Snark SN-1 and SN-2 Tuner Review

Hydroman52
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Tue Apr 12, 2011 5:33 pm

I purchased a bunch of the little Snark clip-on turners for my guitars and was very impressed by them. Impressed enough to write a review at Musician's Friend. However, before they published it, they stripped the "Value" section out of it. This is probably because I mentioned that I bought them for under $10 each and Musician's Friend is currently selling them for $29.99 (with no shipping charges). Oh, well . . . . . I guess I can't blame them. The rest of the review they seemed to leave intact. I won't post a photo. Just Google "Snark SN-1 SN-2" and you should get lots of photos and specs. I would take this over the Korg tuners any day. They have a very bright display and are easy to use. Hope this helps.

Here is the complete review that I wrote:


Snark SN-1 and SN-2 Guitar Tuners Review
On a ratings scale of 1 - 10


Features - 9

First off, this is a little tuner. It's quick and easy to clip onto the peg head of the instrument and swivel the display in any direction and to just about any angle for easy reading. The display is bright with contrasting colors, so it is very easy to figure out when you are in tune. The size of the note display is large enough that I don't need my glasses to read it. The Model SN-2 (the one I have is dark red) has two switchable modes of note detection, vibrate and mic (internal microphone). The Model SN-1 (the one I have is blue) does not have the mic feature and can only detect vibration. The default tuning reference is A-440Hz that can be adjusted from 415Hz to 466Hz. There is a tap metronome, but there is only a little red heart on the display that "beats" to the tempo. You can either tap in the tempo or use the UP/DOWN keys to adjust incrementally. There is no speaker to sound out any audible clicking sound for the metronome. There is a power saving feature that dims the display after about 10 seconds of no sound. If it detects a sound within that time, the display reverts to normal brightness. If no sound is detected for about 2 minutes, the tuner shuts off. The tuner uses a single CR2032 (3 volt) disk battery, and one is supplied with the tuner. One other feature is the ability to transpose the tuning. This is suggested for use if you capo (up to the 4th fret) and need to retune while the capo is on the instrument. If your string is tuned to E and you place the capo at the 3rd fret, the string will play a G when plucked. If you set the tuner to transpose for a capo at the 3rd fret, and you pluck the string, the readout will display an E rather than a G (it will transpose down 3 half tones).


Quality - 9

The tuner seems to be very durable. There seems to be adequate rubber padding in all the right places so it protects the instrument from damage. You will probably want to read the instructions at least once to figure out what the buttons do. Once I understood the basic layout, it was very easy to figure out the next time I used it. I have owned ten of these (9 Model SN-1 and 1 Model SN-2) for about 6 months, and none has ever malfunctioned. These get medium to heavy use and I have had only one minor problem. One of the rubber pads came loose, but a drop of super glue quickly remedied that.


Value (at $30) - 9

I got all my units when they were on special for under $10 each. It was a no-brainer to me at that price. I would still buy it at $30, but probably wouldn't have one in every guitar case and one clipped to my music stand like I do now. When I bought them at $10, I thought I was taking a chance, but, when they arrived and I used one for about 2 minutes, I knew I had made a great deal.


Overall - 10

I know that I rated other segments of this review at less than a 10 and it wouldn't seem logical to rate it overall that high, but this little device does everything that I need it to do and more. It is simple enough to clip on, press one button, tune, and start playing. That is usually all that I use it for. It is small enough to leave on the peg head while you are playing, but I find that distracting and always take it off when not tuning. It's small enough to drop into a top pocket, but I clip it on my microphone stand or music stand when I'm not tuning. I frequently tune between songs for alternate tunings, so I use it a lot.

I must admit that I don't use all the features, but I have tried them and they work. I prefer a metronome that makes some kind of noise, and the pulsing "heart" on the display is a bit small for me to see. So this function isn't very useful to me, but that is only because I already have a number of metronomes for this purpose. If I were in a pinch for one, this would serve its purpose for me.

The display for the basic tuning features is large, bright, and colorful. It is very easy to read in total darkness or even when the sun is shining directly on the display. I have a couple of other Korg tuners that have non-backlit LCD displays that are not clip-on units and a flashlight is needed in dark environments to read them. If you are using some of the other features, such as adjusting the pitch calibration, you will probably need to lean in a little to read those numbers, because they are a bit small. If you have reasonable eyesight, you shouldn't have much of a problem. The brightness and "crispness" of the display really compensates for a lot of this.

They seem to be accurate, but I really haven't done any testing with tuning forks to check them. I have seen complaints about clip-on tuners that cannot read lower notes too well. I have no issues with this and the bass player that I jam with has no problem tuning his bass guitar with one either. In fact, he has chucked his in-line tuner to use one of these. We are able to be tuning in a crowd of playing musicians without much disturbance, something that is impossible with a tuner that uses a mic or by using the old tried and true tuning forks and harmonics method. The only time that I have a problem is when the bass guitar is playing so loud that my whole guitar is vibrating from that. Almost forgot, I use it to tune my ukulele, too.

Clip-ons have been around for a while, and I have to admit that this is the only one that I have used. But I am so satisfied with it that I have no desire to try anything else. For my use, I really can't see any improvements. I really like devices that are easy to use, durable, and, above all, simplify my life. This one does just that. Thank-you Snark people for making this tuner!


tovo
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Tue Apr 12, 2011 6:01 pm

Hydro thanks man. I checked out all the reviews and videos and thought it looks a pretty neat tuner so I just bought the red one for 17 bucks US including postage to Oz. Good deal especially as our dollar is through the roof right now.

Maybe I need to stop reading recommendations.....I spend too much money! :)


sbutler
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Tue Apr 12, 2011 7:16 pm

I just broke my littel Red Snark SN-2, about 3 hours ago and I'm not happy. Actually all that broke is the little swivel peg reciever on the back of it. The SN-2 does have the mic feature, so it doesn't need to be clamped to the guitar for tuning. But I may just buy another as they are sure handy little rigs.


SCott


Hydroman52
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Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:05 pm

Hey Scott,

You should check out Amazon. I think you could get one (SN-2) fairly reasonable right now with shipping. Man, I wonder how much time and aggravation I would have saved if these were available when I first started playing guitar back in the early 70s? Normally, I would be concerned when I heard that one of these broke like that, but you live in the Alaskan wilderness and I'm sure that things probably take more of a beating in your neck of the woods rather than here in the "tame" lower 48.

Hydroman52


Hydroman52
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Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:06 pm

Tony,

I don't think you'll regret the purchase.


AndyT
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Wed Apr 13, 2011 4:28 am

I think I saw these on ebay for around $10. I might get one.


Catman
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Wed Apr 13, 2011 10:55 am

I highly recommend Snarks!

I used one when auditioning guitars. I must have tuned about 8 guitars, 2 of them 12-ers. And it was easy, fast, and accurate.

I regret that I didn't buy it on the spot. But if I end up buying a 12-er from that shop, I will demand one as bakshish.

-David


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