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

49 people found this helpful

Not the most accurate tuner?

55 comments

N. Scott Storkel

September 3, 2019

I own three other tuners in addition to the D'Addario NS Micro: a TC Electronics Polytune 3, a Korg TM-60, and a Snark SN1. When comparing tuners to each other, the NS Micro is the one most likely to disagree with the group. If a string is noticeably high or low, the NS Micro gets that right 100% of the time. When you're close to being in tune, the NS Micro is more likely to suggest that a string a just a little too high or too low when the rest of the tuners agree that the string is in-tune. It's certainly possible that the $12 NS Micro is more accurate than the $35 Korg or $100 Polytune... but I doubt it. Additionally, I found the NS Micro had a difficult time locking on to the low E string on my bass guitars and was much more likely to disagre with my other tuners when it came to this low note.

Aside from that this tuner is about what you'd expect. The plastic ratcheting clamp works, but doesn't feel terribly solid; if you need to frequently swap a tuner from one guitar to another this might not be the best choice. The clamp has a bit of rubber padding, but not much so you'll want to keep an eye on it if you're frequently swapping the tuner to different guitars. The small size of this tuner makes it much easier to conceal than most other tuners. It also limits the size of the LCD, which could be difficult to see if your vision is less than perfect. On the positive side, the controls are very intuitive and easy to use.

Bottom line: for $10-12 this a great tuner to carry when you're heading to your local guitar superstore to demo instruments. Tuning is good enough and because it's not as bulky as something like a Snark you can easily fit it in a pocket.

One person found this helpful

Great small tuner... with a few issues.

0Comment

cannon fan

January 29, 2017

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

Keep it simple and I will buy another one

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Phil Seymour

October 27, 2019

So easy to tune when simply in tuning mode. A real show stopper when one presses the wrong tiny button while tuning during a song while performing. I love that it is tiny, virtually invisible to the audience, and yet the display is bright enough to see even with spotlights blazing. I had to toss my Addario tuner and grab an old Fender clip on, at the gig last Sunday. I was busy leaving, so it got left on the amp I was using and I don't really care if I see it again.

Could you make these without the extra stuff? I don't need to change pitch from A 440 when playing live, in the studio, or at anytime. Also I have a drummer. Metronome function is pointless. Even my symphonic friends would never have a clip on metronome, they prefer the old fashioned kind when practicing.

Not as good as mini tuner

0Comment

Nick W

September 19, 2013

I tried this after I lost my planet waves ns design mini tuner. Not sure if I lost it at a gig, or my three-year-old son got his hands on it, I'd bet the latter.

This micro tuner is smaller and less
obtrusive than the mini, which is nice. That's about the only Pro. There are a few other features I guess, like being able to select the instrument used, but I don't need that.

Cons: The readout is smaller, duh, but does not seem to be as bright. I play a lot of outdoor weddings, in bright sun, and this one is much harder to read than the mini.

This micro tuner does not seem to tune as responsively as the mini. As you move closer to In tune, the bars do not smoothly move towards the center, so it's easy to over or under tune, and can take a few more seconds then the mini to get the job done. And those seconds can count when a bride is waiting for you to play her song to walk down the aisle and you're trying to get your tuning absolutely perfect. I'm also trying to tune my semi-acoustic guitar as quietly as possible, so using my ear for fine tuning is not a viable option.

Does it get the job done? Yes. But there is a product that's almost the same size that works a little better, for a negligible price difference. It might even be cheaper. If you're a beginner and want to select the instrument you're tuning and a few extra seconds isn't an issue, or you play in dark environments and don't need a super bright readout, this will be fine, but I will be going with the mini when I buy a new one.

6 people found this helpful

Tiny, Accurate, but Laggy

0Comment

Supperconductor

January 28, 2014

I've bought each iteration of this model. Although I love what they've done physically to the design, the performance in one respect has gotten worse.

The Good:
The tuner is accurate, easy to read, and and has a display that can be used upside down or right-side up.
It's gotten even smaller than it used to be. It's so compact, I can leave it on my classical guitar's headstock and it won't interfere with the hard shell case at all.
The price is great.

The Bad:
This tuner is laggy. When I'm tuning a string up or down, and pluck the guitar string, it will not show any change in pitch. I have to wait a few seconds for the display to turn off, pluck the string again, and suddenly the tuner will show that the pitch has changed. This one aspect has made this tuner frustrating to use. Earlier versions of the NS tuner exhibited this problem too, but to a much lesser degree. I own two classical guitars, and I get the same results on both of them.

Alternative:
The Snark SN-1 tuner (http://www.amazon.com/Snark-13-JQCT-G3R2-SN-1-Tuner/dp/B003VWJ2K8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390954277&sr=8-1&keywords=snark+sn-1) which I've had for a couple of years does not have this lag problem. It has a nicer, full color display. It is very responsive and accurate. However you have to take it off the headstock before you put the guitar in the case. If you can tolerate the minor inconvenience of the Snark's larger size, I recommend the Snark SN-1.

2 people found this helpful

Great and no so great things about this one

0Comment

Joe H.

May 14, 2015

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.

One person found this helpful

0Comment

Eric Leberg

Tuners tuners tuners

June 24, 2014

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

0Comment

jake

Can be buzzy

December 14, 2016

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.

2 people found this helpful

Works for guitar, not so much for bass

0Comment

Neild Bingham

June 4, 2019

Pros: Small profile, can be left on the instrument even when in a case.

Cons: Can get interference from back ground noise. Has some trouble with the E string and will not tune a B string on bass.

I liked the size and profile of this tuner so I bought one for each of my instruments. And even though it sometimes had trouble with the E string on my bass I tolerated it in exchange for the convenience of size. It also seams to pick up vibrations from other players so I often found my self waiting for the practice room to quiet down.

However recently I starting playing a 5 string bass. The tuners will not pick up the B string at all. I have sense gone with the Super Snark. Not as low profile but the clip makes it easy to remove and it has no trouble with the 5 string or background noise.