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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
 Posted - 01/09/2007 : 7:40:53 PM
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Planet Waves Chromatic Pedal Tuner (PW-CT-04)
In the last couple years, Planet Waves has introduced five new innovative tuners made for a variety of applications with the common goal of being competitively priced. Seems there is a tuner for any occasion ranging from clip-on to combo (tuner/metronome). I’ve been testing out the Chromatic Pedal Tuner for several gigs now. It retails for $119.99.
Demo
First thing noticeable out of the box is that the unit is heavy weighing in at 1.5 pounds. While that may sound like a negative, more weight to carry to and from your gig or next jam, the enclosure is die-cast metal as are the jacks. The pedal feels like it is built to survive the bumps, bangs, and stomping of real world use.
This is an in-line tuner so you’re going from guitar into the tuner; then out of the tuner to your amp, DI or PA. I find the tuner to be easy to use and an effective tuner for playing gigs from party to on stage. The tuner features “true hard bypass” meaning that when you’re not using the tuner, it should not affect the tone of your instrument. When you step on the pedal to activate the tuner, you can mute/bypass select so that the audience doesn’t hear you tuning. This is also helpful if you want to mute in order to swap guitars avoiding bad sounding pops when unplugging and plugging in the ¼” cable to your guitar. (There are actually two output jacks, one for muting and the other for allowing the signal through while tuning.)
What I like about this chromatic tuner is that the display is bright and large making it easy to see. As a chromatic tuner, it’s also excellent for alternate tunings. Tuning to taro patch or drop C and back to standard is a simple process. The tuner is adequately sensitive so that a light pluck of the string sufficiently had the tuner doing its thing. The smaller indicator showing G# or Gb versus G took a little getting used to. Overall it’s simple - the patent-pending rotary user interface is intuitive as the light rotates in red until it’s green at 12 o’clock with the note in the center indicating that you’re in tune. I believe that this tuner is accurate to +/- 3 cents.
My only criticism is that there is not a light indicating whether the tuner has been activated or not. This means that while on stage you need to sound your string to make sure that the tuner is off. It would be helpful to have a visual indicator.
In conclusion, this tuner is solidly built and a solid performer. It’s basic in functionality which underscores its utility and practicality. The display is easy to see and the unit is sensitive. This tuner is built for performing and it works.
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Andy |
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