Top Guitar Tuners (For Any Budget)

There are excellent guitar tuners available for any budget. Here are my favorites!

Low Cost (Under $25) – Snark SN1X

This is a great low cost clip-on battery powered tuner. Great to keep in your guitar case so you always have a tuner available. Full color screen. It even has a built-in Tap Tempo Metronome. For under $20 you won’t find much better.

Pros:
– Battery powered
– Small
– Nothing to plug-in
– Bright Screen
– Inexpensive
Cons:
– Slower and less accurate than most plug-in tuners

Medium Cost ($50-$100) – TC Electronic Polytune Mini

The polytune mini is a great option for keeping on your pedalboard without taking a lot of real estate. Very accurate chromatic tuner with fast tracking, and bright LCD screen.
Pros:
– Fast tracking
– Bright colorful screen
– Good accuracy
– Small pedalboard footprint
– Built-in BONAFIDE buffer, or switch off for True-Bypass
– Optional “always on” mode
Cons:
– No battery (must be plugged in to power)
– Somewhat expensive

High Cost (> $100) – Peterson Strobostomp HD

If you are looking for the best accuracy the Peterson Strobostomp is a great option. Extra large high resolution LCD screen. Fast-tracking and Peterson’s custom “Sweetened Tunings” for extra precision.

Pros:
– Fast tracking
– Bright colorful screen (However, contrast not as good as the Polytune)
– Great accuracy
– Multiple modes: bypass mode, buffered output mode, or monitor mode (tuning always visible)
– Extra power out jack to power other pedals
– “Sweetened Tunings” for the most precise tuning
Cons:
– Expensive
– Large pedalboard footprint
– Strobe tuning can take some getting used to if you have only used chromatic tuners

Honorable Mentions

The Boss TU-3S – The legendary TU-3 in a more pedalboard friendly version. Built like a tank, easy to use, and accurate. I personally prefer the Polytune over the Boss TU-3S but they are both great tuners.

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