TC Electronic PolyTune Polyphonic Guitar Tuner
TC ELECTRONIC POLYTUNE POLYPHONIC AND CHROMATIC GUITAR AND BASS TUNER
Stock Code EG03170
£69.00 (inc VAT)
In Stock - Next Day Delivery
TC Electronic rethinks the electronic guitar and bass tuner
with the PolyTune poly-chromatic tuner!
Find your out-of-tune bass or electric guitar string quickly
with the TC Electronic PolyTune Polyphonic guitar tuner. Then
drop into chromatic tuning mode to tune out-of-tune strings. A
bold and simple display instantly shows which strings are in,
and out, of tune. Play individual strings, and the PolyTune
pedal automatically switches from Poly mode to Chromatic mode,
so you can concentrate on the ones that need tuning.
Strum all the strings of your guitar or bass, and the TC
Electronic PolyTune Polyphonic tuner displays the pitch of all
the strings simultaneously so you can locate and tune whichever
strings are out-of-tune: in tune strings are displayed in
green; out-of-tune strings are shown in red, either below
(flat) or above (sharp) the center segment. When tuning
individual strings in Chromatic mode, the TC Electronic
PolyTune tuner uses a similar colour scheme and displays the
value of the closest note. When you get an all-green "In Tune"
confirmation, the tuning is perfect. The TC Electronic PolyTune
tuner recognizes whether you play one or more strings and
displays the appropriate poly- or monophonic chromatic tuning
mode.
The TC Electronic PolyTune guitar tuner also functions as a
chromatic tuner, accurate to 0.5 cent with two separate
chromatic tuning modes: Needle mode is for a classic guitar
tuner, Stream mode for more real-time information which
measures even the slightest pitch variation shows the results
on as a rotating motion on the display.
True bypass means the TC Electronic PolyTune tuner will not
colour your guitar's tone when you are not tuning.
TC ELECTRONIC POLYTUNE POLYPHONIC GUITAR TUNER SPECIFICATIONS
Tuning Accuracy: +/- 0.5 cent.
Reference Pitch: A4 = 435 to 445Hz 1 Hz steps.
Input Impedance: 500 kOhm pedal on.
Power Supply: One 9V type battery or optional AC adapter 9V DC
center negative.
Current Draw: 45-50 mA.
Dimensions (WxDxH): 72 mm x 122 mm x 45 mm.
Weight: 300 g/10.6 oz incl. battery.
Included items: One 9V battery
2 pcs. 3M velcro for pedal board attachment.
TC ELECTRONIC POLYTUNE POLYPHONIC CHROMATIC GUITAR TUNER FEATURES
Polyphonic and chromatic guitar and bass tuning pedal.
Guitar and Bass modes.
Patented polychromatic tuning displays all strings
simultaneously.
Strobe and needle modes.
Needle display mode: Tune according to the position of the
"needle". When the note is in tune the five green center LEDs
plus left and right arrows are lit.
Stream display mode: The stream moves right for note too high
or left fornote too low. Tune until the stream of LED groups is
steady.
Poly mode: Provides an overview of the pitch of all strings for
guitar or 4/5/6 string bass simultaneously. Strum all open
strings firm and evenly, and see exactly which strings that
need fine tuning.
Poly mode works with standard tuning EADGBE.
Reference pitch can be set to your preference and ranges from
435Hz to 445Hz.
Dropped tuning modes: Tuning modes can be dropped up to 5
semitones.
Allows dropped tunings from E-flat all the way down to B.
Mini toggle switch on the right side drops the PolyTune mode's
reference pitch up to five semitones.
Chromatic tuner with 0.5 cent accuracy.
17 LED high resolution tuning dispaly.
100 LED matrix provides information right on the display.
Oversized, brightly lit display that is
easy to see onstage.
True bypass, no colouration of your guitar's tone when not in
use.
DC output jack that lets you
daisy-chain power to other effects pedals.
Current draw on daisy-chained pedals may not exceed 2A. Ensure
your power supply delivers sufficient power to cover the power
consumption of
all pedals.
Place PolyTune tuner pedal before drive and distortion pedals
for best tuner indication.
Light sensor that automatically
dims or brightens the display to the
optimum setting.
Powered by an 9V battery or optional external 9V DC center
negative power supply.
Further information on the TC Electronic
PolyTune Polyphonic Guitar and Bass Tuner
Reviews
|Review of the TC Electronic Polytune Guitar Tuner
04 May 2010
Features of the TC Electronic Polytune
The TC Electronic Polytune comes in a small and sturdy white metal box and on the face of it looks like simplicity itself. There's a large display screen, a jack input, a jack output and a chunky on/off footswitch. The complexity of the unit can be found around the front of the casing where there are two micro-switches.
The first microswitch (on the right-hand side as you look at it) toggles between guitar and bass mode and how each of these are displayed on the screen, the choice being between "needle" display or "streaming" display. As you toggle through these the mode is clearly indicated on the screen by a "G" for guitar and a "B" for bass under either a needle emulation (essentially an led simulation of an old-fashioned needle) or a stream display.
So once you've chosen your instrument and display format you can start to tune your guitar or bass chromatically by plucking each string and tuning it in turn. I found the needle display to be the easiest to use (probably because I used to have a tuner with a real needle) and I found the tuner to be highly responsive and accurate. The name of the note is clearly displayed as you travel through the scale so there's no room for error.
Now imagine you've played a few numbers with your perfectly-tuned guitar and wiggled your whammy a wee bit. Simply engage the tuner and strum the open strings with your thumb. The Polytune detects the strum and switches to polyphonic mode. The display changes to show six radial bars (when in guitar mode - it shows four, five or six bars, depending upon the number of strings you have, if you're in bass mode). The tuning status of each string is then clearly shown. There's a green light to signify an in-tune string. An out-of-tune string will show a red light above or below the position of the green light depending on whether the string is sharp or flat. Now you've identified the string or strings that are out, you can continue strumming and tune them in, or force the tuner to drop back to chromatic mode by plucking and tuning the single string.
It's worth noting that the polyphonic mode only works with standard concert pitch tuning (E-A-D-G-B-E). However the second microswitch on the front panel enables you to drop that standard tuning by up to five semitones. Open tunings, such as those commonly used for slide playing, will not return correct tuning indications in polyphonic mode, although the chromatic mode will of course work perfectly.
The unit is pitched to a standard 440Hz reference. By manipulating both microswitches at once this can be raised as high as 445Hz or lowered down as far as 435Hz in 1Hz steps. This is a nice feature to have even though most users will rarely need it.
The Polytune operates on a single 9v battery that is accessed through the bottom of the unit by loosening a large single captive screw (which happily fits a 10p piece, 'cos who takes a screwdriver to a gig?). The Polytune also runs on a standard 9 volt adapter (not supplied) as long as it has a negative tip (the manual illustrates the symbol you need to look for on the adaptor). There's also a power-out switch which allows you to run more pedals from the same psu, but make sure the power consumption of the extra pedal(s) doesn't exceed the capacity of your chosen power supply.
The front panel has another small socket which is labelled "service port" and has no relevence to the end-user. Just pretend it's not there.
Overall Impressions of the TC Electronic Polytune
This is an attractive and robust pedal that offers quick and accurate chromatic tuning. The icing on the cake is the polyphonic mode, which I think would be really useful while playing gigs. Engaging the tuner mutes the output to the amplifier, a necessary feature for live situations, but instead of having to plonk your way through each string (as you would with a standard chromatic tuner) you can run a quick "spot-check" with a single strum of the open strings. This means you can check your tuning more often without anyone noticing, either audience or band. This is a great little tuning tool.
Reviewed by The Man in the Jar
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