PW-CT-12 NS Micro Headstock Tuner

I use these tuners for my bass guitars. They are accurate and work very well for my bass instruments. I never take them off as they are so small and discreet. The letters are easy to see, and can be viewed from different angles. Purchased one as a gift for a friend who plays mandolin and is he is delighted with the ease of use and the size of the tuner. I have been using mine for over 6 months and have not had to change the battery yet. Would highly recommend this tuner to fellow musicians.

Excellent quality and has a good display that you can actually read outside in the sun. I love how the display can be reversed or inverted to fit in any direction. Easy to use and give an accurate reading. Discrete in use and doesn't look out of place. Perfect for both right handed and left handed players. I expected it to come loose and fall off but fitted correctly it is rock solid and I had no issues using it in a live situation. Instructions say not to leave it on all of the time as it may cause finish damage in 'expensive' guitars (think Nitro/Rickenbacker). Overall I am very pleased with this tuner. Prices vary considerably from different sellers so shop around (anywhere between £19 and £45 at the time of writing).

These things are tiny, so tiny in fact that you can pretty much leave it on your guitar all the time. I checked the tuning against other clip-on tuners and devices and it's pretty much spot no matter what position on the headstock it's placed. It's small enough to almost go almost unnoticed when fitted to the back of the headstock too. They are a little flimsy however, and not the most robust of tuners, but this is largely down to their very diminutive size. The reaction time I found quite adequate and the simple coloured display is easy to see although not the brightest. The only thing I'd be a little bit wary of is the way it fits on the headstock, which is achieved with a very small push-in clamp. This seems to have preset positions so you have to choose one that is closest to you headstock thickness then push it on. If you headstock is an unusual thickness, not perfectly flat, or has a chamfered edge this may not fit properly. It's also better to choose a setting slightly smaller than your neck thickness then push it on more firmly. If its not in good contact with the neck it won't pick up the harmonics properly and work correctly so take some time to get a good fit. This works really well on Strat type head stocks where it can be fitted just above he nut, but on my Gibson 339 and Les Paul it had to be fitted to the end of the end stock. It's stayed in placed even when placing and removing the guitar from the case but wouldn't take much of a knock to remove it and its small enough to be easily lost. It's not suitable for gigging, but for home use its great. I've ordered a couple more so I can leave one on each guitar.

I have never been keen on cumbersome and fragile clip-on tuners but this is an excellent product. Very discreet, well designed, extremely sensitive and very accurate (tested on acoustic guitar and mandolin). Build quality is good, the ratchet clamp is neat and the non-slip surfaces grip well. I had no difficulty in seeing the changes on the colour display without needing my reading spectacles. I like the fact that it remembers which way the screen orientation is set after power off and the visual metronome is useful. The larger power button is near the display end so it is easy to feel without needing to see it. After power-up, the base frequency is briefly displayed but, usefully, there is a three or four second delay before you can change it; setting it by accident is extremely unlikely. However, if you do make a change, it does not reset to 440 on power-down so it is worth checking at power-up (just in case some joker has decided to set it for you). I needed to use a small screwdriver to loosen one side of the battery cover but I much prefer this to having it fall off in the dark. You might be aware that some strings can sound a little flat if they are not plucked at full playing volume and this tuner is sensitive enough to show this tendency. On a properly tuned string with both bars on, the left bar will tend to go off if you hit the string very hard. The percentage change is tiny but this sharpening effect is properly detected and you can correct for it if you prefer. This tuner was recommended to me by a professional musician and, at under £12.00, I ordered four without hesitation. If you appreciate great design, and the sound of properly tuned instruments, I'm sure you will be impressed.

Accurate tuner. Small enough to be able to leave it on the guitar at all times

This is such an innovative device. It works perfect i've just got it and i have tuned my guitar in using a Chromatic Tuner whilst simultaneously comparing the results to this head stock tuner. It's spot on! Instead of messing around with wires and controls i can leave this on the head of my guitar and tune when i need for example if i'm playing a strong in standard tuning then dropping D etc although i can do it by ear it's nice to have this to get it perfectly in tune. The next best thing is, it looks really cool. Red and green display looks really professional and just cool. Absolutely worth the price. Planet Waves are a really good company so i did expect quality as i already use their cables which are perfect so i'm very impressed with this device. Conclusion: Clip on to guitar - It's not hard to do but my only negative is the clip to release the clamp should be on the other side. You have to use 2 hands with the way it is at the moment and you end up hitting the buttons but it's not a problem at all but i feel i should disclose every little thing about this. The battery is supplied in a bag and by simply opening a panel you can easy insert and power on. After these simple steps you can pluck your strings and you get the notes on the screen. The screen rotates which is genius so you can move it to any position to fall in your field of view. When you pluck your strings you will need to pluck them gently, if you pluck too hard the string will change to a sharper tone. I Would definitely recommend this.

This headstock tuner is very small, unobtrusive and appears to be quite accurate. The display, however, is not very bright at all. It works ok in a dark room, but is very difficult to see if outside during daylight hours or inside if the room is bathed in sunlight. I thought perhaps the battery was exhausted, so I put a brand new Duracell in it but it was no brighter. It has a very wide calibration range, from 410-480Hz, more than most other tuners on the market but the smallness of the controls and the faintness of the display makes it all to easy to change the calibration setting without realising and thus tune your instrument to the wrong pitch. It takes one 2032 battery [supplied in the tuner already], with no instructions on how to change it. It was initially a bit of a puzzle to see how the battery compartment opened, but it was nothing that a bit of brute force and ignorance couldn't work out in the fullness of time. Altogether quite a nice little tuner, with a visual metronome display, but seriously let down by the faintness of the display.

Why do I need a digital tuner? I've been tuning my guitars by ear for 25+ years and I have the Fender Tune app on my phone just for reference purposes. Well,I figured a decent digital tuner would be ideal for setting up my intonation more than basic tuning as my collection of guitars has been ever expanding over 2020. So i bought one of these little fellows ,for 14 quid you can't go to wrong,I figured. Little is right.I don't know why but when I opened up the package and sawe the size of it I couldn't get over how small it is.Of course,that's exactly the point,the size.It clips on perfectly to the headstock,see photos and with it's really well made ratchet system stays there aswell. The angle can be set to however you want it aswell as the display so it's always upright no matter what orientation you have it at.The display is wonderfull clear and bright aswell as telling you just exactly what you need to know. As for accurate,well I've only checked it against ther Fender app on my phone but they agree on when my string is properly in tune so that suggests accurate to me.It also coincides with my ear aswell so I'm good with that. Such a useful little gadget I'll be buying a bunch more after xmas to fit to some of my other guitars. For the price,size and functionality I think these are pretty hard to beat.