Electronic tuners

[Tobin]

I'm suprised you're having trouble picking up notes Tobin, I've had no such problem with mine so far. I wonder if there's something wrong with your tuner or maybe your battery? I've even tested out intonating up the neck and it works good for me.

Well, when it does pick up the note, it reads it just fine. The problem seems to be getting a lock in the first place. When I turn it on and pick an open string, sometimes it will read it, and sometimes it will just give me a dash as if it doesn't recognize what it is. I dunno what's causing it, but the tuner seems to be fully functional otherwise, and it's a brand new battery.

i did notice that the tuner itself has a one difference from all my other daddario ns tuners. It has a wider range for the green "in tune" light. Whereas my other tuners would only show green when I'm right on the note or maybe a cent sharp or flat, this one will show green before that. Not sure I like that because i can no longer just say "green, ok I'm in tune" but not a huge deal, and I can swap the tuners out of the bracket if it bothers me too much.

When it's green, it will flash on the first bar on either side of the note letter to tell you that you're slightly sharp or flat. I guess the idea is that if you're in the green, you're probably close enough for casual tuning, but you can still dial it in a bit more accurately by fine-tuning until neither bar is flashing.

[dhergert]

Donnie << Thanks Don, I really appreciate it......when you get close, please send me a PM and I'll give you my address. >>

Will do...

I finally got my camera talking to my PC. Below is a pic of my SS Stewart configured with the front of the tuner sitting on the 2nd hook now... (And keep in mind, as we've discussed this mount configuration on my SS Stewart isn't how we'll be doing your mounts on your Nechville banjos. Your mount material will run under the neck, under the tuner, over the top of your 2nd post and then forward and under the 3rd post; but the position of the tuner close to the neck heel is similar to how yours can be depending on where you want to position it when in use.)

-- Don

[Longblackveil]

When it's green, it will flash on the first bar on either side of the note letter to tell you that you're slightly sharp or flat. I guess the idea is that if you're in the green, you're probably close enough for casual tuning, but you can still dial it in a bit more accurately by fine-tuning until neither bar is flashing.

Yeah it's weird that's all my other ones work, but this one turns green a full 3 bars to either side of the note. So I guess it's just mine, because the way you're describing yours sounds how it should be

[Tobin]

At three bars from true, mine turns yellow. Actually, it's more like a pale green. Then a true green when it's one bar from true.

[dhergert]

Hmmm, there may be different versions of the firmware in this tuner.

Could be different models also, I know the earlier HS Mini "Headstock" version from Planet Waves last year had a completely different physical design, completely different features but used the exact same keyed connector for the mount. That version was not as compact, and it didn't have the ability to change the view perspective and also didn't have the metronome feature.

-- Don

[dhergert]

I had an interesting discovery yesterday.

I changed heads on two of my banjos that I have the newer NS Mini tuners on, using the mounts I made... In changing the heads, I went from flesh-hoop skin head type of a heads to Remo heads.

For those who haven't mounted skin heads, the flesh hoop (or mounting ring) for these heads are typically wire or hex-rod that is not very thick, probably 1/3 or 1/2 the size of the mounting ring on most manufactured banjo heads, including Remo's.

While changing the heads on these banjos I found that the difference in the size of the flesh-hoop between these two head-types was enough to prevent my mounts (as-is) and the stock NS Mini "Banjo" mount from working. There's not enough space the under hooks between the flesh hoop and the rim-shoes (or whatever mechanism is being used) for these mount technologies to fit on these two particular banjos.

For my mounts, this basically means trimming, so they become a custom-fit for whatever banjo they are on. That's not a big problem, but it does take some thinking about mount dimensions for each individual banjo as the material is cut.

For the actual D'Addario NS Mini tuner's stock "Banjo" mount, I have to wonder if it would work at all... I think it's too big to fit between the flesh hoop and the rim-shoes.

Donnie, this doesn't change the mounts I'm working on for your Nechvilles, since we've already basically custom designed them for your banjos.

-- Don

[Longblackveil]

At three bars from true, mine turns yellow. Actually, it's more like a pale green. Then a true green when it's one bar from true.

Ah you're right. It is a slightly more yellow color. Still different from my other tuners.

no gripe here, but I just expected the tuner part to be the same as the others. I still really like it and it hasn't come off my banjo yet. My ns mini fiddle tuner never comes off my fiddle. All in all these are my favorite tuners and I'm glad they worked up something for the banjos

[derbex]

Here's my review of the NS Micro Banjo tuner that D'addario were kind enough to ship over the pond to me. Firstly a note about the banjo -it's an old Vega style F tenor from the early 1920s with friction pegs, I'm not sure how much is original or how much 'settling' there has been, shall we just say it's idiosyncratic.

I wanted to mount the tuner by the neck heel, as others have, but I can only get one leg through the hooks there, the clearances under the hooks vary from hook to hook and I found that I can mount the tuner as in the image.
dadd_b_t.jpg

This does work, although it's a bit more obtrusive than I'd like it doesn't get in the way of my right arm. When I came to write this review I found that the battery was dead, the banjo leans up against a wall and I wonder if it was leaning on the tuner power button.

As a tuner it works well -much better than the tuners it is tuning The display is big enough and I like the traffic light system, I haven't had any problems with it locking onto a note.

Will I keep using it? The tuner yes, not sure about the mount, I may be better off with blu-tac, if I did use that I would probably stick it by the neck heel, to get the tuner more out of the way.

[dhergert]

Hey Donnie,

I need one more measurement, just to make sure I've got the right length for the mount material...

Can you make a paper or cardboard mock-up of the 9/16" wide mount material and slide it into place just like the Mylar material that I'll be sending you would fit, extending under the first post and under the neck as far as you envision would be helpful, then over the second post and under the third post, all as we've described in determining how this should fit. Allow enough length under the neck with this mock-up so that you can slide it forward as we've talked about, and either cut or mark this mock up at the desired length. Keep in mind that the tuner body will rest against the first post at least when not in use.

That length measurement will tell me whether I need to go get some more material in order to produce the right length for you.

Btw, it's not a problem if I do need to get more material, I use it for odds and ends all over the house, so don't be worried about the length. We want the length to be right so that the mounts will work properly.

The attached pic is just as a reminder of how we want the mock-up (and the final product) to work on your Nechvilles.

Thanks!

-- Don

[DonnieD]

Hey Don,
Good idea! I don't have either banjo with me at the moment but I can check that for you this evening. That will also confirm that 9/16" is the correct width. I will let you know later.

Thanks,
Donnie

[DonnieD]

Don,
I checked it out last night and here is what I found. Any width between 1/2" and 5/8" will work, however the 9/16" is probably best. The overall length required to fit behind the neck, over the 2nd post and behind the third is 8", with the mounting hole centered (4" from each end). That will allow enough length for sliding the tuner back for storage and leave just a shade for trimming if necessary. Hopefully, this fits with the material that you have on hand.

Thanks,
Donnie

[dhergert]

Ok, good, thanks for the measurement Donnie, I'm glad to know the 8" length.

I will need to pick up some more of the mount material but it's good to do anyway since I use this material for other goodies. I should be able to put these mounts together for you pretty quickly once I have the material in hand. I expect that will probably be within 4 or 5 days from now.

I'll be in contact...

-- Don

[Tobin]

Just a follow-up review on the D'Addario Micro NS banjo tuner, now that I've been using it a couple of weeks...

I'm still having the issue of it reading the string I'm trying to tune. My Snark tuner clipped on the peghead, by comparison, seems to read just fine, but this one seems confused and gives me a dash, or flashes different colors on the screen for a while. The issue seems more pronounced on the 3rd and 4th strings. It seems to only pick up the note if I mute all the other strings with my left hand and then pluck the string pretty violently. It'll get the job done eventually, but I'm finding myself increasingly just grabbing the Snark and clipping it on the peghead just to save myself the time and frustration.

The other issue that has cropped up is that this tuner has an annoying rattle when I'm playing. The tuner body doesn't seem loose on the bracket, and I don't think the bracket is rattling in the J-hooks. I think it's the little buttons on top of the tuner that are rattling inside the body of the tuner. I probably wouldn't even notice the rattling if it were clipped at the peghead, but the fact that it's on the body, literally right under my ears, means that I pick up the buzzing sound.