Grateful Dead Music Forum

I went with the PitchBlack Advanced, ordered it about an hour ago. Came close to putting another pedal in there with it, but I’m going to wait till I choose the amp, before getting anymore. ( I have to admit, I barley got that typed out without laughing at myself )!

LazyLightning72 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 04, 2020 5:13 pmI barley got that typed out without laughing at myself )!

Slip of the keyboard ... or too much beer?

Lol!
Nah, just my fingers hitting the wrong buttons.

The PitchBlack Advanced Tuner Pedal just arrived, I’ll be hooking it up to my chain after dinner (1st position of course)

Any particular reasoning for placing the tuner in the first position? I don’t recall reading anything about tuner placement. I have mine last on the board, just before the volume pedal, then to the amp. I haven’t noticed any problems with this set up.

Bill, tgo

Tuner certainly doesn't have to be first, but it's the generally accepted position because you want as clean a signal as possible hitting it. You can tune without turning off any pedals and also avoid any additional noise/artifacts from non true bypass pedals.

I guess that makes sense. I don’t encounter those issues as I never tune with other pedals on, (I use my pedals very sparingly and mostly one at a time), and none of my pedals make noise when turned off. I have my Polytune set to mute my signal while tuning, which I find a convenient feature.

Bill, tgo

tdcrjeff wrote: ↑Thu Sep 10, 2020 5:00 pm Tuner certainly doesn't have to be first, but it's the generally accepted position because you want as clean a signal as possible hitting it. You can tune without turning off any pedals and also avoid any additional noise/artifacts from non true bypass pedals.

That’s the main reason I put it first. It may indeed not be necessary, but in this case I don’t think it would hurt either.

While waiting for the new amp I started putting the board together. Still a good bit of room left. Not 100%sold on placement, so just using the double sided Velcro for now

I always use a tiny splitter box to take my tuner out of the signal chain all together.

lbpesq wrote: ↑Sun Aug 30, 2020 4:03 pmBy the way, have you decided how you are connecting the pedals together? I love the George L solderless connectors for pedal boards.

Bill, tgo

I’m not overly thrilled with the 6” cables I’m using right now, I have enough of them to add three more pedals. However, after looking into the connectors you mention, they seem like a cleaner looking and space saving option.

I may look into getting them instead.

jalevinemd wrote: ↑Sat Sep 12, 2020 7:38 am I always use a tiny splitter box to take my tuner out of the signal chain all together.

What is the reason you choose to do it that way, if I may ask?

For starters, it takes the tuner pedal completely out of the signal chain all together, so I don't have to worry about any effects on tone or signal strength. I realize they are true bypass, but even true bypass pedals can have their own problems. On his website, pedal guru Pete Cornish has a wonderful summary of the negative effects of true bypass pedals.

With a simple signal splitter (like the JHS Buffered Splitter) the tuner can be always on, so tuning can be done on the fly effortlessly. Plus you don't have to worry about where the tuner is placed in the signal path because it's been effectively removed. I also like a switchable splitter, like the JHS Mini A/B. With a simple step on the switch silent tuning can be accomplished if your tuner doesn't have a mute function. I've used both types on my boards.

Here are tuner set ups on two of my boards. I chose these pedals for their reliability as well as the way they fit on each board. I have also used the Korg Pitchblack and TC Electronic Polytune Minis on other boards. Both great tuners as well.

The first uses the JHS Buffered Splitter. The signal is split immediately from the guitar input. One path goes to the tuner which is always on. The Boss TU12 EX is a remarkably accurate analog tuner. It is not appropriate for a lot of set ups as it is not really a pedal.



The second board utilizes a D'Addario Pedal Tuner. The signal path is split on the underside of the board. Again, the tuner is always on.

Thanks for the explanation!