First, the downside (why it lost a star): I purchased this to tune a rather cheap violin that I bought to try violin and see if I enjoyed it (if not, hey - photo prop!). For what I paid, I knew I wouldn't regret it as long as it could clip to the violin and was accurate. But that's the downside of advertising as a violin tuner - the pegbox of a violin is drastically different from the headstock of a guitar or bass guitar. In the end, I ended up clipping it to the bridge of the violin (probably not the best idea, but hey - I did say it was a cheap violin) and that worked.

Now, the pluses: it's dead-simple to use. The most complicated bit is trying to move the gauge around on the swivels to line up to be most comfortable to view - this does NOT use a gooseneck connection like some resonator-based tuners. If it's a vibration-based instrument and you can clip it to a part that resonates, you can tune it with this pretty darn accurately and easily. I'm sure it will work perfectly when I test it on a bass guitar. Also, it comes with a kinda snazzy little bag. I don't know exactly why, but hey - it's a bonus.

For the price and being dead-simple to use, it can't be beat for most instruments. If it's got a pegbox instead of a headstock or soundboard, it may be a bit more of a challenge to find a good place to clip it. I look forward to the inevitable video of someone using it to tune a piano or harpsichord.

Wow, it's great! I got this for my 9 year old who is learning to play guitar. I have tons of electric tuners (okay, two), but nothing decent and easy to use for acoustic. I found this guy, and it's so handy I bought one for myself and my older boy who is learning bass. Works great on electric, no need to even plug in, I guess it goes off of vibrations. Its probably the only tuner I'll ever use from here on out it's so handy, easy, and convenient. But here comes the crazy part:

My 9year old, being a 9 year old, managed to somehow drop his straight into a glass of water. I pulled it out, took the battery out and let it dry out for a day. I didn't even do the bowl of rice trick, just set it out. Put it back together the next day (I don't even think it was fully dry), and it's worked like a charm still, ever since. WOW! I probably wouldn't recommend for underwater use, but I am impressed by it's durability. I thought it was a goner for sure.

There being only the one picture on the page i feel inclined to point out that this thing is actually fairly small. However that is probably the worst thing about this.

The screen is very vivid and incredibly smooth during use. The swiveling neck also means that, once you attach it, it becomes very easy to move around so you can see it regardless of how you're holding the guitar. This is also the very first "clip on" tuner that I've ever liked, all my previous tuners have been ones that you plug the jack into because the clip on ones were either wildly inaccurate or were slow to assess what note you were playing. The Snark SN-5 however picked up the note immediately and was spot on, i would also like to say how happy i am that it actually picked up the low B on my 7-string, a feat most previous tuners had extreme difficulty with.

The only other thing i should note is that i haven't had it for very long so i can't speak to anything like battery life or how it deals with wear and tear.

All in all, a perfect piece of equipment, would definitely buy again.

I have about 5 different Snarks and they are hands down the best clip-on tuner out there. I've had several different brands and they ALL suck compared to the Snarks. Never a problem tracking whatsoever. The most basic model (this one) is actually the best out of all of them IMO. I've had to change batteries but they last a good while. The bright dial is perfect in every setting, it's unobtrusive, and it always works regardless of what you're doing with your volume level. The only drawback at all is that I wish the spring clamp was a little bit more stiff so as to clamp "harder"; for example on a standard Tele headstock there's not a lot of real estate for it to grab onto so you may knock it off if you're a spaz (I am). Gibsons, or any 6-on-a-side headstocks, are perfect. I never plug into a tuner anymore, this is just so much easier to use. And cheap! You could buy 10 of them for the cost of a new BOSS--and unless they've improved the BOSS markedly since the TU-2, they work way better.

I just got my first guitar and know nothing about music other than I enjoy listening to it. This is one of those retirement hobbies and my brother bought me the guitar (pretty cool!!!). I didn't even know what the strings were (EADGBE I now know...). This is a super cool little tool to adjust each string. I had no idea how it worked until it arrived, but it listens to sound and then displays what note it is. From the picture I thought you clipped it to the string, but actually it can go anywhere; on the neck of the guitar or the edge of a table, or wherever else you want to place it. I assume it could be used for any musical instrument. I even tried singing some notes and it picked those up too. The gauge will tell you the closest note to what is being played. It also has a nice dial that tells you when it isn't quite there because the string is a little too tight or loose; i.e. it's really easy to fine tune the string to get it just perfect.

Ok, I'm impressed with this little gadget and it's been extremely useful for me to get my guitar tuned.