highly recommended it.
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the one you selected is good. the one dominosc suggested i don't really like.
i prefer the ones that strap on and use the vibrations (the one u picked does this). they are very accurate and aren't distorted by noises around you.
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My friend swears by his snark. Definitely a good tuner.
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Hey, coming from someone who's played ~4 years of guitar, I believe that this is your all-purpose tuner.
Everyone I know pretty accepts this as the premium standard for compact, personal tuners and for good reason. It's very durable, can be used for nearly all instruments, and is extremely accurate. You can plug the guitar into the tuner or just play directly at it to tune the guitar.
I've had general success with clip-on tuners as well, but they can be quite messy sometimes or not tune accurately.
If you have anymore questions, please ask!
Edit: This is an upgrade from tangwhat's suggestion, and the extra you pay for more features is definitely worth it. The spoiler has the product features from amazon.
+ Show Spoiler +Compact chromatic tuner, ideal for brass band or orchestra
High-precision LCD needle-type meter for stable tuning
Wide range of pitch detection covers C1--C8
Calibration function supports a variety of concert pitches
Reference tone can be produced from an internal speaker. (Sound Out)
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On May 18 2011 10:55 6d.Leek wrote:
Everyone I know pretty accepts this as the premium standard for compact, personal tuners
This is true for me as well.
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On May 18 2011 10:55 6d.Leek wrote:+ Show Spoiler +Hey, coming from someone who's played ~4 years of guitar, I believe that this is your all-purpose tuner. Everyone I know pretty accepts this as the premium standard for compact, personal tuners and for good reason. It's very durable, can be used for nearly all instruments, and is extremely accurate. You can plug the guitar into the tuner or just play directly at it to tune the guitar. I've had general success with clip-on tuners as well, but they can be quite messy sometimes or not tune accurately. If you have anymore questions, please ask! Edit: This is an upgrade from tangwhat's suggestion, and the extra you pay for more features is definitely worth it. The spoiler has the product features from amazon. + Show Spoiler +Compact chromatic tuner, ideal for brass band or orchestra
High-precision LCD needle-type meter for stable tuning
Wide range of pitch detection covers C1--C8
Calibration function supports a variety of concert pitches
Reference tone can be produced from an internal speaker. (Sound Out)
This tuner is fantastic, I hope this is the one that you choose.
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This, prtty much. Clip ons are just gimmicky, get something reliable, and the electric input doesnt hurt at all
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Does your friend have an iphone or android phone? If yes, skip the tuner, you can get them for free on your phone, and really a learner shouldn't use a tuner they should be learning to do it without. Buying your friend a tuning fork for the Low E string would be far more benficial, all they have to do it tune the low E and then do it by ear..... you can't always have a tuner with you, especially on stage, being able to do it by ear is essential. A good guitarist can tune to E purely based on memory and with no tuner or tuning fork.... the more often you do it by ear, the easier it is.
http://www.amazon.com/Wittner-Tuning-Fork-Tuned/dp/B001HYROHA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1305686611&sr=8-2 Tuning fork, $14.65 - anything cheaper than this will break or warp go out of tune eventually. I have a tuning fork that i've had for 23 years, still as pure an E as it ever was ;p
For a beginner I would suggest buying something they can use to learn such as a chord book (one that contains every single chord and variation) or sheet music. If you really want to go all out buy them a fancy strap, those can cost upwards of $60 (Infact I have one that cost $199 lol but I play guitar for a living).
http://www.amazon.com/The-Guitar-Chord-Deck-Book/dp/B003AOP58U/ref=sr_1_4?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1305686650&sr=1-4 Guitar Chord Book $9.99 - this fits perfectly inside the neck of a guitar case too!
http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Waves-Beatles-Guitar-Submarine/dp/B0029F21N8/ref=sr_1_17?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1305686731&sr=1-17 beatles guitar strap $29.99
http://www.amazon.com/Musicians-Gear-Tubular-Guitar-Stand/dp/B0018TIADQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1305686776&sr=1-3 Guitar stand $7
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Hopping on the bandwagon, Leek has the answer to your question, 100% hands down. You should be able to find this exact model in any music store, anywhere, really. Any tuner other than that is probably going to be cheap (and useless) as shit, flat out overpriced, a tuner built directly into an amplifier, or a high end rack tuner.
PS I recommend you look at musiciansfriend.com if you want to look at instrument related (In particular guitar/bass) products. As far as I know it has the most variety of stuff I've seen on a single website.
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On May 18 2011 10:55 6d.Leek wrote:Hey, coming from someone who's played ~4 years of guitar, I believe that this is your all-purpose tuner.
More years than I can count playing various instruments. This tuner is the bee's knees. 
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buy him/her a tuning fork and when they ask why you just didn't get a chromatic tuner say "so you can learn to tune by ear like a goddamn professional"
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On May 18 2011 11:44 emythrel wrote:
Does your friend have an iphone or android phone? If yes, skip the tuner, you can get them for free on your phone, and really a learner shouldn't use a tuner they should be learning to do it without. Buying your friend a tuning fork for the Low E string would be far more benficial, all they have to do it tune the low E and then do it by ear..... you can't always have a tuner with you, especially on stage, being able to do it by ear is essential. A good guitarist can tune to E purely based on memory and with no tuner or tuning fork.... the more often you do it by ear, the easier it is.
1. lol phone tuner accuracy lol
2. Phones would take longer to go to the app, whereas an actual tuner takes .5 seconds of pressing a single button
3. Tuning fork, really? If you are dedicated to learning your ears WILL acclimate to musical notes regardless if you spend extra seconds tinkering with trying to tune your guitar. Anyone can tune a guitar to itself, but using a tuner makes it much faster to work out those last few cents if you are out of tune.
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Thanks so much for all the suggestions! Looks like most of you are leaning towards the "Korg CA-30 Chromatic Tuner" as the tuner of choice so I think I'll go with that. The "Chord Book" looks like it would be useful as well.
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On May 18 2011 12:07 Geovu wrote:Show nested quote +On May 18 2011 11:44 emythrel wrote:
Does your friend have an iphone or android phone? If yes, skip the tuner, you can get them for free on your phone, and really a learner shouldn't use a tuner they should be learning to do it without. Buying your friend a tuning fork for the Low E string would be far more benficial, all they have to do it tune the low E and then do it by ear..... you can't always have a tuner with you, especially on stage, being able to do it by ear is essential. A good guitarist can tune to E purely based on memory and with no tuner or tuning fork.... the more often you do it by ear, the easier it is.
1. lol phone tuner accuracy lol 2. Phones would take longer to go to the app, whereas an actual tuner takes .5 seconds of pressing a single button 3. Tuning fork, really? If you are dedicated to learning your ears WILL acclimate to musical notes regardless if you spend extra seconds tinkering with trying to tune your guitar. Anyone can tune a guitar to itself, but using a tuner makes it much faster to work out those last few cents if you are out of tune.
I teach guitar, and have been a professional musician for 12 years.... I know what im talking about... i doubt you do. I own a tuning fork that i use about once a year and have a guitar tuner on my phone (that took 10 secs to download and bout another 5 to load up) that is perfectly accurate for when im feeling lazy or have just completely restrung a guitar.
Any guitar tutor worth their money would tell you to get a tuning fork and learn to do it by ear. Once you can tune by ear, then get lazy..... its all about technique with guitar, saying to a beginner to use a tuner is like telling them that not fingering properly is ok....... simply wrong.
I also garantee I can get a guitar in perfect E without any tuner, its very easy with practice, the only time its hard is with a new set of strings because they stretch and the tone is different to a used string and I tune using harmonics, which is far more accurate than the 5/5/5/4/5 method
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Intellitouch PT10. It's a clip on tuner. Very fast, very accurate, you can use it in a very loud environment (clip ons work based on vibrations on your guitar, not a microphone) and it's fairly inexpensive.
EDIT: Oh, you already know that. I still suggest the PT10 though. It's worked great for me thus far. But the one you picked is probably a great starter.
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Hey guys, quick update. When I went to the store they said they don't sell Korg CA-30's anymore. They've been replaced by the Korg CA-1 which is supposedly an updated version. Got that and a Chord book. She seemed very happy with the gift, thanks guys!
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EPT
