Reddit reviews Snark ST-2 All Instrument Clip-On Chromatic Tuner

im a snark enthusiast. (mm super tight®)

The Issue

As I see it, a beginner has two main issues when it comes to choosing a guitar:

1. Uncertainty if you'll actually stick with it long term. This discourages significant investment.
   
2. Unfamiliarity with guitars in general. You just don't know what the different specifications or features do or mean, so you can't really have an opinion to guide you on these things.
   
   Entry Level Guitars
   
   In response the first thing I would say is that any guitar is better than no guitar. You don't want to get something that really sucks to the point of it being really hard to play and inhibiting progress. But the quality of entry level guitars is actually pretty high, so I wouldn't be too worried about it.
   
   Next, don't feel like you have to make the 'perfect' purchase. The reality is that you probably can't. Even if you are committed and certain you'll stick with it, you'll not be able to know what your preferences are long term. That's okay. The only way to learn what your preferences are is by playing lots of guitars. So think of this as the first, but not necessarily the last guitar you'll ever own. So if all you can afford is the basic $100 Squier then that's totally fine. I started with one and many of us have done the same. On a very basic level try to get a guitar that you like. You want to like how it looks as that can inspire you to pick it up. You want it to feel good in your hands on a very basic level.
   
   There is no magic bullet though. A $100 guitar is just fine for learning, but it won't have the same level of long term quality or value. Realize that if you stick with it you'll probably have to upgrade. That's totally okay, but that is part of the deal when you only spend $100.
   
   Best Value
   
   I maintain that there is nothing wrong with starting with a $100 Squier. But these guitars aren't perfect. By getting the price that low you make some sacrifices. In terms of long term viability these guitars tend to struggle. They just aren't made to the higher quality standards, so after a few years they may start to fall apart. The wood, metal hardware, finish, and electronics just aren't that rugged.
   
   If you are a little more committed, willing to spend a little more, and spend some time and energy learning about things you can step up a level. If you can manage to bump your budget up a little to about $300-$500 and are willing to entertain the idea of a used guitar, then you can get some fantastic value.
   
   Why consider a used guitar? It is all about depreciation. Pretty simple stuff. A brand new Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster is $400 brand new. Play that guitar for a month and it becomes 'used'. This means its value drops to maybe $300. In reality though, the guitar is basically the same. Very good to excellent condition used guitars can be functionally identical to new guitars, but by buying used you don't take the depreciation hit. You can go ahead and sell that $300 used Telecaster in 6 months for about $300 and go even.
   
   But to buy used you need to be armed with more knowledge. You'll need to spend some time researching threads on 'what to look for when buying a used guitar' - and there are plenty of them on any guitar site, including /r/guitar.
   
   Specific Recommendations
   
   I tend to recommend 2 different families of electric guitars in this situation.
   
   
3. Squier Classic Vibe
   
4. PRS SE
   
   I recommend these for a few reasons. They are generally widely available. You shouldn't have a hard time finding one on your local Craigslist, eBay, Reverb.com, guitar center used, etc... They have a reputation of being high quality instruments. It is not uncommon for an experienced guitar player who has nice guitars of $1000 or more to be totally willing to own and play one of these. This is not as true for the $100 Squier or Epiphone. They offer some nice versatility to cover a wide range of musical genres and styles. They are quite durable instruments. They are easily modified into an instrument that can compete with something costing 2x or 3x its price tag. They are pretty stable long term investments. You won't get to a point 5 years from now where you think, man this guitar sucks I need a new one. You may want to get other guitars for variety of enjoyment, but you won't have to upgrade because it is falling apart. These guitars have a very solid presence on the used market, so if you don't stick with it you can easily sell it for close to what you bought it. Cheap $100 starter guitars have basically 0 resale value.
   
   Some honorable mentions go do Epiphone, Peavey, and Yamaha. They make pretty solid stuff in this price range as well.
   
   Kits
   
   I want to comment a little on kits. I personally think they're a little overrated. The appeal of a kit is the hope that you're getting everything you need, even if you don't know what you need. But you at times end up paying a little more without getting something you'll actually need. The quality also tends to be pretty low.
   
   So you can get a little better value by getting individual pieces yourself. It requires a little more research to arm yourself with some knowledge, but you can do it. Start with a guitar. You'll need a tuner. I recommend a Snark clip on. You'll need some picks. Get whatever you want or feels good. You may want to get an amp at some point. I recommend the Fender Mustang series. You'll also need a cable. Spend $20 on a simple, yet durable cable. Build your gear over time and you'll end up with better stuff.

Better uke setup, still cheap:

• Lanikai 21-T. This is a tenor uke, around $120. I love mine. The strings that come on it shouldn't, so next...
  
  
• Worth brown strings. These really helped my fingerpicking. $12.80, but the strings are cut long enough for two full sets. Crappy or dead strings will not help you develop your ear correctly. Being out of tune will also prevent your development, so next...
  
  
• Snark SN-2 tuner. About $12.00. Finally, you need something to play...
  
  
• The Daily Ukulele is great, and can be used to practice your rhythm playing or to develop fingerpicked versions of classics (lots of Beatles in here, and an easy uke arrangement of California Dreamin'). At a more advanced level, try Learn to Play Fingerstyle Ukulele Solos. If you have not really gotten into fingerpicking, starting this book will be a big revelation: you suck, because you can't play freaking Twinkle Twinkle Little Star the way the author arranged it (anyway, that's where I started). Learning these will be a long process, and you will probably want to make many detours, through scales practice, finger exercises, and music theory, but your playing (even for strummy things) will start improving enormously.
  
  I'll also assume that, since you are a Redditor and know what's up, that you don't need to be told to get a metronome like the Korg MA-30.
  
  So borrow a couple of textbooks instead of buying and set that money aside; that should be about enough to get all of this. Or save money some other way... A friend of mine had a serious Starbuck's habit. I don't think he even realized it, but he was dropping $5-$10 every day at Starbuck's and whining about how he had no money. Coffee at home and two months later, his first uke.
  
  Last, strumming... practice the living crap out of your strums. Count out loud. Use a metronome. Write down the patterns. Speaking and writing the strum patterns is important, drumming them out with your hand (off the uke) is also important. You need to think of the strum as a rhythm that's independent of your uke, like this magical, ideal, Platonic rhythm, and you with your poor wooden uke and your sad meat fingers have to try to mimic it; anything you can do to understand the rhythm better -- whether or not you do that thing on your uke -- will help improve your strum.
  

I agree

This seems like a gimmick to me, and a waste of money. If you want to give your musician friend a practical, cheap gift I recommend these.

It's 11 bucks shipped and it works better than any tuner I've ever used. I mean just check out the reviews. I have a large collection of stringed instruments and this thing works on virtually anything I clip it too. I've even started tuning drums with it.

Just some very unique shaped clip on tuners. Snark makes some similar ones.

I agree. You can never really have too many packs of strings. If he doesn't have a Snark tuner yeat, I highly recommend them.

If your acoustic doesn't have a 1/4" output, then something like the Snark Clip-on Tuner works well most of the time.

I looked in my gig bag for inspiration - it turns out that I just have way too much shit in there, most of which is under £15. Cheaper DIY options offered where applicable:

• The snark SN2 clip-on tuner. Absolute must-have.
  
• A decent multi-tool
  
• Allan Key Set if the multi-tool doesn't have the right sizes (metric is normal unless you play something made across the pond, but in case you need imperial, and have lots of space in your gig bag)
  
• Dunlop strap locks are a solid addition to any bassist's set-up
  
• Some fret-fast (I'm too lazy and disorganised to get new strings very often - you could just sub a rag and white mineral oil, but this is a convenient little package)
  
• A couple of spare 9V batteries for your bass, or your (more likely your guitarist's) pedals
  
• A fold-away bass stand that you can take to practices, comes in just over budget, but is a good addition and folds up to about the size of a tube of Pringles
  
• Some cheap bric-a-brac like electrical tape, gaffer tape, write-on-anything pens - all good additions
  
• A decent set of ear-plugs to protect your hearing
  
• Foldaway music stand if you ever play with sheet music; alternatively, if you have a car or are near public transport then this guy might be more bang for your buck; light in case you have one and play in dark venues sometimes and bag in case, like me, you're always leaving the house on gig-day carrying too much
  
• Patch cables if you use several stomp-boxes or rack units
  
• Cable ties to stop your cables getting mangled (can always use zip-ties instead - less neat but much cheaper)
  
• A cheap soldering iron is not essential, but it will be good to have one for that odd occasion where you need it - I've actually been in situations where I've saved some poor soul's night (occasionally mine) by having one of these on my person
  
• Owning a padded guitar strap has saved me much back pain over the years.
  
• A decent torch for last-minute backstage repairs and adjustments, lighting your pedalboard, etc
  
  Conspicuous consumerism at its finest, ladies and gents.

Snark makes a good clip on tuner. We use these at a few band programs where I teach.

clip on vibration tuner FTW. they are about $10. GCEA, from the 4th (closest to you) string to the 1st (closest to the ground).

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VWKPHC/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B004Z17008&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0AGNJBKJY52KPA291JHR

I use a snark tuner. Love this thing to death. Works on everything, guitar, bass, drums, trumpets... No reason to put another pedal in your chain if you don't need it.

Snark: http://www.amazon.com/Snark-Instrument-Clip--Chromatic-Tuner/dp/B003VWKPHC/

You probably won't need a compressor, as the pf500 has one built in for ya. :)

Pedals are completely up to you depending once again on your music. I played with no pedals at all for years. But I do have a few OD's/Fuzz, Bass Chorus, Bass Wah and some others that I like to funk around with from time to time.

Snarks are awesome.

These string winders are awesome.

Couch makes really good guitar straps.

If its ok that its a tad bit over $10
or
New strings

I've really been wanting to commit myself to learning how to play an instrument and the uke seems like an easy place to start! I'm in the process of saving up for a good uke and these would definitely help me succeed!

I want to learn something new.(:

I'm partial to the Snark SN-2 tuner myself. Get the SN-2 All Instrument tuner, it's more versatile than the "Ukulele" tuner and costs the same.

For the short term, try a smartphone app, or if you can tune by ear, there are youtube tutorials that play the tones.

Others will probably chime in with ideas about fixing your intonation which is probably (partially) your problem but what helped me was changing out the factory strings and putting on a decent set of new ones.

Also; don't trust the in-game tuner; it's far too generous and forgiving even though the game itself isn't. Either get a headstock tuner (any of them, even the super-cheap ones seem to work better than the in-game one); or an in-line tuner.

I first taught myself guitar in the early 70s. (yes, I'm old)

I bought a guitar from my buddy for five bucks, went to the music shop and got some strings, a basics book with a lesson on tuning and a few songs in it and a pitch pipe. (I don't recommend a pitch pipe, get yourself a chromatic tuner like the highly rated Snark http://www.amazon.com/Snark-Instrument-Clip-On-Chromatic-Tuner/dp/B003VWKPHC/ref=pd_cp_MI_0.)

Pick out a two chord song like Jambalaya and work it to the bone using C and G7. Then advance from there. Try to start with something simple like that first.

Youtube can be a terrific resource, but, for me, keeping it simple in the beginning made it doable.

YMMV

That is true with any new strings on a guitar. You have to tune and re-tune for a week or so while the strings stretch. Even after you do that, you'll have to occasionally tune it.

I suggest you pick up a tuner from Amazon for $10. For a 1/2 size guitar I think you'll need to tune it to A (A-D-G-C-E-A)

This banjo tuner would help me become a rockstar.

Here are my accessories in a backpack I take to every gig:

• Snark Tuner
  
• Sansamp Bass Driver DI
  
• Two extra 9V Batteries
  
• Vitamin C
  
• Herb Wong's Jazz Fakebook
  
• Two cables (I should be carrying two more)
  
• Pen
  
• Blank sheet music
  
• Strepsils (I sing)
  
• Two sets of earplugs
  
• Folder containing repertoire and lyrics of our set
  
• Extra set of strings
  
  I hope this helps!

I'd pick up a cheap snark tuner for around $10. The online/app ones are fine, but it's really, really nice having a dedicated one handy right next to your instrument at all times.

Standard tuning going from the thickest to the thinnest string is E-A-D-G. If you think the E string is too deep compared to the rest of them, play the 5th fret of the E string along with the open A string. The notes should be the same if tuned correctly and should resonate. If you hear a kind of "pulsing" beat sound then they are not tuned correctly to each other.

If you're looking for a new tuner, I'd recommend this. I have one and in terms of accuracy and ease of use it blows other chromatic tuners away.

If the strings turn out to all be tuned correctly and you still feel like your E string is a little looser than you would like, you could invest in a heavier gauge set of strings. This would help to maintain the string tension and make the deeper strings less floppy.