Best guitar tuners 2024: chromatic, polyphonic, and strobe options

A good tuner should be the first purchase on any guitarist's list, even if it isn’t the most exciting thing you’ll ever buy. As well as being the first thing you need to use when you pick up your guitar, the best guitar tuners are first on any pedalboard, first in any recording signal chain, and unless you’re one of the 0.01% of humans with perfect pitch, you’re going to need one.

At Guitar World, our writing team has been recording, gigging, and practicing for decades so we’ve come across countless varieties of guitar tuners in our time. We’ve also reviewed many of the models on this list personally, testing them in all conditions to ensure they perform to the standards we’d expect from any of our gear. A good tuner needs to be durable, easy to use, as well as having an ultra-clear display to ensure it's viewable in any light conditions. 

In 2024 there’s a myriad of choices available for guitar tuners, so to make things easier for you, we’ve separated our favorites into categories that will suit a wide variety of uses. Whether you’re a bassist who’s frustrated with your tuner being unable to read lower notes, or you’re a guitar tech looking for the best tuner to set intonation, there’s an option for you here. If you’re new to guitar tuners, then make sure to have a look at our buying advice section which has loads of common questions answered comprehensively.

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Best guitar tuners: The quick list

Best overall

TC Electronic's PolyTune 3 Mini could be the best guitar tuner for you if you’d rather devote pedalboard space to cool, creative effects. During testing, we were thoroughly impressed by what the Mini is capable of - and the tuning accuracy is spot on.

Polyphonic functionality is part and parcel of the PolyTune line – and the dinky display’s 109 LEDs do a good job of clearly conveying the potentially complicated view of your guitar’s full six-string tuning. 

Ever play slide guitar? Fretless? Long emotive string bends? Use the Mini’s handy always-on function to guide your pitching. And, with both buffered and true bypass modes, you can be sure there’s a place for the PolyTune anywhere in your signal chain.

Read the full TC Electronic PolyTune 3 Mini review

Best pedal tuner

An evolution on Boss’ top-selling industry-standard TU-2, the TU-3 now features drop tuning functionality, improved tuning accuracy, and ‘Accu-Pitch’ verification to confirm you’ve tuned successfully. All good stuff, and you can add to that the TU-3’s brighter screen for cutting through bright sunlight. Perfect for busking!

Still an industry standard, Boss’ ever-present rock-solid build quality is evident. You may find other pedals do more for your money, however. We'd argue, though, that there's only so much anyone wants their tuner to do - and tune effectively and efficiently is probably pretty high up on the priority list.

Boss offers only buffered bypass mode in the TU-3 which some players will love, others will hate, and many won't notice the difference. If you really need a true-bypass Boss tuner, you’re looking at the TU-3W ‘Waza Craft’ edition. At $50 extra, though, you do pay a premium. 

Best clip-on tuner

There are so many great clip on tuners available at the moment, but for us, the D’Addario NS Micro Universal is one of the best out there. Combining flexible fitment with a lightweight and sleek design, it’s our top pick when it comes to the best clip-on guitar tuners.

The ratchet clip combined with a 360-degree swivel head makes it one of the most flexible clip-on tuners we’ve ever used, fitting onto a huge variety of guitar headstock designs. The sleek design means it doesn’t get in the way of your playing, and the light weight makes it feel as though nothing is hanging off your headstock.

The display is very bright and with four viewing angles, you’re unlikely to lose sight of it on a dark stage. It is on the smaller side though, so if you struggle reading small text far away, that could prove an issue here. All-in-all, we found it very hard to find anything to hate about this compact clip-on guitar tuner.

Best for bass

The Pitchblack X Pedal Tuner is Korg’s next-gen stompbox tuner, a pedal that boasts many new features, yet has become even easier to use. Not that the previous version required MENSA membership!

Korg is particularly proud that the Pitchblack X now features its newly developed Ultra Buffer technology, as well as true bypass. Continue to choose true bypass for unadulterated tone when you’re using a rig with short cable runs and just a few I/O points. If, however, you’re using passive pickups with a rig that has a longer reach of cables, or multiple pedal instances, then you’re better off switching to Ultra Buffer. This will boost your signal slightly to avoid loss of tone, even when the Pitchblack X is switched off.

More LEDs have been added for higher visibility on brightly lit stages, and Korg has introduced ‘just-right tuning’ which is a fancy way of saying that both arrows blink when tuning is correct. Accuracy is a jaw-dropping +/- 0.1 cents, so you’ll be putting those blinking arrows through their paces.

There are four meter display modes to choose from. The regular mode features a central, stationary LED together with a second LED that moves as you alter the pitch of a string. When the two coincide and the arrows start blinking then you’re perfectly in tune. ‘Strobe’ and ‘half strobe’ indicate changes in pitch by the direction and speed of the LEDs. Make them grind to a halt and you’ll be in tune. Finally, the ‘mirror’ mode uses moving LEDs on the left and right of centre that converge as your guitar string becomes progressively more in tune.

The Korg Pitchblack X Pedal Tuner can run on a 9V battery or an external power supply. Incidentally, if you don’t warm to its form factor then there are three other Pitchblack models to choose from: the rackmount 1U Pitchblack X Pro, the compact Pitchblack XS, and the tiny Pitchblack X mini.

Read the full Korg Pitchblack X review

Best for intonation

Famed for their accuracy, Peterson strobe tuners have long been the choice of pros seeking the highest quality gear, and in 2019 Peterson unveiled what it considers to be ‘the ultimate pedal guitar tuner’: the StroboStomp HD. 

Boasting a feature set far beyond most of its rivals, you’ll find both true and buffered bypass modes, plus 135 ‘sweetened’ tunings – micro-adjusted reference pitch points optimised for a variety of instrument types and altered tunings. If you notice some of your chords sound a little off at different places on the fretboard, and you've checked your intonation, then these sweetened tunings help you get the very best out of your instrument.

One feature we loved especially is the ability to save your own presets - making those tuning changes at shows so much easier. Of course, this level of nerd-ish tweakery can only be employed by the most precise tuners, and the StroboStomp HD delivers 0.1 cent accuracy. That’s plenty enough for the most discerning of ears. 

Best for beginners

At this small price, it’s worth having an ST-2 around even if you only keep it in a gigbag. Definitely the best guitar tuner for those on a budget. Though there are several pricier and fully featured guitar tuners here, Snark’s ST-2 is aimed at the player who wants just the bare essentials.

First of all, the attachment system is robust and the screen is easily angled – a surprisingly important feature because these types of tuners have to fit in around tuning machines on six-string guitars, 12-strings, mandolins, basses… you get the idea! 

Secondly, the ST-2 tracks quickly. Set it to the vibration sensor and it’ll work just fine in all but the loudest of gigs. The microphone is for acoustic instruments, of course, so you’ll need some peace and quiet at home to use this mode. All-in-all you can't knock the ST-2 considering the price point, perfect for beginner guitarists or those on a shoestring budget.

More options...

You’re probably thinking we’ve lost the plot here by including a volume pedal in this guide, but please let us explain. Ernie Ball’s expression pedal-based delays and overdrives have been a popular choice for guitarists worldwide, and now they’ve incorporated the most important pedal of them all. 

The VJPR is a two-in-one pedal that combines a volume display and an onboard digital chromatic tuner on a crystal-clear display screen integrated into the pedal’s footboard. In ‘volume + tuning’ mode, wind the pedal all the way to the heel-down position (no signal) and the tuner engages, and as you increase the signal, a volume readout will appear. Ernie Ball has also provided ‘volume only’ and ‘tuner only’ modes, for those who like to keep things a bit more simple. We found these super useful during testing, as getting used to any new tech can be a challenge.

The tuner can not only be calibrated to a whole range of different pitches but can be used as a master volume or gain control on your rig. The pedal sits in an ultra-durable aluminum housing that features a Kevlar cord to ensure even tension throughout the foot sweep. Input-wise, the mono input jack can handle both passive and active signals, with up to 18V of headroom. This makes the VJPR perfect for passive and active guitars and basses.

Read the full Ernie Ball VPJR Tuner review 

Imagine taking all the good stuff from a Pitchblack X Pedal Tuner and shoving it into a 1U rackmount enclosure. Yes, but why would you want to do that? Visibility and accuracy, that’s why. The Pitchblack X Pro’s massive display makes it so much easier to perform very fine adjustments, which is critical with a tuner as accurate as this.

So, if you’re confined to your studio for most of your guitar-playing life and already use a rack or two to house other equipment then the Pitchblack X Pro is a natural fit. You’ll be able to see it clearly from across the room, and it’ll speed up the process of tuning no end.

What about performance? Wouldn’t it be great to benefit from a super-large display on stage? Absolutely. In fact, with the help of some rack ears, it’s simplicity itself to mount it on a pedalboard.

Another reason Korg super-sized the Pitchblack X is so that it could throw in some extra features. As well as all the regular highlights and innovations – such as true bypass, Ultra Buffer, four meter modes, and incredible accuracy – this version also includes a cable checker and an option to change the hue of the LEDs.

You see, the Pitchblack X Pro is an absolute riot of colour. You can choose one of five different colour types, from a blue to red gradation, green to a red gradation or single-coloured gradations rooted in cyan, green, or blue. Make your selection for maximum visibility, or to match your stage lighting, your guitar, your outfit, or even your lippy. The choice is yours!

Designed for acoustic guitars, basses, and ukuleles, D’Addario’s soundhole-mounted tuner is a compact device, offering easy viewing from its bright multi-color display. Hiding discreetly inside your acoustic guitar’s soundhole, the NS Micro won’t spoil the appearance of your pride and joy either. A non-marking attachment enables stress-free installation.

It works by picking up vibrations from your guitar’s soundboard – far more accurate than old-fashioned microphone tuners prone to picking up ambient noise. Sure there are more accurate tuners available, and more expensive ones too. However, as it combines ease of use and a non-intrusive, diminutive form factor, the NS Micro is well worth a look.

Granted, this tuner will only work on acoustic instruments, but if you're looking for something small and infinitely useful to have in your acoustic gigbag, then you can't really go wrong with the NS Micro. Perfect for acoustic guitarists who don't want to spoil the look of their instrument.

It’s a truly stomach-churning experience. You’re just about long enough into your set for the heat of the stage lights to knock your tuning off. So, as you start to move one hand towards your guitar’s headstock you do a double take at your clip-on tuner. It’s dead, completely and utterly unresponsive…

This is why Fender’s Flash Tuner is worth every cent of its minuscule price tag. It’s rechargeable, which is good for your mental stability and great for the planet. Give it a good wallop of power via the included USB cable and it’ll perform alongside you and your guitar for 20 hours. That’s continuous use mind, so the actual figure will be much, much higher because it has an auto shut-off feature that kicks in after five minutes of inactivity. In a nutshell, it’ll keep on partying long after you’ve called it a night.

For a small inexpensive clip-on tuner, it’s surprisingly big on features. The clippy bit boasts two 360° swivels and a 120° hinge, so you’ll always be able to adjust its colourful LED screen so that you can see it. 

There are modes for Guitar, Bass, Ukulele, Violin, and Chromatic tuning, plus alternate tuning settings of half step flat, full step flat, and open G, D and E. Perhaps best of all, its screen features a very visible battery indicator, so you’ll never be caught out ever again. 

It’s been around since 2015, but TC Electronic’s diminutive clip-on is still a worthy offering, boasting impressive accuracy of a minuscule +/- 0.02-cent strobe-mode accuracy (that’s one 5,000th of a semitone!) and 0.5 cents in chromatic mode.

As its name suggests, the PolyTune Clip is polyphonic but it offers a regular one-note ‘needle’ mode for players who find a six-string display just too much of a light show. We say ‘six-string’...  PolyTune Clip is suitable for bass guitars too, albeit only in needle mode. Still, this is a stylish and functional tuner regardless.

It's not exactly cheap as far as clip-on tuners go, but in our testing, we found it outdoes nearly every other clip-on tuner on the market - so if you need a small, convenient, accurate tuner, then this is the one.

Much like D’Addario’s soundhole-mounted offering, the Micro Headstock Tuner is a small un-intrusive device. It’s lightweight too – ideal for maintaining your instrument’s balance. If you really want a clip-on tuner but find they weigh too heavy on your headstock, this could be the tuner for you.

At 0.3 cents, this is one of the most accurate models in our best guitar tuners list. That’s an impressive feat considering it’s also one of the cheapest here. It can also stay on your guitar while it's in transit, removing the chance of you rocking up to a show having forgotten your tuner.

Sure the display is a simple chromatic layout, with none of the strobe style offerings of the more expensive models here, but this is all about wallet-friendly simplicity. There aren't many tuners with as small a profile as the Micro Headstock Tuner, which makes it a great choice for guitarists who want to maintain the look and balance of their guitars.

As the name suggests, the Stroboclip HD offers the accuracy of a stompbox strobe tuner but in a much smaller package that’s ready to be clipped to the headstock of your guitar. Or many other instruments for that matter.

Accuracy is an astonishing 0.01 cent, and tuning is as easy as adjusting your guitar’s tuning pegs until the animated strobe disk stops spinning. Peterson claims that this method of tuning is quite literally ‘spot-on’, and far more accurate than the animated arrows or flashing lights found in other tuners. 

It goes without saying that being in tune is always a good thing, but the accuracy of the StroboClip HD enables you to experiment with ‘sweetened tunings’ too. It ships with a library of 50 sweetened tunings for a variety of instruments from banjos to brass including, of course, guitar. 

Despite its tiny size, the StroboClip HD’s LCD screen is easily seen in the gloom of a poorly lit stage and even remains perfectly visible in direct sunlight. If you own a bass as well as a guitar or two, you’ll be delighted to learn that it’s one of the few clip-on tuners that’ll recognize the low E string without any issues whatsoever.

Whereas the market is flooded with pedals, automatic motorized tuners are few and far between. Using its vibration sensor, the Roadie 3 detects the pitch of a string and then adjusts it to a preselected note. Just stick it on a machine head and the tuner does the winding for you, at up to 120rpm.

Roadie 3 also has an integrated metronome to help you nail your timings, and an improved peg connector means it’ll fit even more instruments. Working on the majority of guitars, it can also tune banjos, acoustic guitars, and even ukuleles. It may be disconcerting to let a machine do the tuning for you, but it works incredibly well.

Not enough to tempt you? Well, consider that Roadie 3 comes equipped with over 100 built-in tuning presets. DADGAD? Sure! Capo tunings? You bet!! Simply access them via the onboard LED screen. For expanded editing features you’ll need the free Roadie 3 app. 

Read the full Roadie 3 Automatic Guitar Tuner review

Buying advice

How we test

A guitar tuner is a simple device really, but that doesn't mean we don't put one fully through its paces when reviewing. A tuner needs to be robust, reliable, and easy to use or it won't make the cut for us.

When we receive a tuner for review, we'll first look at how it's built and what features it has. If it's a clip-on tuner then we'll check that a fits a variety of instrument headstocks, there's a good amount of flexibility in the way you can view the head, as well as whether or not it adds more weight to the headstock.

For pedal tuners, we'll look at the overall feel of it. Does it appear sturdy enough to put up with repeated stomping night after night? Are there any additional features like bypass or buffered switching? We'll also check whether it can run on battery power or if you need an additional pedalboard power supply.

Once our initial assessment is done, we'll plug it in or power it on and get to actually using it. For pedal tuners, we're looking for a bright display with enough sensitivity for fine-tuning. The display is incredibly important as it needs to be easy to read, yet detailed enough for very small tuning increments. For clip-on tuners it's a similar process, they tend to have smaller displays so is it still easily viewable at a distance?

With clip-on tuners it's important to note how they work in noisy environments so to test that, we'll take it to a live show or practice and see how it holds up when a PA system or bass stack is going. With a pedal tuner, we'll be looking to see how easy it is to switch on and off, as well as how easy it is to integrate into an existing pedalboard setup.

Find out more about how we make our recommendations, how we test each of the products in our buyer's guides, and our review policy.

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