Benchmark Tuner

Consistant and robust tuner pedal. Standard BOSS size, but it's reliable

From Gear Setup

It is a tuner :P

It tunes nicely, works with guitar and bass, recognizes which strings pretty fast and also has nice modes (half-step down, etc). Built like a tank, should last a couple decades

Reliable tuner, sadly doesn't go down to 425Hz

I love this tuner pedal, it's reliable and easily allows me to tune my guitar and bass without much hazzle. There isn't much else to say, except for the fact that I wish the reference tuning could go down to 425Hz so I could tune my Telecaster without VSTs.

The "industry standard" for a reason

OK so, yea, a tuner isn't exactly the sexiest bit of gear available - it doesn't affect the sound at all (except for muting, which is useful but not fun), and even the case is about as utilitarian as you can get. But you know what's NOT sexy? Being out of tune.

So, at some point, you should get a tuner. Yes, YOU. It doesn't have to be this one, but there are several reasons why it should, and only a few reasons to choose anything else. I'll mention those first:

• If you're a professional setup tech or luthier who's setting intonation on guitars all the time, then you should spring for the ultra-expensive rackmount strobe tuner. Not the "digital strobe" version, the real one. Nothing else can come close to the accuracy of a true strobe tuner, and if people are paying you to intonate their guitars, you do need it.

• If you're a touring player with a rack, then a rackmount tuner makes more sense. Again, more expensive, but if you're rocking a rack then you're already in for at least several grand, so the tuner won't be a huge bite in comparison.

• If you're an acoustic-only guitarist who doesn't have a 1/4" output on your guitar, then some kind of "contact" tuner is a better choice. Most of these clip to your headstock and sense the vibration of the guitar that way, so you don't need to plug in.

If none of these describes you, then you need a proper stage tuner, and the TU-3 is the unit that all others are judged against. It has a bunch of tuning modes, +/- one cent accuracy, 21-LED meter, dual outputs (more on that in a second), DC power pass-through so you can daisy-chain other pedals off of it, and that legendary Boss enclosure which is I assume is literally bulletproof.

One thing I love (and actually the reason I bought it) is the dual outputs. The "Main" out will mute when you activate the tuner function, and the "Bypass" out does not - it's active all the time. This lets you send the "Main" out to your amp, while running the "Bypass" output to a DI or recorder, so you can monitor through your live rig while recording a clean DI signal that you can re-amp later. Your recording engineer WILL thank you for having a DI signal, and this is a cheap and easy way to get it.

Bottom line: It's durable, reliable, affordable, versatile, and it does its job very, very well. When it comes to pedal tuners, this is the one to beat.

Works great! No issues.

Not much more to say. You get what you pay for -- a really great tuner.

Valuable tool!

What can I say? It's a Boss stompbox. Built to last and does the job it sets out to do.

Given its coloration, it'll be super easy to pick up visually in low stage lighting.

Great but a little annoying with active instruments

Because my bass is active when I unplug the bass even with the tuner on, you still get a little pop. Not as loud as with it off but its there a little bit. Not a fault of the unit, but annoying nonetheless. Still, it's a durable tuner and it's not that big of a deal as if you were to be tuning the thing at stage volume ;).

It's a tuner

Very accurate, easy to see, easy to use, well built. Can't fault it. There's a reason it's one of the most popular tuners on the market.

From Gear Setup

Reliable tuner

Very reliable and robust tuner/ mute. Been through several other tuners which are clever on some level but in time flaws appear. This is solid!

It's perfect

Great tuner, it is accurate even when tuning very low tones. I use it with bass guitar, double bass and electric guitar. It works perfectly with everything!

From Gear Setup