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Hands-On Product Review:
Korg Compact Tuners
Accurate, affordable, and absolutely necessary
A terrible plague is upon us, fellow musicians. This pox—tuneus
outofwhackus—is spreading like wildfire. Its symptoms are feuding
fundamentals and horrible harmonics that result in a veritable clashing
cacophony of out-of-place notes. While it seems to be focused among the younger
members of our proud union, more experienced players fall to the infection as
well. Thankfully, the cure is readily available. It’s the compact, easy-to-use,
personal electronic tuner as perfected by Korg.
Korg has many models that range from as small as a Post-itŪ note to
professional-size rack units. Each Korg tuner is made to be reliable for
musicians on the go and offer tuning capabilities as flexible as they are
accurate. That’s why they’ve sold over 20 million tuners! The family
of compact Korg tuners includes models for every player’s
application.
GA-30
The GA-30
is an affordable, reliable tuner with a precision LCD needle meter
that’s easy to read. A trio of LEDs just above the LCD reinforce the needle
position by lighting when you’re flat, in tune, and sharp, respectively. Just
plug into the standard instrument jack and play a single open string. You can
tune down five semitones flat and tune seven-string guitars and six-string
basses. The GA-30 can also tune baritone guitars down to five frets longer than
a standard guitar. For acoustic players the
GA-30
has an integrated microphone and produces a reference tone for audible
tuning.
Recently replaced by the
GA-40
DT-10BR
The big brother of the group is the near-indestructible, stage-ready
DT-10BR.
It brings the precision and versatility of Korg’s professional
tuners to your pedalboard. The bright LED meter is extremely accurate and quick.
The note display is also bright and large enough to be read easily on a dark
stage. The thick, extruded aluminum chassis is extremely rugged and should
endure years of stomping. It has a 1/4" input, two 1/4" outputs, AC adapter
jack, calibration switch, flat switch, and single footswitch. The included
cascade cable lets you power other pedals on your board with a single power
supply.
The
DT-10BR
has dual outputs to give you options for your signal: one is a
bypass that always outputs the signal while the other mutes your signal when you
engage the tuner. The calibration switch accommodates different reference
pitches so you can match the key of any song. The flat switch lets you tune down
seven semitones flat. On a standard guitar you can tune all the way down to A
with precision and ease.
Whether you’re just starting out on an acoustic or
electric or are a two-handed, seven-string shredding machine, good tuning is
integral to your playing. It not only counts for what your audience hears, but
makes a big difference in the development of your ear as well. Do yourself—and
your audience—a favor: get a
Korg
Tuner
and do your part to eradicate the evil scourge of tuneus
outofwhackus.
Recently replaced by the Pitchblack Chromatic Pedal Tuner
and it's big brother PB-02 Pitchblack + Pedal Tuner
