Pedal Tuner

A pedal tuner sits on the floor as part of an electric guitar's effects chain and reads pitch directly from the instrument's electrical signal rather than through vibration. Because it reads the signal itself, it isn't thrown off by ambient noise the way a clip-on tuner's vibration sensor can be, which makes it a more dependable choice at gig volume. Most pedal tuners also double as a mute switch, letting a player silently tune between songs without the audience hearing, or mute the signal entirely when swapping guitars.

Types

• Standard chromatic pedal tuners — read any note and display flat/sharp/in-tune status, the most common stage tuner format.
• Strobe pedal tuners — use a rotating strobe-style display for very high tuning precision, popular with professional techs and touring players.
• Multi-effects unit tuners — tuning modes built into larger multi-effects pedals or amp modelers rather than a standalone box.

How to use it

1. Place the tuner early in your signal chain, typically first after the guitar, so it reads a clean, unprocessed signal.
2. Engage the tuner with its footswitch — this usually mutes the signal to the amp automatically while tuning.
3. Pluck each string and adjust the tuning pegs while watching the display, then disengage the footswitch to return to normal playing.

Care

Keep the input and output jacks clean and check cable connections regularly, since a pedal tuner sits at the very front of the signal chain and any connection issue there affects everything after it. Use a stable power supply to avoid erratic readings.