What is the point of a tuner pedal?

A tuner pedal will help you tune each string on your instrument to the correct pitch.

Who uses a tuner pedal?

Every good musician will use a tuner to ensure they are in tune.

Are tuner pedals more accurate?

Yes, some more premium tuner pedals offer more precise pitch tracking with a more detailed user interface, while other pedals will feature different modes for alternate tunings and different instruments.

Can tuner pedals handle drop tunings?

Yes, if it is a chromatic tuner pedal it will read all pitches within its range. Drop tunings are an important part of many guitarists' repertoire therefore almost all tuners will handle drop tunings with ease.

Where should a tuner pedal go?

A tuner pedal generally goes first in the signal chain between your guitar and your amp, with the clean guitar signal offering more accurate tuning.

Can I really use my tuner as a pedal power supply?

Yes! Certain tuner pedals will let you do that! The BOSS TU-3, for instance, is famous for having this function. You'll notice that there are two connectors on the top, labelled 'in' and 'out'. This is a special feature and here's what you do: You'll need to buy a 9v adapter and a daisy chain cable. Plug the power supply into the 'in' socket, remembering to remove the 9v PP3 battery from the pedal first! Next, connect the daisy chain to the 'out' socket and then use the daisy chain to connect up to five compact pedals (this number may vary depending on specific power needs of certain pedals) which will all then take their power through the tuner! If that doesn't make the TU-3 an indispensable pedal, we don't know what does!

Is it better if my tuner pedal is buffered or true-bypass?

This depends on a lot of opinions as well as the specifics of your particular rig. If you only use a few choice pedals (which themselves are already true bypass) and you use a short cable, we would recommend using a true-bypass tuner to get the integrity of your tone intact. If you like to use more than four pedals and have a 20ft lead between your guitar and your tuner, we'd suggest opting for a buffered tuner. Your signal will have been experiencing a small degree of signal degradation from the length of journey it has to take to get to the amp so a little boost from the buffer will be more of a help than a hindrance.