Boss TU-3

I've tried rackmount tuners and a couple of other cheaper boxes, but there's no escaping this simply rules the roost.

Excellent accuracy and note acquisition, even for notes on a bass too low to be deemed safe for your trousers.Feels durable and safe to give a good whacking with your foot when using the mute function. Doesn't seem to drain battery life either. My only gripe is that for a top of the range tuner, at quite a few pennies, you're buying literally just a box. No power supply, no case. That's just the way with Boss; but it is the only thing that really holds it back.

For the tl;dr...

Pros:
Durable as mad
Plenty of functionality without being confusing
Very accurate
Very fast to acquire notes
Decent battery life

Cons
Nothing but the tuner is supplied

The TU-3 is the latest update from Boss on the standard pedal tuner. . It can be the only pedal you have or one on your full effects board. Either way, it works well. Clear display in daylight or on a dark stage and with more steps than the tu-2 even more accurate. Power from the 9v battery it lasts months or as part of your board setup on mains it doesnt load the psu too much so it can tag on the end of a chain of pedals.

used in standard mode its great on both guitars and basses. I have never needed to switch it to any of its other modes!

Construction is excellent. its built like a tank. my kids have dropped kicked stood on wedged under 4x12 cabs, dragged around and generally abused the first one... it still looks almost new and works perfectly. I bought a second one as it was a pain not having another to use when tuning guitars after maintenance and the kids had the only one with them. Thomann has the best price in europe, even with the shipping to the UK. five stars!!!

To be honest, I'm not sure what to say about this item. I assume you are all familiar with the "cockroaches and the Boss pedals" story which, speaks volumes but, I don't need to repeat it, do I? The same goes for the reason(s) why a Boss tuner should be the first pedal in the signal path on your pedal board (pretty much, although there are a few exceptions); so no point going over that again. So, what can I say?; other than: o1/ It's a Boss (say no more, right?), o2/ For me, the TU-3 made sense (although there are other models), o3/ It works for 6-string guitars as well as 4 and 5 string basses, o4/ It does lots of other stuff too; but you know all that, right. Hence, I can only tell you what you already know: If you need a tuner, buy a Boss.

PS: I can't actually verify the cockroach story, but I am building myself an igloo out of Boss pedals so, when the time comes ... well, I guess, all my friends will be cockroaches ... perhaps I should rethink that.