Peterson StroboStomp HD

I have been using the first version of the Peterson Strobostomp for about 15 years professionally. It has seen many stages and I never had an issue with it until last week, when it started acting up and I had to look for a replacement. Although I had wanted to try a different brand after using Peterson for so long, I chose Peterson again after the research I did. For me it is the best combination of the right options.

I realised these days there are quite some options out there when looking to buy a new stage tuner with high accuracy. Back when I bought my Strobostomp it was the only one out there! I found the biggest competition of the Strobostomp HD to be the Sonic Research Turbo Tuner and the TC Electronic Polytune 3.

Now let's quickly check how I came to my decision to go for the Strobostomp HD. My most important needs are:
- sturdy build for all the stage abuse it's going to get
- needs to be able to be battery operated
- needs a clear big screen that's easy to read on stage
- needs to react fast
- needs to be accurate
- should not suck your tone


Sturdy build quality
Nowadays all stompbox tuners are build like tanks. The Strobostomp doesn't stand out in this department as how much stronger would one need a tuner to be, right?

Battery operated
The Polytune 3 and Turbo Tuner ST-300 can also battery operated. So this didn't set the Strobostomp apart for me.

Clear Big Screen
Here the Strobostomp clearly wins. The screen is so big and clear to read from a mile away. This is going to make my life so much easier when quickly checking my tuning in between songs! Both the Turbo Tuner and Polytune aren't as big and as easy to read as the Strobostomp HD.

Reaction time
I was surprised at how quick the Strobostomp HD reacted to the string I want to tune. It recognizes the right string and note much faster than the old Strobostomp I used to have. It feels instant. Excellent. The less time I spend tuning in between songs, the better.

Accuracy
Looking at the competition, the Turbo Tuner has a higher accuracy (0.02ct). But it is also costs about 50% more than the Strobostomp HD. The question one should ask is, how much accuracy does one actually need in real life? For me the 0.1ct accuracy of the Strobostomp has always been more than enough to perfectly intonate and tune a guitar, and is miles ahead of 'simple' tuners of Korg and Boss. So although the Turbo Tuner wins here, it is not a deal breaker for me.

Should not suck tone
What I like here is that the Peterson gives you the option to choose between buffered or true bypass mode. So you have the option to choose what sucks your tone the least. The Polytune also has these options, whereas the Turbo Tuner only has True Bypass mode.

Add to all of this that you can upgrade the firmware and configure your tunings via your pc or mac..I have all the options I could ever want in a pedal tuner.

Is there anything I would change to the Strobostomp? So far I can't think of anything. It feels like a big improvement over the original Strobostomp and that is quite an achievement on it's own.

I hope that gives you some insight in why I chose the Strobostomp HD, and I'm glad I did. Good luck with your hunt for your ideal tuner!

De titel zegt alles.
Prachtig apparaat.
Vroeger werd ik nerveus van strobe tuners, maar deze heeft dat ‘zenuwachtige’ totaal niet.
Aanrader!!

Dit is een stevig, robuust toestel. Het werkt zeer accuraat en is eenvoudig in gebruik. Het biedt echter vele mogelijkheden en instellingen die ik als amateur-muzikant niet nodig heb, maar die wellicht erg nuttig kunnen zijn voor de meer ervaren muzikant. Het prijskaartje is duurder dan de eenvoudigste toestelletjes en dit is misschien een minpuntje voor sommigen. Zelf ben ik zeer tevreden met het feit dat ik meteen voor een zeer degelijk toestel ben gegaan met mogelijkheden die mij misschien nog wel eens te pas kunnen komen.

Great tuner, very easy to use, a lot of options to tune and use with other pedals,
not very cheap, but well worth the money, I had all other tuners, this one is simply the best.

I am a noob and it is so easy to understand how it works