Amazon.com: Customer reviews: D’Addario NS Micro Clip-On Tuner, 2-Pack– Highly Precise, Easy to Read, Clip-On Tuner for Guitar, Mandolin, Bass and More –Wide Calibration Range and Metronome

Top positive review

Replaced my snarks, and never going back.

September 13, 2017

Bought a two pack based on the reviews here, plus I know 2 'professional' musicians that use these and both recommended it.
I've been using a snark, but they stick way out from the headstock. Where I play, I'm constantly walking around and I have at least one instrument hanging on my back with another one in front of me. If I leave the snark on the headstock, it often gets knocked off, then I lose it if I don't notice immediately. Also the snark doesn't fit in my case if it's on the headstock of any of my instruments, so I'm constantly searching for it. These are so small, they easily fit in the case while attached to the headstock.
The snark also has rubber "protectors" on its clip. The rubber on the snark easily picks up dust - turning it into sandpaper that leaves a nice round ring on your headstock since the clip on the snark is made to be attached and removed over and over again, it moves around on your headstock easily.

These are made in a way that makes me believe they are intended to be attached to the instrument, then never removed (although they can easily be removed). They rotate on the clip, but so far for where I've attached these it appears that the place where this tuner actually attaches to the instrument will never move, which means no more scratching my headstock.
The display is bright, color coded, and you can flip it with a switch so no matter which way you mount it, it's readable.
I do wish I could get these in other colors, since my banjo is all natural wood you can see the black clip sticking out.
Other than that one detail, these are great.

*I've been using these for about a year now on a banjo, an f-style mandolin, two acoustic guitars, and a violin. They all still work great for me, but I've got some additional information.
1) the screen is polarized. This makes it easier to read in the sun, however if you're wearing polarized sunglasses the screen may be unreadable.
2) they work in live situations, but as with any vibration tuner, they're not infallible. If it's noisy where you're trying to tune, your instrument might pick up that noise too, making it slightly more difficult than with a direct line tuner. Not a deal killer, but keep that in mind. If you're performing in a loud environment, you might want/need a tuner that connects to your instruments pickup/microphone directly.

49 people found this helpful

Top critical review

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Duncan

Mostly cool, one drawback

September 19, 2016

I like that it's small, you can kind of hide it on the reverse of the headstock, it's clear to read, and the metronome feature is a plus. The only problem, and, since I'm using it on a ukulele and not a louder instrument it's a fairly big problem, is that it buzzes when I hit certain notes or chords fairly audibly. I tightened it as tight as I could tight, and still heard the buzz. Even asked my wife who was several feet away if she could hear it, and she confirmed she could.

If the buzz bit isn't a problem, it's a pretty cool little tuner.

Edit: Attached it to my UBass, which has a thicker headstock, and, obviously a different wavelength of vibration, and it doesn't buzz on that.

49 people found this helpful

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cannon fan

Great small tuner... with a few issues.

January 29, 2017

Size: Two PackStyle: Clip-OnVerified Purchase

These are great tuners in general. They sit just behind a Strat headstock and are almost invisible from the front (just a little black tab in front). A few nits: The first one I had for a few years started losing its "grip," and it would fall off (hard to notice that on a dark stage). Since the clamp is just plastic and can wear out, I recommend not removing or moving to different instruments. Just tighten once and leave it on a guitar. Perhaps this is the reason for the two-pack. The new ones seem a bit stronger. However, the buttons seem to have changed from a soft rubber (I think) to a harder plastic... and they rattle at A (220Hz)! (I thought I had a bad reverb spring or something at first.) I added a piece of clear Kapton tape over the top, stopping the buttons from rattling but allowing them to be pressed.

3 people found this helpful

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David M. Owens

Nice, with one annoying flaw...

August 23, 2017

Size: Two PackStyle: Clip-OnVerified Purchase

The tuner itself is pretty accurate and easy to use, and it's small and easy to keep out of the way... but good god, the buttons on it are so loose that if you strum hard (or pluck hard on a bass) they hum and buzz and it's annoying and difficult to ignore once you notice it. They're fine if you play through headphones, or play loud enough that you won't notice it... but at bedroom/apartment levels it's a noticeable and annoying buzz that ruins what would be an otherwise great tuner for the super affordable price.

3 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Does not come as advertised!

March 23, 2019

Size: Two PackStyle: Clip-OnVerified Purchase

I'll probably keep the tuner(s) because I don't need the hassle of shipping them back but...

1. I must have received the older version because there was no metronome as the video states there would be.
2. It sometimes does not recognize when a string is plucked. The response time is often slow.
3. I thought I had ordered a package of 2 tuners, but they sent 2 packages of 2 and now I have paid double what I anticipated (I should have checked closer). Careless me!
4. The clamps are not spring loaded, therefore they are likely to be knocked off.
5. The display is relatively small and hard to see.

I don't recommend this item.

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Joe H.

Great and no so great things about this one

May 14, 2015

Size: Two PackStyle: Clip-OnVerified Purchase

The Good:

- The low profile/low mass of this design is a real plus for those who don't want to clip something that looks like a fuel gauge on their head stock.
- Good accuracy. I compared this versus my Peterson Virtual Strobe 1 and it synched up perfectly.
- Good interface design and tuning read out which changes through a range of colors as you move further or closer to pitch running from fire engine red for badly out of pitch to Christmas green when the string is on pitch

The Not So Good:
- This is fairly minor but, as others have said, don't count on the included batteries to last very long or to work at all.
- I have had difficulty with the unit sensing the low E and A strings on my electric guitars. I have to spin it or push it down when it stops detecting the vibration/signal and that doesn't work perfectly either. I clip it tight behind the head stock between the low E tuner and nut. I've tried other positions but that didn't seem to fix it 100% either. I haven't tried it on acoustic instruments. I bought a package of two and they're both the same in this regard. I'll have to toy with the positioning to see if I can find a sweet spot. If not for this it would have earned 5 stars for me.

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Eric Leberg

Tuners tuners tuners

June 24, 2014

Size: Two PackStyle: Clip-OnVerified Purchase

As a musician I'm in search of many perfect things including the perfect tuner. I got the package of two. Unfortunately, the first one died a quick and sudden death. A new battery didn't resurrect it. I couldn't find the other one, because they're small and black. I finally did find it, and have used it several weeks on my Guild Acoustic, and it works nicely so far. In fact, it works really nice. If you are concerned about stage appearance, this is virtually invisible to anyone watching or videotaping the gig, a plus because it's pretty small but big enough to read. At the cheap price, it wasn't worth my time to try returning the first one. I just decided to eat the loss. I'm crossing my fingers hoping this one will last. If you are playing a really nice, (collectible) guitar, be cautious because these tuners, (and capos too,) can damage the finish permanently. I use a tuner on my Gibson Johnny Smith while I play but always take it off when I'm done playing.

4 people found this helpful

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Jon Creese

Not Reliable

April 16, 2018

Size: Two PackStyle: Clip-OnVerified Purchase

These do not work very well. For some reason the screen will look very faint, as if the battery is dying, then it's fine a minute later. The Snark tuners are much better and worth the extra money.

Update: These are total junk. Now, both go dark and only work occasionally after only about 2 months.

2 people found this helpful

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jake

Can be buzzy

December 14, 2016

Size: Two PackStyle: Clip-OnVerified Purchase

What I like about these is that they are very small and easily fit in the case while still on the headstock. They stay on well and are easy to operate. The reason I am giving it 3 stars is because I frequently notice buzzing. It is so noticeable that I have to remove them when doing live recording with a microphone. There doesn't seem to be anything that I am doing wrong. It seems that something between how it clamps and the swivel of the top causes a slight buzz. If I was using this on an electric, it'd be a non issue. Alas.

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Wayfinder

Interesting design but not nearly responsive enough

December 9, 2013

Size: Two PackStyle: Clip-OnVerified Purchase

This is a product that is unique, tiny and would be very useful-- if it were more accurate. The problem is it's just not responsive enough. To get it to work one has to place it low on the headpiece (next to the nut) and strum a string pretty loud for a consistent register. Placing it at the top of the headpiece it simply doesn't pick up enough string vibration to register well.

The problem with placing it next to the nut is that it then makes it impossible to hang the guitar on a wall-mount guitar hanger. That may seem like a small issue... but not if you use such a device regularly (as many home-players do). Myself, I have 5 guitars hanging on my living room wall.

That doesn't make this valueless. You can always clip it on the top of the headpiece and then move it when you're ready to tune. Thus I give it 3 stars. However there are other more responsive tuners, such as the capo-tuners we've seen on Amazon lately. They're about the same price (actually, the capo tuners are a bit less-expensive) but I've found the capo-tuners to be considerably more responsive.

So bottom line, I'm not impressed. These aren't an expensive tuner comparatively speaking, and that's good. But they' really don't do all that great a job. They're unresponsive enough that I honestly think a person might break a string before realizing the tuner isn't responding to the current string pluck.

Note to Ovation guitar players: this is not the clip-on tuner for you. There's simply no place to clip it. Fortunately my Ovation has built-in tuning, but if you have an Ovation Acoustic, you'll want a different tuner.

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robb frank

BREAKS AFTER WEEK OF USE

November 18, 2019

Size: Two PackStyle: Clip-OnVerified Purchase

it worked for about 2 weeks and then stopped working. i replaced the battery and the display just flashes now with no reading and then turns back off. i replaced the battery multiple times thinking maybe the battery was just faulty, then my 2nd micro tuner stopped working the same exact way. cheap garbage, it's a shame because i liked the low profile design i was planning to outfit all of my guitars with them.

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M. Kuffler

Good but not great...

December 22, 2013

Size: Two PackStyle: Clip-OnVerified Purchase

I have a thing about guitar tuners. I love them and hate them. I love them for their ease of use and availability. I hate them because I can use two different tuners and get different results. While not a bad product, this is not the most accurate tuner on the planet. I can tune my guitars with this and they are close but not spot on "in tune".

I think this product is best used for gigging guitarists that need an inexpensive, very portable tuner that can stay on the guitar and won't crush them if they lose it on the road or in a club. I have several strobe tuners I couldn't afford to lose. I have several clip on tuners that are very accurate and I'd prefer not to lose. These I could lose and not feel bad.

One other thing that drives me crazy - on these tuners there are some special calibration functions and alternate tuning functions. The documentation for these is not really that great and the extra functionality is always a hassle to engage. Just remember, not a bad product but you get what you pay for. If you are looking for accurate tuning get yourself a Peterson Strobe Tuner or the like.

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