Strobe Tuners

[Bdshull@AOL.COM]

Hi, Patrick:

Actually I enjoyed the use of the strobe tuners which I owned from 1973 to 
the middle 'nineties.  It is a misconception that you cannot read stretch 
with them, an idea which was based on our professional community's decades 
old stigma.

The real fun with the strobe is that you can see all stretch in octaves, 
right before your eyes.   You can turn the vernier and measure the stretch.  
Of course, you can apply your knowledge of tuning ratios and do as 
sophisticated an electronic tuning as you wish with this device.

The early Conn tube-type strobes had motor bearings that you could lubricate 
with a drop of machine oil;  the later sealed bearings were more trouble when 
they got noisy (though I think you could lubricate them too, after puncturing 
a hole in the housing).  My last was a Peterson.  The LED lights would die, 
and many times I would find the problem on the circuit board and solder them 
back up again.  I remember a good hard fall over the back of Kawai UST.  I 
never bought an Accutuner and finally went completely aural when the Peterson 
died for good.  The strobes were fun, if old-fashioned;  you could probably 
use them to pass the test today, if you were determined.   (The same 
determination applied to the completely aural test would make a better tuner, 
of course.)  

The real garage sale bargain in ETD's, possibly a teaching tool if you really 
wanted to master your aural skills.  Not really that much less sophisticated 
in concept than the circle of LED lights;  just think of the fact that you 
pay a lot less to have a real motor....and sometimes real vacuum tubes!

I doubt the old tube-type Conns will see a revival like hi-fi systems have 
seen....

Bill Shull, RPT

In a message dated 1/6/01 7:47:18 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
greeneguy63@mindspring.com writes:

<< Today, I had a lady give me a Peterson Stobe tuner.  I had never seen one
 before.  I tried it out and it actually helped me with a few notes up in the
 treble.  I have heard mostly bad things about them.  Can someone give me a
 good answer about whether one should use it or not?  Or is that a can of
 worms best left unopened?
 Thanks
 Patrick >>