Boss TU-80C Chromatic Tuner & Metronome

by Boss

Product Features

• Supports chromatic tuning, plus 7-string guitars and 6-string basses
• Accu-Pitch function sounds a tone when pitch is correct
• Reference Tone Play function makes it easy to verify tuning by ear
• Memory function stores your favorite tuner setting
• Metronome has 7 rhythms, 10 beats and cool animated LCD display

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 7 x 1 x 3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B0002D00BE
• Item model number: TU-80C
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #977 in Musical Instruments (See Top 100 in Musical Instruments)
  • #5 in Musical Instruments > Instrument Accessories > Guitar & Bass Accessories > Tuners > Standard Tuners

Product Description

The BOSS TU-80 brings super-accurate LCD tuning to musicians at a very affordable price, while adding unique high-end features like a built-in metronome and Accu-Pitch�. The pocket-sized TU-80 runs on batteries and can tune almost any instrument, thanks to a chromatic tuning mode and ultra wide tuning range. It even tunes 7-string guitars and 6-string basses--putting the TU-80 in a class all its own.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good as a tuner, but not as a metronome, June 23, 2006

By 

John (Southern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Boss TU-80C Chromatic Tuner & Metronome (Electronics)

I like the accuracy of the tuner, and it "hears" my acoustic guitar quite well if I put it on the music stand so that it's angled toward me. As a metronome, however, it leaves much to be desired: (1) the volume is not adjustable and I consider it not loud enough, (2) it makes a cheesy electronic chirp instead of a mechanical-sounding knock as some of the electronic metronomes can, and (3) the rhythm is "dotted," i.e., it puts a milder electronic chirp in between the "main chirps" and there's no way to turn it off (but this can be somewhat remedied by setting it to 1-4 time).

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Tuner That Gets It Done, August 7, 2010

By 

Tom Poore (South Euclid, OH) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Boss TU-80C Chromatic Tuner & Metronome (Electronics)

Reading through the reviews for the TU-80, it seems there's a lot of grumbling that misses the point of what a tuner should do. Above all, it should be accurate and clear in the readings it gives. Too often tuners fail to do this. The reading wanders back and forth, never quite settling on whether the note is flat, sharp, or dead on. For a tuner, this is entirely unacceptable. A tuner's job is to tell us whether or not the note is in tune. If the tuner can't make up its mind, then what's the point of having it?

While I can't say I've tried every tuner on the market, I've tried many. Most recently I auditioned the Guitar Research JC 200, Sabine MT 9000, Korg TM-40, Fishman FT-1, Korg MA-30, and the Korg GT-3. With the exception of the Sabine, all of them more or less display the problem I described above. (The Sabine MT 9000 has a different problem: it takes too long to give a reading after you play a string.) For my taste, the Boss TU-80 was superior to all the tuners listed here. It was quick to give a reading, and the reading didn't waver about.

Currently, these are my standard tuner recommendations to my guitar students:

* For a cheap tuner, the Korg GA-1.
* For a mid-priced tuner, the Boss TU-80.
* For a higher priced tuner, the Boss TU-12.
* For gigging players, the Intellitouch PT30, or the Snark Clip-On Chromatic Guitar Tuner

Regarding the complaints that the TU-80 has trouble hearing a note: All tuners have this problem to some degree, depending on the player, the instrument, and how far away the tuner is placed from the instrument. For acoustic guitarists, I suggest laying the guitar on your lap (soundboard side up) and setting the tuner directly on the soundboard. You needn't bang out the note, as doing this on the bass strings will cause the tuner to rattle against the soundboard. Just pluck the string at a medium volume, and the tuner usually will have no trouble sensing the vibration of the soundboard. Bear in mind also that some tuners have trouble hearing the bass strings. (The original Intellitouch tuner is notorious for this.) If your tuner doesn't hear the bass strings well, play the string at the 12th fret harmonic.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Average tuner, useless metronome, March 15, 2007

By 

Paul Weiss (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Boss TU-80C Chromatic Tuner & Metronome (Electronics)

The tuning capability is only mediocre; the "Accu-Pitch" function might better be sold as "Approxi-Pitch." When I check my 2 TU-80 tuners against a high-end one, I find that the Accu-Pitch beep can sound as much as 5 cents out of tune, which is bad enough so that I have to retune.

As far as the metronome goes, as other reviewers have noted, it's just not loud enough to be anything but a toy. Too bad, too - there was an opportunity to send the metronome signal out of the output jack, so that it could have driven an earphone, or could have been fed into a mixer, which was a choice that Boss itself made in its much-superior DB-12 metronome, but absent that feature, this metronome can't be used as an aid for practicing any real-world instrument.