Onboard Research Corporation PT1 Intellitouch Tuner Reviews 1

Primarily a singer, I've been playing guitar for about 10 years, been in a band (drummer!), and have continued to record and play with other musicians on a non-professional basis. My styles range from folk to hard rock, with heavy power-pop leanings -- Big Star, not Green Day.

My beloved Boss tuner was lost on a gig last year and I needed a replacement for my acoustic guitar. The salesman at Guitar Center Hollywood recommended this unit for $50.

It clamps to the headstock of the guitar, so it's much harder to lose this thing. And it's small.

Ever since I started using this tuner for live gigs, I've been in a tuning nightmare. Visibility of the screen in low-light situations is extremely poor -- I have to stick my face about four inches from the screen just to see it. And despite the product and the salesman's claims that this thing tunes quickly and accurately, I've found it to be precisely the opposite. The clamp frequently fails to register the note I'm picking, and even more often gives me the wrong note, period. Sure, you don't need a cable to use this tuner, but if it doesn't tune up properly, what's the use? This is the first tuner I've used where I would tune up before hitting the stage and still be unsure that I'm in perfect tune -- that's how little confidence it gives.

Seems relatively sturdy.

This isn't quite the worst tuner I've ever owned, but it's really damned close. Even the cheap, ultra-breakable $20 Guitar Research tuners I used in my first few years had more accurate, faster tuning. And this PT1 "Intellitouch" tuner pales horribly in comparison to my Fender PT-10 pedal tuner, or the old Boss I used to carry in my guitar case. I suppose I'll once again have to set forth to find a tuner that works and lasts.

Derek Mok rated this unit 1 on 2006-01-16.

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