If you are seeking one of the best bass tuner pedals and you want to make sure the option you are choosing can satisfy your needs well into the future. Having access to a highly readable screen, true bypass, silent tuning options and the chance to integrate it into your gear are all excellent qualities.
The Boss TU3 has risen to the top of the bass tuner pedals because it can satisfy all of these features. This pedal has risen to the industry standard due to its durability, accuracy and its use by professional touring musicians over generations. The Boss TU3 Chromatic tuner pedal could be a bass tuning pedal you could invest in for a lifetime of playing in tune.
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Bass Tuner Pedals We Recommend
Boss TU3 Chromatic Tuner Pedal
What’s good: Great for use with guitar and bass. Easy to change to drop D and flat tuning quickly. Support for seven-string and six-string bass. High brightness for ease. Best visuals for quick tuning.
Not so good: The battery life falls quickly. It can be tough to tell if the tuner is switched off.
The Industry Standard – The Boss TU3 Chromatic Tuner has been a favorite amongst professional bass players for many years. The newest edition of this title comes with a series of brighter modes for ease of use in dimly lit clubs or outdoor venues.
The power hopping can eliminate the need for extra cables, and this is a device that can be easily integrated into a pedalboard.
The Boss TU3 is one of the few bass tuner pedals we reviewed that came with a power supply integration. Part of the reason for this could be that it can eat through battery life quite quickly with the colored LED screen.
There are several settings for flat tuning with five semitones and a stream tone for quick accuracy when adjusting the tuning. Boss also encased the electronics for this pedal is an extremely resilient cover.
This is an excellent option for any touring musician or an amateur musician that would like a bass tuner pedal that could likely last them a lifetime.
Polytune 2 Mini Pedal Tuner by TC Electronic
What’s good: Highly portable. Bright display. Very precise. It offers polyphonic and chromatic tuning.
Not so good: Could use more settings. Causes feedback when turned on and off.
The best portable beginner’s tuner – This is one of the most reasonable tuners that we checked out, and it’s also one of the lightest as well. It allows for multiple tunings and the chance to tune guitars and bass. There is a needle mode, poly mode, and strobe mode, and this device is light enough to carry around in your pocket.
The bright LED display helps you read tuning, and there are a buffer and true bypass mode. The most impressive part of this bass tuner pedal is its affordable price tag.
The only downside to this device is that the electronics onboard are not quite as advanced as some of the competitors. The cheaper electronics can cause some feedback when it is switched on and off. If you’re planning on using the always-on mode during a gig, this could be an excellent backup to carry with you or to tune up with before recording. Beginners will like the Polytune 2 because of its superb price tag.
Dt-1 Chromatic True Bypass by Donner
What’s good: Great response. Highly readable screen. Portable. True Bypass.
Not so good: Hard to handle sharp tuning. Battery operated only.
This reasonably priced pedal tuner offers a fantastic response time and a colourful display that is quite easy to read.
With a bright green-lit display when the device is in use and a power-saving red display when the device is not receiving, this can be a huge help in any live setting.
The Donner DT-1 is extremely useful for beginners as well as for pro musicians, and it has a series of features that could help guitarists and bassists quickly tune-up.
It is incredibly portable, with the only downside being that it did not include an AC adapter.
Pitchblack Chromatic Tuner by KORG
What’s good: The fastest frequency detection. The best true bypass settings. Great display.
Not so good: Settings can be tough to figure out. Only chromatic tuning.
Korg has produced a true leader in chromatic tuning with this device. The extremely accurate results are probably some of the most efficient from our list of bass tuners.
The advanced features on board and the high precision make sure that this is a real asset to any gigging musician.
Korg has also improved the durability on this pedal with the tough aluminum exterior. The small size and sturdy construction make sure that this is an excellent asset for live use.
Some better bass tuner pedals can be used for recording, but for quickly changing tunings at a live venue; this can make for some of the smoothest transitions.
ST-2 Multi-Instrument Chromatic Tuner by Snark
What’s good: Clip-on design for maximum portability. No need for bypass without direct lead. High sensitivity vibration sensor and internal microphone. Multi-instrument support. Rotatable display.
Not so good: Can be fragile compared to other tuner pedals. Only battery power.
The Snark ST-2 multi-instrument chromatic tuner is a clip-on tuner option with a 360 rotatable display. If you are looking for one of the best low-cost alternatives to keep your instrument into, this is a simple addition that you can keep in your pocket at any gig or recording session.
The highly accurate high sensitivity vibration sensor checks the tunes for the headstock and uses an internal microphone for high accuracy tuning. Although the device may not offer precise as a tuning process as a direct line tuner at a live gig, it can be a great way to soundcheck an instrument or tune-up backstage.
The lack of true bypass may mean using a switch for this tuner at a live gig, but this could be a small price to pay for the portability of a bass tuner pedal in your pocket. The best part is this is a palm-sized tuner so you can pass it off to a bandmate to help them tune-up rather than being weighed down by a large pedal rig.
This tuner could be the best option for acoustic tuning, beginners looking for an entry-level tuner or musicians that don’t regularly play in loud, live venues.
KLIQ TinyTune Tuner Pedal for Guitar and Bass
What’s good: Highly accurate. Durable construction. Zero Bypass. Large display.
Not so good: No power supply. Slower response times at 2 seconds delay minimum.
KLIQ produced a highly affordable and durable bass tune pedal with this offering. The bypass on this device offers absolutely no feedback, but the delayed response can mean a bit of inaccuracy when it comes to fast tuning.
The high accuracy tuning makes this a great pedal to have on hand for jamming or even recording. It may not offer the best asset to someone that regularly gigs or needs to tune up quickly, however.
The highly adaptable and visible screen can deliver accurate tuning responses, and this device feels weighty and resilient compared to some of the other offerings on our list. If you are seeking a panel that will offer reliability, this is a great option, but there are more efficient ways to tune.
The lack of power supply also makes this portable but challenging to integrate into a permanent gig rig.
What is a tuner pedal?
A tuner pedal is an essential piece of gear for musicians that regularly check their tuning or change tuning on their bass guitar. A tutor panel can usually cut the signal to the amp and make sure that tuning can quickly take place accurately before the signal runs back through the amp again.
Most tuners offer a very high precision level of accuracy and the ability to tune in several different tunings for musicians. These tools can be perfect for a seamless experience at a live performance.
How does tuner pedal work?
These pedals can often be configured to several different tuning settings so that a user addition could change up the tuning of their guitar quickly during a gig or between songs. Most of the best bass tuner pedals come with the ability to receive a signal directly from the clean channel of a bass.
Some tuner pedals work as a clip-on format using the headstock and vibrations with senors. Most of the varieties that work as pedals utilize a ¼ inch audio cable interface. They can be integrated quite easily into any pedal rig, especially bass tuner pedals that utilize an AC power supply.
Features you should look for
Even if you are a beginner bass player and you are interested in using a bass tuner pedal you’re going to need access to some of the best features is that these pedals have to offer. Having some excellent features available can make sure that your pedal can work as an asset rather than an inefficient part of your rig. Making sure you can quickly change tuning without feedback and with a high degree of accuracy is important. Some of the top features you should be seeking include:
Silent tuning features
A silent tuning method can mute the signal coming out of your guitar so that you can tune up even when your cables are all plugged into an amp. You can tune your instrument silently also if you’re between songs, and nobody will have to listen to you getting the bass into tune until you are ready to turn off the silent tuning and play.
A well-lit screen
A screen that has excellent brightness can make sure that you’ll be able to tune your bass in almost any type of condition. You never know when you might want to play outside or when you have to play in a poorly lit venue. Having a brighter screen to make sure that you can tune-up in any lighting.
True Bypass
A true bypass can make sure that the signal that’s being sent into the tuner isn’t going to be boosted or altered by any of your pedals or specialty pickups. A bass tuner can sometimes malfunction when you are attempting to tune your bass with pedals attached or modifications on your bass. This true bypass setting will let you tune while cutting through all of your effects. This makes for easy setup without having to turn everything off or switch to a clean channel.