Intonation with a Snark. Accurate?

Walks Backward

Walks Backward

Well-Known Member
I finally got around to setting up that battered Starcaster I got at the pawn shop a while back to piddle with. All I did at first was swap strings to 10's and lower the bridge a bit. But intonation and saddle height was really bad.

After dealing with stripped out hex screws and such "Bubba" chewed up and getting some semblance of a correct radius, I attached the intonation. Now I had a Snark on the headstock already so I just went with that as I didn't feel energetic enough to dig out the old Boss TU-12.

15 minutes later it was correct and sounding right all up and down the neck. The Snark did just fine. Of course it helps that setting up thousands of guitars for several decades does tend to ingrain proper pitch into one's brain I suppose. And this morning I dug out my old trusted tuner and confirmed I was spot on with this battered beast's resurrection. It's actually rather fun to play now. I'm setting aside cash each month toward the white Stratocaster I want. But for now I play what I have and am pleased with the performance of the Snark in setting up this guitar.
:)
 
Walks Backward said:
I finally got around to setting up that battered Starcaster I got at the pawn shop a while back to piddle with. All I did at first was swap strings to 10's and lower the bridge a bit. But intonation and saddle height was really bad.

After dealing with stripped out hex screws and such "Bubba" chewed up and getting some semblance of a correct radius, I attached the intonation. Now I had a Snark on the headstock already so I just went with that as I didn't feel energetic enough to dig out the old Boss TU-12.

15 minutes later it was correct and sounding right all up and down the neck. The Snark did just fine. Of course it helps that setting up thousands of guitars for several decades does tend to ingrain proper pitch into one's brain I suppose. And this morning I dug out my old trusted tuner and confirmed I was spot on with this battered beast's resurrection. It's actually rather fun to play now. I'm setting aside cash each month toward the white Stratocaster I want. But for now I play what I have and am pleased with the performance of the Snark in setting up this guitar.
:)
Click to expand...

I would have never guessed!!!!

I'm afraid that my Korg Pitchblack isn't accurate enough for intonation!!!!
 
plus like you say after while i can hear little intonation quirks.like the B string seems to always be a tad sharp under higher gain even if the tuner says the intonation is spot on.i run my B string a tad flat but on the money as far as intonation goes
 
my Father played guitar his whole life and never owned a tuner.he tuned by ear and he could hear a sour note a mile away,plus he was half deaf from Sawmill work.i inherted his ear for sour notes and intonation quirks,its a curse and a blessing
 
I like the Snarks in a pinch, but I've found them to be less accurate than a higher quality tuner.
My TC Polytune clip on is much more accurate as is my Boss TU-3 pedal. But my most
accurate is the one built into my Kemper Profiler. It goes right down to the cent...
 
Walks Backward said:
I finally got around to setting up that battered Starcaster I got at the pawn shop a while back to piddle with. All I did at first was swap strings to 10's and lower the bridge a bit. But intonation and saddle height was really bad.

After dealing with stripped out hex screws and such "Bubba" chewed up and getting some semblance of a correct radius, I attached the intonation. Now I had a Snark on the headstock already so I just went with that as I didn't feel energetic enough to dig out the old Boss TU-12.

15 minutes later it was correct and sounding right all up and down the neck. The Snark did just fine. Of course it helps that setting up thousands of guitars for several decades does tend to ingrain proper pitch into one's brain I suppose. And this morning I dug out my old trusted tuner and confirmed I was spot on with this battered beast's resurrection. It's actually rather fun to play now. I'm setting aside cash each month toward the white Stratocaster I want. But for now I play what I have and am pleased with the performance of the Snark in setting up this guitar.
:)
Click to expand...
You s'pose t'set 'em dang thangs up? :censored:
 
I think Snarks work best in an environment that is relatively quiet. If you're onstage with one and the bass player is thumping away and other instruments are playing, all those vibrations hit your guitar and seem to make it a little tough for the Snark to settle down. That's just my observation with mine. But, if I'm just playing at home, I often keep it on the headstock of the guitar I'm using and it seems to be fine.
 
I never used one. I've had a Korg Pitchblack for years. I like the muting feature. But a Snark might be cool for home jamming...
 
smitty_p said:
I think Snarks work best in an environment that is relatively quiet. If you're onstage with one and the bass player is thumping away and other instruments are playing, all those vibrations hit your guitar and seem to make it a little tough for the Snark to settle down. That's just my observation with mine. But, if I'm just playing at home, I often keep it on the headstock of the guitar I'm using and it seems to be fine.
Click to expand...
My experience as well. None of the clip on tuners work in a live environment. You need a pedal on stage for two reasons. One it works, two the sound is muted so you can tune mid song if need be and even if between songs the audience doesn't have to listen to you tuning your guitar.

I use a Korg Pitchblack Polytune. strum all the strings and you can instantly see if one is out of tune or tune them one at a time.

http://www.korg.com/us/products/tuners/pitchblack_poly/
 
Last edited:
Kerry Brown said:
My experience as well. None of the clip on tuners work in a live environment. You need a pedal on stage for two reasons. One it works, two the sound is muted so you can tune mid song of need be and even if between songs the audience doesn't have to listen to you tuning your guitar.

I use a Korg Pitchblack Polytune. strum all the strings and you can instantly see if one is out of tune or tune them one at a time.

http://www.korg.com/us/products/tuners/pitchblack_poly/
Click to expand...

My Pitchblack is an old one...but it's always been very accurate...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top