Re: Hidden D'Addario Micro Tuners....
Major discussion of minor issue, IMHO. I can remember hitting a tuning fork against my knee, then pressing it to the top of the instrument and tuning one string to its sound, then trying to tune all the other strings to that string. Still have A and E tuning forks in the accessories pockets of some older guitar cases, 40 years later.
Then carrying an electronic tuner the size of a brick, that only gave the pitches of guitar strings, and trying to tune banjos and mandolins to it as best I could. Either used a transducer with an alligator clip or a suction cup, or relied on the built-in mic -- a frustrating task in a noisy club environment.
Clip-on tuners were a revelation to me: the old Intellitouch, others by Korg or Meisel or whomever. Then the Snark, a step up for sure. Now the li'l D'Addario/Planet Waves jobbie that can sit behind the headstock, with only the clip's arm visible from the audience.
I used to have a "Tune It Or Die!" T-shirt that I sometimes wore to jams or sing-arounds. Lotsa times half the participants were out of tune, and had to be coaxed or coerced to A=440. "Things are different today," as Mick and Keith wrote back a half-century ago -- and, in this respect, substantially better.
Not to "dis" those who find a tiny clip-on ugly and want to hide it; everyone has a right to their own tastes. But the problem of a visible clip-on tuner strikes me as quanta less than the problem of having a hard time getting in tune.
Allen Hopkins
Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
Natl Triolian Dobro mando
Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
H-O mandolinetto
Stradolin Vega banjolin
Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
Flatiron 3K OM
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