Vintage strobe tuner series#

For instance an ‘A’ played on a guitar’s 6th string at the 5th fret has the frequency of 110 Hz when in tune.

Vintage strobe tuner series#

Mechanical strobe tuners have a series of lamps or LEDs powered by amplified audio from the instrument they flash (or strobe) at the same frequency as the input signal. However, the accuracy of these tuners in strobe mode, while sufficient for most tuning, is no better than in any other mode, as they use the same technique as any basic tuner to measure frequency, only displaying it in a way that imitates a strobe tuner.

Other LED tuners have a ‘strobe mode’ that emulates the appearance of a strobe. Other companies, such as Sonic Research, TC Electronic, and Planet Waves, sell highly accurate LED-based true strobe tuners. The best known brand in strobe tuner technology is Peterson Tuners who in 1967 marketed their first strobe tuner, the Model 400. Anyone who had to move this tuner around was less inclined to like it because of its size and weight: two record-player-sized cases of 30-40 pounds each. Wind instrument repair people liked this tuner because it needed no adjustment to show different notes. (The other discs were all gear-driven off of this one.) Incoming audio was amplified to feed a long neon tube common to all 12 discs. When set at A 4 = 440 Hz the tuning fork produced a 55 Hz signal, which drove the four-pole 1650 RPM synchronous motor to which the A disc was mounted. These weights permitted setting it to different reference frequencies (such as A 4 = 435 Hz), although over a relatively narrow range, perhaps a whole tone. The fork had sliding weights, an adjustment knob, and a dial to show the position of the weights.

This tuner had an electrically driven temperature-compensated tuning fork the electrical output of this fork was amplified to run the motor. The gearing between discs was a very close approximation to the 12th root of two ratio. They had 12 strobe discs, driven by one motor. However, these strobes are now mainly collector pieces. The first strobe tuner dates back to 1936 and was originally made by the Conn company it was called the Stroboconn and was produced for approximately 40 years. The strobe tuner detects the pitch either from a TRS input jack or a built-in or external microphone connected to the tuner. The accuracy of the tuner is only limited by the internal frequency generator. Even the slightest difference between the two shows up as a rotating motion in the strobe display. A strobe tuner shows the difference between a reference frequency and the musical note being played. There are three types of strobe tuners: the mechanical rotating disk strobe tuner, an LED array strobe in place of the rotating disk, and “virtual strobe” tuners with LCDs or ones that work on personal computers. Back in the '70s everyone would engrave their social security number on their gear in order to prove ownership in case of theft (which I did), so on the face plate you can see where I subsequently polished it out years later when ID theft became an issue.Strobe tuners (the popular term for stroboscopic tuners) are the most accurate type of tuner. The tolex covering shows some wear as it is nearly 50 years old. Repaired Rhodes pianos in the ‘70s and used it to calibrate the tuning of the It does not work as well as Peterson tuners do today but heck, it's about 50 years old. It’d beĪ great addition to the bench of your repair shop or as a focal point in your musician’s

This tuner is sought after by collectors and is pretty rare these days. Tuners also took their place as a must-have in the road cases of their touring The Who, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young et al. The mysterious flickering dials behind such luminaries as the Grateful Dead, Recording studio during the 1970's and beyond. The strobe tuner was a common sight on stage and in the Or any audio device much more accurately than regular LED, LCD or needle Steelpan drums, bagpipes, accordions, calliopes, bells, the pins in Music Boxes Used to tune any instrument, including the initial 'beating' of

To regular electronic tuners they are basically stroboscopes. One of the most accurate tuning devices, strobe tuners, work in a different way Major breakthrough for the strobe tuner and helped pave the way for Peterson toīecome the leading tuner company in the world. It was the first solid-state strobe tuner, did not requireĬalibration and allowed musicians to select one-cent increments. Precision tuning for bands, orchestras, stage musicians, and musical instrument Was introduced-variations of which would become the world standard for In 1967, Peterson’s first strobe tuner, the Model 400, OK.this tuner is a little slice of history for all you