Intellitouch tuner...

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 6:17 am

brewerpaul wrote:Emm-- where did you get that terrific ear cuff?

A couple who go by the names Jezzard and Jezzard. They live (I think) in Texas, but exhibit at the Maryland Renaissance Festival.
The link might give you contact info.

mikk · Post by **mikk** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 7:15 am

I have used an Intellitouch tuner for a few years now on my guitar and mandolin and was very impressed when I first bought it. I did however start to get a little frustrated by the response time from plucking the string the note registering on the tuner.

I was at a session recently and was shown one of these by a fiddle player:

The Intelli IMT 500 tuner.

I now like it a lot better than the Intellitouch tuner. Its response time is a lot better and with the needle display I find it easier to use. I was told to look on ebay and found one for £18.00, which is a lot cheaper than the Intellitouch. The only downside is that it comes in a little cardboard box and not a protective case like the Intellitouch.

The Intelli IMT 500 tuner being so responsive, is very good for tuning whistles.

fearfaoin · Post by **fearfaoin** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 8:01 am

mikk wrote:I now like it a lot better than the Intellitouch tuner.

Ooooo, that display would be MUCH more useful for winds!

alurker · Post by **alurker** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 7:21 pm

Digging up this thread from a search...

Any further thoughts on the benefits of the Intelli IMT 500 versus the intellitouch. I was about to buy an intellitouch (which I have tried out in a session environment) when I found this thread. I must say like the needle display on the IMT 500. I also find the response time of the Intellitune a bit of a pain as well as never knowing which way to go with the arrows.

I am specifically interested in tuning performance for a banjo. There are specific issues with tuning banjos caused by the lack of sustain in the note (compared with guitars, bouzoukis etc.).

Any thoughts or advice??

Tim2723 · Post by **Tim2723** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 8:36 pm

It's interesting to revisit an older thread to see what developments have taken place.

Interestingly, the responses to the Intellitouch tuner are more favorable from those playing guitar, bouzouki, and OM, while mandolinists and fiddlers had mixed results with it (works well for some mandos and fiddles, not so well for others). Conversely, the newer IMT500 is getting good reports on MandolinCafe from the mando and fiddle players, while some guitarists are having trouble with it.

This suggests to me that the IMT500 is somehow better suited to the smaller, higher-voiced instruments, while the original Intellitouch works best for lower voiced instruments like guitar and OM.

It seems we now have a choice of optimal technology for our different instruments.

I haven't found any contact tuner that I really like for my banjo. I have a magnetic pickup on mine, so I use the Boss stomp box tuner. I think banjos are tricky since they're built of massive hunks of metal and wood. It might be touch and go with a contact tuner attached to the banjo headstock. Get something that attached to the bridge or drum head and you'll probably have the best result.

alurker · Post by **alurker** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 10:09 pm

Thanks for the reponse Tim. I get what you're saying and agree for a gig set-up. For session playing it's probably easier to simply clip on a claw than to start hauling out leads for my pickup.

After posting above I went to banjohangout.orgwhere there has been some discussion on the use of Intelli IMT 500 for banjos. The reaction is generally positive and there seems to be a preference over the intellitune (although the response time seems to be a bit longer than I hoped for). I also got pointed to page 18 of this newsletter (Note: download is approximately 10MB) where it received a very favourable review.

All of this, and a low price tag (about $22 USD delivered) has convinced me to give the Intelli IMT 500 a go. I will report back when I have tried it out in a session environment.

fearfaoin · Post by **fearfaoin** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 7:38 am

I love my IMT-500. It also works great for whistles, and people
laugh when I slap it on a whistle, then goggle when it tunes it up
nice. However, it has trouble picking up the low E string of my
guitar.

I don't have a banjo to try it on. Though, now that I think on it,
I've seen a 5-string player at session use one, so maybe it's fine...

alurker · Post by **alurker** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 5:34 am

I got my new IMT500 in the post today (a day too late for the weekly session). I tried it out at home this evening and it works really well. Much better response time than I expected. Appears to have good accuracy (I even used it to adjust my bridge for intonation with good results). Nice interface/display - easy to read/interprate. Good strong clip. Small neat unit. I'll report back when I have given it a run in a session but so far so good and all for US$22 delivered to my door.

bcameron · Post by **bcameron** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 11:37 am

I have one of the alien-bug-resembling Centerpitch tuners pictured earlier in this thread.

I got it largely because my mando has a weird-shaped contoured peghead that the Intellitouch clamp doesn't grab onto very well. Also the Centerpitch (CP) was cheaper.

All in all I haven't been very happy with the CP. Too many fragile moving parts. The little rubber feet are forever coming off. and the narrow metal post coming out of the clamp snapped in two for no apparent reason when just a few months old. (Was replaced under warranty). Shortly thereafter, the batteries in the new one died prematurely. (Again the Ottawa Folklore Centre came through). Unlike the Intellitouch, you can't just leave it on your guitar or other peghead and forget about it, it falls off. When I have a chance, I just end up borrowing my bandmate's Intellitouch.

I didn't own a tunable whistle until just last month, so just now I tried the CP tuner on my Susato A whistle. Worked OK. I bet I could clamp the Intellitouch on the whistle and have it work too. In fact, when the CP tuner is not coming apart, falling onto the floor, or otherwise misbehaving, it does work OK for its intended purpose. I just don't much like the design or quality control.

eskin · Post by **eskin** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 11:42 pm

I expected to love my Intellitouch tuner and really liked its bright and clear green screen, but it just didn't work well with my dreadnought Martin guitar. It couldn't consistently hear the low strings and was slow to respond. I think there may be several hardware revisions of this tuner, I tried a couple of others and they were quite different in behavior, some much better than others. Ended up going back to a more consistently responsive tuner.

bcameron · Post by **bcameron** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 7:29 am

I have also noticed that the Centerpitch (especially) and the Intellitouch (less so but noticeable) are slow and reluctant to commit when it comes to very low strings. I much prefer my Boss floor pedal tuner to either of them--but that only works in a fully-plugged in stage situation.

alurker · Post by **alurker** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 8:11 am

eskin wrote:I expected to love my Intellitouch tuner and really liked its bright and clear green screen....

Is that the Intelli IMT-500 rather than the Intellitouch you are talking about eskin? As far as I know they are two different companies. Since my initial post I have been having a few problems picking up the low pitched strings. Tuner placement and grip contact seems to be critical. Each time I was able to solve the problem by moving it around a bit on the head. I would encourage you to give it another go and see how you get on. It does tend to pick up the fifth rather than the note itself occasionally but it doesn't really affect tuning since if the harmonics are in tune then so is the open string.

hyldemoer · Post by **hyldemoer** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 1:04 am

Tim2723 wrote: I haven't found any contact tuner that I really like for my banjo.

At Midwest Banjo Camp last June Kathy Fink recommended this tuner

My husband got one and seems to like it.

Intelli IMT-500 is so inexpensive though that I can afford to put one in all my string instrument's cases and there's less of a chance of it giving me heart failure if I drop or lose it.
For that I'm willing to tolerate a few quirks in its behavior.

anniemcu · Post by **anniemcu** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 9:35 am

mikk wrote:I have used an Intellitouch tuner for a few years now on my guitar and mandolin and was very impressed when I first bought it. I did however start to get a little frustrated by the response time from plucking the string the note registering on the tuner.

I was at a session recently and was shown one of these by a fiddle player:

The Intelli IMT 500 tuner.

I now like it a lot better than the Intellitouch tuner. Its response time is a lot better and with the needle display I find it easier to use. I was told to look on ebay and found one for £18.00, which is a lot cheaper than the Intellitouch. The only downside is that it comes in a little cardboard box and not a protective case like the Intellitouch.

The Intelli IMT 500 tuner being so responsive, is very good for tuning whistles.

That's the one I've got and I like it.

Ptarmigan · Post by **Ptarmigan** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 9:09 pm

I have the Intellitouch which I like a lot.

However I also have one of these little chaps, which is very handy too:

Boston BTU-300