 BOSS TU-2 Chromatic Tuner |
BOSS TU-2 Chromatic Tuner
Summary: Basic, no-frills chromatic tuner in a convenient stomp box that can also double as a power source.
Pros: Super-convenient stomp box makes on-stage tuning a breeze. Tuning mode automatically cuts off signal to the rest of your board for relatively “silent” tuning.
Cons: Only has 11 total LED’s, so fine adjustments aren’t possible.
Price: New $99 Street
Features (fr. BOSS site):
- BOSS world-renowned TU-Series tuner accuracy in a convenient stompbox design
- Mute/Bypass select for silent tuning with a single stomp
- 11-point LED indicators and new “stream” meter display tuning discrepancy via speed and direction of LEDs (speed of LED movement gets slower as pitch becomes more accurate)
- 7-segment LED displays string and note names, easily visible on dark stages
- Seven easy tuning modes include Chromatic, Guitar Regular, Guitar Flat, Guitar Double Flat, Bass Regular, Bass Flat, Bass Double Flat
- Tuning mode setting and display style choice stored in memory
- Adjustable reference pitch from 438 to 445Hz
- 8-octave tuning range–the widest in its class
- Footswitchable Tuner Off mode preserves battery life by disabling LEDs
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Let’s face it: Tuning is a fact of life when you play any musical instrument. And if you’re like most gigging musicians, you don’t have a guitar tech at your gigs to tune your guitars in between songs. For that, you need a tuner. For years, I used a cheap, hand-held analog tuner with a sweep meter for tuning. It was very accurate and did the job well, but as I started to gig more and more, having to turn the volume down on my amp to tune soon became irritating.
So I decided to get a stomp box tuner, and went down to Guitar Center and bought the TU-2. Now I will be the first to admit that I didn’t do much research before buying the TU-2. I’d recently read an interview with Joe Satriani and he had a TU-2. I figured if something’s good enough for Satch then it’s definitely good enough for me. It was a safe bet then, and it’s a safe bet now. The TU-2 is solid performer that’s fairly accurate, though no LED-based tuner could even possibly suss the accuracy of a strobe or analog tuner. But for what it does, I’m pretty satisfied with it.
Another nice feature about the TU-2 is that it can also act as a power source for up to either other pedals. I power up my board with a Dunlop DC Brick, but once I used up the 6 available 9V ports, I couldn’t add more
pedals without having to get another brick. For one or two pedals, that’s just not a good justification when you’re spending 100-bucks. The TU-2 comes with both a DC-in and a DC-out port. You can use a standard 9V cable to hook up another pedal, but it probably makes more sense to spend the $12.99 and buy the BOSS PCS-20A power cord, which will route power up to eight pedals. Caveat: The cable runs between connectors are short. BOSS assumes you’ll be using nothing but BOSS pedals, but with tone freaks, that’s rarely the case. But it is a cheap, convenient solution nonetheless.
So what’s my verdict? I wouldn’t have it if I didn’t think it was useful. It’s not in any way, shape, or form something to do cartwheels over, but it’s a solid pedal that gets the job done. At Harmony Central, when you write a review, they ask you what you’d do if it the gear you’re reviewing gets broken or lost. Were I to review this pedal there and answer that question, I’d probably take a serious look at the Korg stomp box tuner that sports more LED’s and is a bit more accurate than the TU-2. The only thing that would probably keep me from switching is the ability of the TU-2 to provide power to other pedals.
Rock on!!!
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