TC Electronic Polytune 2 Pedal Tuner

Comments about TC Electronic Polytune 2 Pedal Tuner:

Very quick for checking tuning in-between songs. I love the one-strum concept (polyphonic) versus having to check each string independently, one at a time (chromatic). Chromatic, strobe tuning is immediately available by just plucking one string, and is more accurate than the polyphonic tuning mode, as evidenced by the polyphonic tuning showing all strings in tune, but strings being tuned by the strobe mode showing to be slightly sharp or flat. This tuner has replaced a Peterson Strobostomp that I have used on my pedal board for years, which is a great, accurate tuner; however, the quicker and easier-to-read Poly Tune 2 has won out, hands down.

Comments about TC Electronic Polytune 2 Pedal Tuner:

The faceplate is a glorified sticker with a low-grade adhesive. The body is solid, and the switch takes stepping on, but in time the glue loses adhesion, then the faceplate will flake off and expose the raw circuit board and LED's.
Interface could be far more intuitive. I'd rather learn the instrument, instead of learning a tuner.

Comments about TC Electronic Polytune 2 Pedal Tuner:

I purchased the TC Electronic Polytune 2 Pedal Tuner because my 20 year old Korg tuner finally died, and the Polytune 2 seemed like a cool idea, and had good reviews online. Unfortunately, the unit was either a lemon when I got it, or immediately broke after 1 use. It came New with a dead battery, I swapped out the battery, I used it once to tune up my 4 guitars, came back a week later to use the Polytune 2 again, and all that it would do was make a clicking noise, and show a small "d" on the screen. So, I replaced the battery a third time, tried 2 different cables, tried a couple different guitars, but only got the same small "d" on the screen, and the strange clicking noise from the Polytune 2 pedal. I emailed TC Electronic, and they responded fast telling me that the small "d" means that the pedal thinks that it is not receiving any signal from the guitar cable, but trying a different cable did not make the pedal work. So, I called Musician's Friend, and exchanged the pedal for another New one. I am trying out the replacement Polytune 2 pedal that Musician's Friend sent me, but I don't trust it yet. TC Electronic's customer service responded fast, and Musician's Friend's customer service responded fast, and actually surprised me by sending the exchange unit out before I had time to get to UPS to return the defective pedal. So, I still like the idea of being able to tune all strings at the same time, but it will take me awhile to trust this pedal, which means, I cannot in good conscience recommend it to anyone yet.

Comments about TC Electronic Polytune 2 Pedal Tuner:

I bought this tuner after I saw another guitarists pedal board with this tuner on it.
The fact you can tune all the strings at one time seemed awesome. I had to have one.

Got mine worked great. 4 months later I was having trouble with my rig(about 4 effects pedals + tuner). Turned out to be the "in" jack on my polytune tuner. It was an intermittent problem - I would not get any sound out of my amp and found that if I jiggled the cable going into the tuner I would get a sound through to my amp.

I had a good experience dealing with TC Electronics. I paid to ship it to them , it was under warranty. They sent me a new one. So I am happy with it. Things happen I understand.

One thing to mention if you plug a "stereo" cable into this tuner it will play through but the tuning function will not work. I was using a sound-recording guys cables and couldn't figure out why the tuner did not come on as I was playing through it. Any ways I know now.

Another thing its kind of hard to see the all strings at once tuning function display when standing. Kind of small although I am almost 50 years old - that could have something to do with it.
Happy with this tuner !!

Comments about TC Electronic Polytune 2 Pedal Tuner:

I love all TC Electronic pedals and devices I have bought. They have all exceeded my expectations, including this awesome tuner. I was on the fence about this versus the smaller one. I think both would be just fine, just depends on if you need space or not. I personally like a bigger display for tuning, esp for doing intonation, but if that is not a big deal for you then get the smaller one.

I don't use it but this pedal allows you to daisy chain additional power supplies which could be important for some folks. I don't know if the smaller one offers this (it wasn't a deciding factor for me).

Switching tuning configuration is easy too - small buttons in back that you press when the device is on. The tuning style is also quickly changeable to guitar, bass, and style of tuning (simple line or more animated with a waveform-like design). I like the more animated style because it seems more detailed, but this is all personal preference. Playing live I might prefer the simpler display.

One limitation/word of advice: a tech at guitar center (sorry musicians friend) gave me some great advice, as follows. the poly tune function is extremely helpful but not the most accurate way to tune your guitar. I use it to get a baseline. If a string is out of tune, then I play just that string by itself and tune it. the polytune feature does not seem to be super accurate - but is extremely helpful for quick spot-checking, playing live (I think those are its intentions?).

Lastly, my other favorite thing about this is that it cuts the output signal when you tune, which allowed me to get rid of my a-b switch. may be obvious for those who do research, but I did not know this and was pleasantly surprised.

Comments about TC Electronic Polytune 2 Pedal Tuner:

I have played many types of instruments over 40 years... cut my teeth on strobe tuners. I have always prefered the response of the strobe. It was this or a Peterson or Boss, I chose the Poly after reading the reviews and the pricing. This tuner seems to do the best job of presenting a responsive strobe like meter, albeit by design, best limited to guitar applications. The strum feature is great. I have used the clip-on tuners for years and find them quick and reasonably in-accurate and somewhat inconsistent... requiring fine tuning with harmonics or by ear (mine aren't what they used to be.)
Not sure how or if this could work with a violin, mandolin, banjo... we'll see.
This is a great investment when seriously discounted from list price...seems very well constructed, but time will tell just how well... They don't build anything like they use to... Read the reviews then decide what's best for you.

Comments about TC Electronic Polytune 2 Pedal Tuner:

I honestly never expected to replace my Boss TU-3 with anything but the next version of the same; after years of touring, over which time I've encountered hundreds of other musicians, I understood that Boss pedal to simply be the industry standard... If you were actually serious about your playing, it was the first (or only) thing on your board... Then recently I started noticing something different popping up on pedalboards: the TC electronic polytune. For months, I ignored it, assuming nothing could be preferable/superior to my Boss, but then, on a friend's insistence, I tried his Polytune, and my world shook a little. TEN TIMES MORE ACCURATE THAN THE BOSS TU-3?!?!? Yes, it in fact is. Check the specs. Plus, you can check the tuning of EVERY STRING AT THE SAME TIME... I was converted immediately, and as more time passes, the more I see the Polytune on professional boards, right where the old TU-3 used to be. Industries change, and this is simply the new industry standard. Enjoy!

Comments about TC Electronic Polytune 2 Pedal Tuner:

Strum once, recognise who's in and who's out of tune...one motion. When used in a church setting, the period between setup/tune/rehersal and the actual performance can be long. Enough time for my hollow and semi-hollow bodies to react to ambient temp/humidity changes. And the time period between stage access and music start can be maddeningly short. A quick strum and the Polytune tells you who's in and who's shifted out of tune. Although the strum-n-tune feature won't work with my 12 string, it still does a quick and accurate job of verifying the individual string pairs.

Comments about TC Electronic Polytune 2 Pedal Tuner:

I pretty much tossed a coin between this and a BOSS. This is quite a bit smaller than the BOSS box size but I like the huge display. Being able to whack up a chord and see the status of each string is very convinient. Makes touch up tuning fast. Works exactly as advertised.

Comments about TC Electronic Polytune 2 Pedal Tuner:

I got a restocked Polytune 2 and it had a glitch where the power would cut off after a few minutes. I contacted Musician's Friend and they promptly sent me another one, no hassle, and this one works great. Love the bright display. Also love using the multi-string feature to quickly see which string needs tuning.

Comments about TC Electronic Polytune 2 Pedal Tuner:

This is by far the best tuner I've ever used and I've been playing since 1989.
Super bright display and easy to set intonation up due to the very accurate red lines just before or after the "dead-on" green middle line. It's true bypass so it goes in the #1 spot before my wah and can power some pedals with it's "power out" jack. I have a fairly large board and my Pedal Power2+ gets a little help with the PolyTune2 powering three of my nine pedals with a common daisychain cable. I would buy this tuner again if it broke or was stolen.

Comments about TC Electronic Polytune 2 Pedal Tuner:

I especially like how you can see if all six strings are in tune with one strum. Indicator will show you exactly which string is flat or sharp and automatically switch to individual string tuning. Excellent tuner!

Comments about TC Electronic Polytune 2 Pedal Tuner:

Was able to intonate my floyd rose very accurately.

Comments about TC Electronic Polytune 2 Pedal Tuner:

It's so easy to use, The display is very easy to read. Works well on my 12 string to my bass

Comments about TC Electronic Polytune 2 Pedal Tuner:

Nearly impossible to isolate single strings. Features were neat (Drop D tuning, open tunings, etc.) but they were never accurate. I love TC pedals, but this one is just a dud.

Comments about TC Electronic Polytune 2 Pedal Tuner:

this tuner is very easy to see in the dark. lights up like a Christmas tree.

Comments about TC Electronic Polytune 2 Pedal Tuner:

Order arrived a few days earlier than promised, thank you MF. Overall very pleased with purchase.

I ordered the larger version b/c it will be on my pedalboard and I wanted the larger display. Its worth the extra premium for me.

The "poly" mode is useful for guitar or bass in standard or drop d tuning only. Just be aware this is a guitar-centric product, although it makes a great chromatic tuner in monophonic mode. BTW it senses your signal and switches intuitively between mono and poly modes.

The poly mode is fantastic for finding out quickly which strings need tuning, and whether they are sharp or flat. However, you have to hit the strings individually to fine tune them--the poly mode is for coarse adjustment only.

I was really excited about the strobe mode. It does seem to be very accurate, although the response is not as "fluid" as an actual strobe tuner like a Conn. I think it is accurate enough to do a decent intonation setup, though, which is what I wanted.

For live use, needle mode is probably easier to use. TC did a good job getting the "needle" to appear to move more slowly as it approaches pitch in a way that feels right and gets excellent results.

Also happy that it is true bypass, so none of the tone-suck of tuners that load down volume pedals halfway through their travel. If you're tuning--you're muted, period.

The polytune seems very sturdy and the daisy-chain power connector is useful for pedalboard use. Its a well thought-out product that nails the target market IMO. That said, I will now nit-pick just so buyers know what the limitations are:

You can compensate for drop tunings or capo use, as long as the strings are tuned in standard intervals. If you use other alt-tunings besides drop-D (ie: DADGAD or Open E), the poly mode won't read the strings properly. It does not include a mic for acoustic use. It doesn't do alternate tempering, such as true/just temper or microtonal stuff --but as a result you don't need a manual to operate it either. You CAN adjust the reference (ie: A=440) in 1 Hz increments. This is useful for, say, matching a piano's tuning, but there is no intuitive way to match pitch with an acoustic instrument. You would have to adjust the reference by trial and error, and the 1 Hz increment may not get you close enough. Worst case, you would have to tune by ear.

Comments about TC Electronic Polytune 2 Pedal Tuner:

Works very well. Easy to see, accurate, easy to find tune, the multi string view works great. Love this tuner. I like my white Boss too but this is superior.

Comments about TC Electronic Polytune 2 Pedal Tuner:

Bright readout, very responsive and accurate, well built

Comments about TC Electronic Polytune 2 Pedal Tuner:

Very easy to use,very easy to see, and it does everything it claims, with ease, Very rare today! I'd highly recommend it!