TC Electronic PolyTune Tuner Review

Rather than regurgitate all of the hype and marketing material out there on the TC Electronic PolyTune tuner, I figured I’d wait until I gigged with it a couple of times. Here’s my hands-on review.

For those of you not familiar with this innovative new tuner, the PolyTune is a compact pedal tuner for guitar and bass that, in addition to acting like a normal tuner, allows the player to strum all the strings for a quick snapshop of which strings are out of tune. At that point, the player tunes individual strings as normal. The theory is, of course, that tuning time is diminished because you don’t have to go through and “check” the tuning of each individual string. Below are pictures of the tuner in “polyphonic mode” and “chromatic mode”.




I first saw the PolyTune at NAMM and I thought it was pretty ingenious. Early reviews from magazines were all positive, but I figured I would get one and test it for myself in a couple of live situations before commenting (or not commenting). After putting the PolyTune through its paces, it is most definitely staying on my pedalboard, and I’ll probably integrate one into my rack setup with my G-System as well. This thing really did save me time and energy on tuning, allowing me to focus on mentally preparing for the next song instead of worrying about whether my tuning was right or not. My bandmates REALLY liked it because I change guitars a lot and this shortened the time it takes to do that considerably.

One of the bands that I played with does a set of songs tuned to Eb as well, and it was super easy to put the PolyTune in Eb tuning, which worked great.
The display in the unit also has an sensor to detect the ambient light and determine the proper amount of light needed to make the display readable. I had no problem reading the display in both bright light and dark environments.

Here are the highlights on the pedal:

• Works on guitar and bass


• Polyphonic mode permits strumming of the strings to check tuning status


• Chromatic mode permits single string tuning


• Automatic detection of the multiple strings being played switches unit from one mode to the other


• Accurate to +/- 0.5 cent


• Tuning drop from 0 to 5 semitones


• True bypass

There are a couple of things that a prospective buying should also be aware of.

1. At this time, the PolyTune does not do alternative tunings. However, a mini-USB jack on the back of the pedal indicates that, like many other TC Electronic products, there will be additional capabilities coming in the future.


2. Because the PolyTune is accurate to a half a cent, touch is key to keep the results of polyphonic mode and chromatic mode the same. Naturally, the amount of pressure you exert on the string will change its pitch. The PolyTune takes a very light touch and the manual even recommends using a bare thumb. I didn’t go that far, but I did find that a light strum worked better than my “normal” strum. Once I got used to that, it worked great.

The street price on the TC Electronic PolyTune is $99, but as with most of our products, you should always ask us for a better deal.

Composite Acoustics Closes Down Manufacturing

Rumors have been swirling for a while, but it now looks official that Composite Acoustics has closed down manufacturing. Discussions have been ongoing at CarbonGuitar.com and AcousticGuitarForum.com, but now dealers are reporting that they have been told it's over.

This comes as a shock to the many fans and customers of CA Guitars, who have been very emotional about their disappointment. From our view, CA was doing a great job of expanding the awareness and market share of carbon fiber guitars. While we, personally, didn't feel that their acoustics were as resonant and playable as Rainsong's carbon fiber guitars, and we didn't think that their electrics came close to an XOX Handle, we DID think they were fine and that their low price points got a lot of people interested in the owning a composite instrument. Was the fact that their price points were low a contributing factor to their demise? We may never know, but it is very possible.

Another thing we may never know is the old "Who knew what and when did they know it?" question. CA had a booth at NAMM just a short 6 weeks ago and they were signing up new dealers and taking orders. According to at least one dealer, they were told that there are no more instruments remaining at the warehouse and that what's on the street is all that remains. It seems to me that if this were a surprise event, there would still be stock left. In the end, we may never know what actually happened, but what is clear is that the dealers who heavily invested in CA Guitars, like MacNichol Guitars have been dealt a blow and we hope that they recover quickly.

Of course the big question is "What now?" CA Guitars had built up a sizable and devoted customer base so one would certainly think that an acquisition is very possible. The thought of what would happen to the carbon fiber market if they were purchased by a mainstream brand, like Ibanez, Martin, etc. is really interesting. If one of those companies set up a low-cost operation overseas, they may well be able to make the CA Guitar line profitable while keeping their prices low, and this could greatly expand the overall market share of carbon fiber guitars.

We will certainly keep an eye on this as it unfolds.