In Focus: Ernie Ball Clip-On tuners

In Focus: Ernie Ball Clip-On tuners

Tuning is something we take for granted. Things will hold tune until they don’t, and having an accurate tuner on hand isn’t always as simple as it sounds. Modern clip-on tuners are a life-saver in this sense, being easily available, left clipped to your guitar, ukulele, bass, or other stringed instrument.

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Clip-on tuners work by measuring the frequency of vibrations rather than measuring sound, so they can more easily be used in loud environments, especially when tuning acoustic instruments. Placed on your headstock, they’ll respond quickly and accurately, allowing you to monitor mid-song without muting like many tuners force you to. What’s more, the adjustable heads allow you to hide the main backlit screen from the crowd so they’ll be none the wiser.

Ernie Ball’s strings are designed to maintain consistent tuning and great tone, so it makes sense that their range of clip-on tuners do a stellar job of just that: keeping tune. The Fast Clip and Protune make up two tuners in the range, offering different levels of tuning options available, as well as power and charging features. Both are subtle, robust and very well lit, allowing you to tune equally accurately on a dark stage or in the bright sun, an area that a lot of screens struggle with! 

Ernie Ball Fast Pitch

The Fast Pitch is a simple design, powered by an included battery, focused on chromatic tuning. Offering precise tuning and a rotatable clip, the Fast Pitch can easily be stowed away when not in use, but is also unassuming enough to remain on your instrument’s headstock to be referred to between songs.

A brightly LCD screen makes it ideal for all stringed instruments, the Fast Pitch being designed to put as little as possible between you and tuning as possible. It’s simply chromatic so it’s suitable for different tunings and instruments without any adjustment or need to switch modes, handling notes and tones in different tunings. 

Ernie Ball ProTune USB-C Clip-On Tuner

The ProTune is a little more of a robust design, doing away with a replaceable battery and being powered by USB-C. The Protune adds a few more features to the streamlined Fast Clip, including five modes (C, G, B, V and U) for tuning Chromatically, Guitar, Bass, Violin or Ukulele, as well single or double flat tuning options (i.e. one or two semitones flat). You can also tune outside of A440 if you wish, the ProTune being adjustable between 430-450 Hz and anything in between. Turning the unit on and off reverts to A440, but you can easily cycle through and back to 440 while keeping the unit on.

Clip-on tuners have come a long way, and brands like Ernie Ball are leading the charge with the likes of the feature-packed ProTune or the streamlined Fast Pitch, depending on your needs. Accessible enough to have one on each of your instruments, and mobile enough to stay out of the way, Ernie Ball’s clip-on tuning range will have you ready, tuned and performing confidently.

Whether you’re gigging and tuning constantly, stowing away a guitar to be played occasionally, or maniacally tuning and re-tuning while recording, either of Ernie Ball’s options described here will have you tuned accurately.

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