Anymore, if you’re a musician whose standard kit doesn’t include a precise digital tuner/metronome like the Snark SN-5, you may be a bit hard to take seriously. Given the Snark SN-1’s incredible price point and rave reviews, it’s hard not to just stick with this all-around ideal companion for guitarists, bassists and violinists of all walks.
This chromatic tuner clips in handy fashion to the front or back of any headstock and dials in any acoustic or electric guitar, bass or violin to tuning-fork perfection without even needing to power up. When we say “perfect”, we’re talking a pitch-calibration range from 415-466 Hz, especially ideal for guitar and bass tuning. The display just happens to also rotate 360 degrees, just in case a bandmates need a hand matching pitch to your tone – no need to pass it around one at a time when everyone can just find their own vantage point.
If you’re looking at the Snark SN-5’s design and wondering, yes, you can absolutely adjust your tuning on the fly even with a capo in place. Tuning to a cap is as simple as pushing the “Flat” button on the Snark’s back to any of its four settings corresponding respectively to the capo position – “1” for the first fret, “2” for the second, etc. Once you’ve dialed that in, just tune as usually. The Snark SN-5 is already prepped accommodate the new tuning.
The BPM indicator defaults directly to 100 BPM by tapping the function’s button once and can then be adjusted to any tempo you choose with the “Up” or “Down” buttons. From there, it’s the steadiest metronome you’ll ever find, complete with a battery saving sleep mode that turns the Snark SN-5 off after 10 inactive minutes of non-use.
