Intelli IMT500 Clip-on Chromatic Digital Tuner for Strings

by Intelli

Product Features

• Can tune is noisy environment
• Face is backlit for easy reading
• Battery saving auto turn off after three minutes

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 2 x 1.8 x 1.8 inches ; 0.8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B002Q0WSO8
• Item model number: IMT500
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (308 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,081 in Musical Instruments (See Top 100 in Musical Instruments)
  • #21 in Musical Instruments > Instrument Accessories > General Accessories > Tuning
  • #22 in Musical Instruments > Instrument Accessories > Guitar & Bass Accessories > Tuners
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 22, 2009

Product Description

The Intelli IMT-500 clip on chromatic tuner is designed to tune electric and acoustic guitars, basses, violins, banjos, mandolins and more without interference from ambient room noise, all without the use of wires, microphones or pickups. Tuning in noisy environments is a easy because the unique, flexible clamp actually "feels" the instrument's vibrational energy instead of relying on sound. And, the swivel allows a perfect view of the back lit display. The best part is that this amazing quality tuner costs a fraction of what other similar tuners cost.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

182 of 187 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally! Amazon offers the Intelli IMT-500 April 20, 2007

By JerryWithaJ

Amazon Verified Purchase

The Intelli IMT-500--The tuner that killed the Intellitouch!

There are scores of chromatic tuners on the market. Most work by using a small built-in microphone that picks up sound waves. In order to be used effectively, the tuning space must be relatively quiet. Many of these tuners have input jacks that allow electric guitars to be connected directly and tuned by the electronic signal they produce. A bunch of years ago a variety of clip-on-microphones began to be marketed. The microphone could be clipped to any instrument and its cord attach to an electronic tuner. Now, anyone could tune an instrument no matter what the background noise.

Then, the Intellitouch tuner hit the market. The entire tuner clipped onto the instrument. One could tune an acoustic instrument in a noisy environment. There was no cord to deal with and the instrument could stay clipped to the headstock or quickly removed and slid into a pocket or case. Talk about convenience. Jams and festivals (bluegrass, folk, whatever) became seas of Intellitouch tuners.

Intellitouch owned the market even though there were so many situations where they did not work well. In particular, they have trouble with the bass notes of dreadnought sized guitars. The more overtones an instrument produces, the worse the tuner behaves. The bass string of a Martin rosewood dreadnought was near impossible to tune without using one of the many workarounds that owners developed. So, it was very much a love-hate relationship. The shortcomings were huge, but the convenience meant that they were tolerated.

Then, came the Intelli. It was an Intellitouch that worked, if not perfectly, then a whole lot better. The amazing thing is that the switch from Intellitouch to Intelli wasn't gradual.... Within six months of its introduction, jams and festivals became seas of Intelli tuners. People were throwing their Intellitouches into drawers (if they weren't lucky enough to find a die hard holdout willing to buy one second-hand) to get the Intelli. That's a considerable investment to abandon. But, why not? The Intelli is half the price of the Intellitouch and works a whole lot better. They are so inexpensive that it's easy to justify getting one for the practice area and one for the case so that you don't have to worry about forgetting to pack it.

Anyone who will ever have to tune an acoustic instrument in a noisy environment will quickly find this tuner indispensable. And it works darn well in a quiet environment, too!

Highly recommended! Read more ›

74 of 77 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A very decent clip-on tuner February 3, 2007

By Enigma027

I had been studying the Intellitouch line of clip-on tuners for some time but had seen mixed reviews. Recently, I happened to see a short review of the Intelli IMT-500 clip-on tuner. After a bit of study, I decided to give it a try. The body is quite small at slightly greater than 2.25 inches measured diagonally. The meter screen itself is square at about 1.25 inches diagonally. The screen backlighting is quite bright and the scale itself is easily read when looked at straight on with some blurring if viewed at some angles. The scale is typical for many electronic tuners and easily understood. It has a calibration feature which takes it from a 430 to a 449-A reference. It also has a flatting feature for use in tuning with a capo. I have used neither of these features as of yet. When I first used it, there was an irritating rattling sound when I played. I discovered that the three buttons, POWER-LIGHT / FLAT / CALIB, were vibrating in the tuner. I disassembled the unit and using a toothpick, placed a very small amount of clear silicone RTV sealant along the inside edges of these buttons. I left it to cure for a couple of hours and then reassembled it. The rattling was gone and the buttons worked fine. Hopefully this fix will last a while but is easily repeated if needed. I then compared its tuning accuracy with that of a KORG Chromatic Tuner Model CA-30 using a Martin DR acoustic with light bronze strings that have a moderate amount of age on them. With the Intelli dead on, the KORG showed a few cents sharp. This is obviously not enough variance to be concerned about. The placement on the headstock did not seem to effect the tuning at all. The only issue I have thus far is that the tuner has a more difficult time sensing the low E string.... However, I have heard that this is common with the clip-on tuners. I know that even my KORG and SABINE both have difficulty in picking up the lower notes. Also, when I get the sixth string tuned it seems a hair sharp to my ear and I took it down 'till it sounded right. I will change the strings out sometime soon and give it another try. Also, I struck a 440-A tuning fork and clipped the tuner on the shaft end of the fork. The tuner registered a dead on 440-A!!

I am pleased with the tuner overall. If it holds up, I believe that it will fit the bill quite well for noisy venues. I gave it 4 stars only because of the rattle. If I can add to this at a later date, I will update my opinion as needed. Read more ›

82 of 86 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars So easy, even a beginner can understand it. February 28, 2007

By A. Buthod

1st off, I have 3 months of guitar experience. I barely know the difference between an "A" and an "E". Tuning was a pain because I havnt developed an ear for it yet. I just received the IMT-500 and its great. Just clip it on and pluck a string. It alreaady knows which string you are trying to tune. When the note is in tune, the tuner line is centered and you move on to the next string. I should have bought this when I bought the guitar. Its small, compact, and the screen lights up a bright green and easy to read. Since it works off vibration, its probably more accurate than a microphone tuner and its MUCH more accurate than when I try and match a tune off a tuning fork.

61 of 65 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Intelli IMT500 May 6, 2008

By I. Goodsman

In 20+ years of playing I have never used a tuner and so I was a little concerned about buying this as I had thought I would go for an in-line floor tuner. The situation was that this was readily available to me and so I thought I would give it a go. I am not sorry I did either. I was on tour in the UK and found this very helpful. There are a couple of concerns - already mentioned in previous reviews - the bottom E doesn't always give a reading but this is easily overcome with harmonic of said string. The A seemed to give me a reading of E even though it was an A - didn't find this a problem once I knew what it was doing. I guess I am a little concerned about the robustness of it on regular touring.

I found it responsive and easy to read in dimmed light. I use different tunings and found this, together with my ear, an invaluable device especially for that F# in an open D tuning. Overall, on stage it made for quicker retunings and offered me that little extra confidence that I was on mark. I have not used it to record and so cannot say how it fairs across instruments and sessions. However, on stage it proved its worth and I will be using it as regular as I play.

It is definitely worth trying - especially for the price.