Korg CA1 Chromatic Tuner

This tuner works well and is small enough to carry in my musical instrument case. It is an essential tool for every musician. I recommend its use.

Works very well, really precise and easy to use. Small enough that you can easily carry it with you in your pocket.Update Nov. 2016: Have been using it for about half a year now. This is a very reliable, handy tuner. Even though it is digital, it shows an analog needle-type meter that allows for very precise tuning. It shows, for instance, when a string is going a bit higher after having been plucked (often an indicator that you need a new string). I have also seen people using it for brass and woodwinds, and it works just as well. A great little inexpensive toy that every musician should carry around.

Glad to have this tuner. My other one stopped working on me.As a tuner should, this helps me tune my guitar by telling me what note I'm closest to, and if I'm sharp flat or perfect. It really helps me since I know what note the strings should be. I am careful not to go too high so I don't pop a string. I haven't popped a string in ages since the first time.This really helps me to make sure I'm always in tune before having a jam session, and in between to make sure I'm still in tune. It fits in my guitar case, and the batteries last a while...That's probably why my other one stopped working though. They lasted so long they sprung a leak. I'd recommend checking your batteries every once in a while to make sure they aren't leaking, because that could damage your device.Overall, it's really consistent and does what it needs to do. I have no issues with it.

So I bought this tuner for my new guitar because as a noob beginner guitarist, there was no way in hell I was going to be able to tune it by ear. The instructions seemed pretty basic enough, just hold it or place it near you guitar turn it on, set it to guitar, and play a string while tuning it until the correct note is played. The minor problems that I've come across is that sometimes while getting it tuned just right, I felt like the string was being pulled to tight, although the tuner stated it still needed to be pulled tighter. Assuming the inanimate tuner has way more knowledge about this kind of stuff than me, I decided to keep tightening it and then "BOING!" The string broke. Well, there we go, one broken string from an inaccurate reading. The reason that I say this is minor is because 99% of the other times I have used this it has worked perfect, but if you feel the string is being pulled to tight and the tuner is telling you otherwise, I suggest you turn it off and turn it back on before continuing or else you can end up with a broken string, though not expensive, is always an inconvenience.

Perfect tuner for the less-demanding situations: Chromatic, accepting a wide compass of notes, it offers deliberate "scordatura" mis-tuning options in 1 Hz steps. The LEDs and the "meter pointer" LCD display give maybe 1 or 2-cent resolution. There is also a "singing" mode in which the tuner emits the tone instead of listening to yours. Although the default tuning notes are A and Bb, it can play any note.Tuning your own instrument in a noisy environment is always a problem, and I think some of the expensive tuners are smarter about picking your instrument out of the mass of people tuning up. The optional plug-in contact microphone may be necessary.Battery life is good, as are physical ruggedness and ease of use. Doesn't take up much room in the gig bag. The dual-mode display gives good visibility in darkness or full sunlight. At the low price, every student or amateur wind or string player can afford to carry one everywhere.There is no provision for "stretch" in piano tuning, and no alternate temperaments. Not loud enough to tune a large ensemble by itself.

The best part of this tuner is that I can set it on the coffee table, and it hears my guitar just fine. This chromatic tuner is a major improvement over the analog tuner I was using to tune my acoustic guitar & acoustic bass. The pitch is recognized automatically by the Korg CA1. The digital needle stays exactly at the spot that the instrument is tuned to; when you tune up or down, the needle moves very precisely without jumping. The CA1 is about the size of a credit card but thicker. It's made in Vietnam and looks well made. Hopefully it will be durable.This is really a miracle device compared to my old Matrix analog tuner, which wouldn't recognize half the notes at all, the needle just wouldn't move and then jump violently, and it had to be touching the soundboard just to pick up anything. I've just been using the mic on the CA1 and haven't tried the line-in jack for guitar chords.

I had ordered the CA1 and CA-40 at the same time, but received the CA1 first, so I used it to tune our baby grand Wurlitzer (first time ever for me to tune a piano). The CA1 worked well indicating whether a string was solid on the note (green only LED) indicated on the display, or off the note (green and red LEDs). The great thing about the red LEDs on either side of the green is they tell you whether to tighten the pin more (when red LED to left of green is lit, i.e., string too loose) or loosen the pin some (when red LED to right of green is lit, i.e., string too tight). The first pass of tuning the piano took five and half hours, but to be fair, the piano was grossly in need of a tune. The CA1 did not pick up the higher octaves or the lower octaves but if you are patient and have "a good ear," you can tune, by ear, the octaves outside of the CA1's range. The CA-40 picks up more octaves than the CA1 (see my review) which speeds up the tuning process, but the octaves outside of the CA-40's range, though fewer, have to be tuned by ear, too. For the price difference, the CA-40 is a MUCH better buy for piano tuning.Hint: Turn the CA1 or CA-40 upside down. If the string is too loose, the left LED will light but because you turned the tuner upside down, the LED will be to the right of the green LED... rightey tightey...leftey loosey...