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A tuner is a tuner is a tuner. Right? Wrong. Some tuners are better than others. This one seems to be one of the best.

Easy to use. Easy to see. Easy to hook up. No more cables strewn to tuners, no more having to find a quiet place so your tuner can pick up the sound. Nope. These things are gone and in the past. The PT-1 Tuner from Intellitouch has overcome all of these problems. You know that tuner you see in the magazines that attaches to the guitars headstock? This is that tuner.

By clipping onto the headstock the tuner senses the vibrations via a piezo element, mounted to the circuitboard, tells you what pitch the string you are playing is on. Because of the way the Intellitouch tuner gathers its information there is no need for cables or quiet spaces. The readout of the tuner is nice and big. It is also backlit for those dark places. Instead of using a needle to tune by the PT-1 displays the pitch letter and three arrows to each side. When all six arrows are showing it is in tune. Pretty simple. Of course, it is a chromatic tuner. It has another great feature though…it learns.

The learn mode Intellitouch learns and remembers. It uses the latest in digital technology to adjust the tuning reference to any frequency you want, and it stores the "learned" reference in the preset even when it is turned off!

It is also very easy to see. Just look down the neck at the headstock and there it is. No having to run back to your tuner in the rig or on the ground. You can leave it on while you play if you want, many people do. The Intellitouch is swivel mounted to the clamp you can twist and turn it however you need to. It even comes with a nice case that has a hard shell insert to protect the tuner. This is the first time I have seen a tuner with as much protection as a guitar. It is powered by two watch batteries.

Most tuners are accurate to less than 5 cents. The PT-1 is accurate to less than 1 cent. One of the first things I did was to compare my old tuner with this one. I have to say I could notice the difference. The PT-1 tuned up what my old tuner had tone, giving a much more exact tuning.

I like this tuner so much that I restarted a project I am working on. I found the Intellitouch tuner to be much better than the one I had been using so I scrapped all of my recordings and set this as the new standard for my project. Since the project has to do with tunings, I figured this was a good step. I have not regretted the decision at all. In fact I am selling/getting rid of all my other tuners and switching exclusively to the Intellitouch tuner.

So far I have tuned the following instruments with the PT-1 with great success: banjo, tenor banjo, guitar, mandolin, mandola, octave mandolin, bouzouki, balalaika, charango, bass, dulcimer, resonator guitars, and many more. It worked great for all of these.

People who use the Intellitouch PT-1 include: John and Bucky Pizzarelli, Frank Vignola, Jimmy Bruno, Gene Bertoncini, Bela Fleck, and Martin Taylor just to name a few.

Some tips on using this tuner: it is a very sensitive tuner, to tune you only need to lightly play the string. One of the best places to play the string is right above the end of the neck/fretboard. Just lightly play it. You can use a pick, but a thumb works just as well. Another tip is that you may need to find the "sweet" spot on the instrument to clip the tuner to, to get it to work at its best.

The Intellitouch tuner lets you play anywhere on the neck and the note will show up. It's a great way to check intonation. The PT-1 is also a good way to check if your strings need changing. Dead strings will not register on the tuner because they don't do their job properly and produce a clear enough tone.

Oh, did I mention their customer service? I needed a pad for the inside of the clamp. I emailed them and two days later had four new pads in the mail. No charge, no hassle. They support their products exceptionally well. Any problems at all and they take care of it ASAP. What more can one ask for? A great product and a great company to back it up.

At a list price of $69.95 this is a pro's tuner. Good thing is it acts like a pro tuner too. There is also the PT-2 "Bare-Bone" tuner (list $40) which no backlight, no handy carrying pouch, and only recalibrates beween 438, 440 (the U.S. standard) and 442 (the European standard). The PT-1 offers a two year warranty, and the PT-2 offers a one year warranty.

Overall the Intellitouch PT-1 is an amazing tuner. I have converted.

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5 out of 5 stars