TC Electronics Polytune Review

I know what you are saying, what does the TC Electronics Polytune have to do with tone? Well, in a way, keeping your strings in tune has a lot to do with how you’ll sound. While I like to tune by ear, its nice having a tuner pedal to kick on, and get the tuning perfect. As well, this pedal works with different tunings. I think the main feature that makes this pedal stick out from the other tuning pedals is that you can strum all the strings at once, and the Polytune will tell you which strings are out of tuning. No more having to go through each string. Now that I’ve owned this pedal for about a year, lets get to the review…

Many have said that the feature about finding out which strings are out of tune is a gimmick. While I disagree with this, I do find that this feature isn’t alway 100% accurate, but it still works. It still lets you know which strings are out of tune. I think its a good feature, but not perfect. Good thing you can still tune one string at a time, as the Polytune auto detects if you are playing all strings at once, or just one string.

The LED light on the Poly is really great. It’s nice and bright and it also adjusts to your environment. No more straining your eyes to while tuning. It extremely clear to read.

Many have asked what happens when you turn on the pedal.. does the guitar still sound, or does the pedal mute the guitar? The answer is that it mutes the guitar, which I think is a good feature. You can easily tune between songs without anyone really even knowing. As well, if you are a lead guitarist who only plays solos in a particular song, you can tune while the band is playing, before your solo starts.

A note on battery life. Its not great, but its decent. I would opt for an AC adapter. Also a note on size, its a fairly small pedal, like all TC Electronic pedals. Very easy to take around.

I shouldn’t forget to mention that this pedal is true bypass, so there is no effect on tone.

All I can say is that if you are on the market for a tuner pedal, I would opt for the Polytune. Why? It’s tunes in any way you like, have additional features than regular tuners, and at $99, its hard to beat the price. View the TC Polytune on Amazon.