The folks at D’Addario/Planet Waves recently sent me a review unit of their NS Mini Headstock Tuner. Headstock tuners have become more popular over the past few years. I tried one made by a different company in the past and was not impressed. As a result, I was skeptical of the NS Mini Tuner. However, I’ve found the NS Mini Tuner to be a great blend of simplicity and accuracy, two things I value in any tuner regardless of size.

Background Information

Before I go further into my impressions of the tuner, here’s a little information about it and what makes it different: The NS Mini Tuner uses a low profile design that fits easily on many headstocks and doesn’t stick out above the guitar. It uses a piezo pickup design that I’ve found to be very accurate. The display shows up as red when the string is out of tune and green when it is in or very nearly in tune. The note is framed when it is in tune. It can go from 430Hz to 450Hz, with 440Hz being the default. You can even change whether the display shows sharps or flats, which helps with an Eb-tuned guitar like I sometimes use. Trying to convert sharp notes to flat notes on the fly can lead to some confusion, and the ability to configure the display to show flat notes helps with this. Also, it clamps and releases from guitars very easily once you get the hang of the clamp. Another handy feature is the fact that the unit turns off after 10 minutes to help conserve the battery.

Is it accurate?

The most important thing that matters with any tuner is how accurate it is. To that end, I’ve found the NS Mini Headstock Tuner to be very accurate. It seems to be as accurate as any of my other tuners. I was a little concerned about how easily it would pick up the notes from my electric guitars, but my concerns were unfounded. It easily picks up the notes, and the display is clear and easy to follow.

Size matters

You can’t review a headstock tuner and not talk about the size of the tuner. The head unit of the other tuner that I reviewed was large and stuck out from the headstock. By contrast, the NS Mini Tuner sits flush with the headstock and easily fits behind most headstocks, even smaller headstocks like those used on Fender Telecasters. Because it is so small and fits flush behind the headstock, the tuner can be left on when storing the guitar in the case or gig bag. The NS Mini is by far the lowest profile headstock tuner I’ve seen.

A caveat

I have a mixture of guitars, some of which use a 6-in-a-row Fender-style headstock and others that use a 3+3 headstock design. In my experience, the tuner is easier to use on Fender-style headstock designs than those that use a 3+3 design. On Fender-style headstocks you can put the tuner anywhere on the bottom of the headstock that works best for you. On 3+3 headstocks, you either have to put the tuner before the tuning keys near the nut or at the end of the headstock. If you put the tuner by the nut, I’ve found that it can sometimes get in the way when playing in the first position. If you put it after the tuners at the far end of the headstock, your hand gets in the way when you’re trying to tune the guitar. Additionally, on PRS headstocks, there’s not enough room at the far end of the headstock, so the tuner has to go by the nut. You can still make the tuner work on 3+3 headstocks, but it is much easier to use the tuner on Fender-style headstocks.

Actual usage

I’ve tried the tuner in a number of scenarios using several different guitars. As I’ve mentioned above, the tuner is really easy to use. You just clamp the tuner to the headstock, and you’re ready to go. Using the tuner while playing is as simple as hitting the power button and tuning away. Because the tuner shuts off after 10 minutes, you need not worry about turning it off before starting to play again.

I recently went on vacation and took one of my Strats with me. I decided to try taking the NS Mini Tuner as my only tuner. It worked great! The tuning was accurate, and it stored easily in my case and was ready whenever I needed it.

Conclusion

After spending some time with the tuner and using it in a variety of situations, I would recommend the NS Mini Headstock Tuner by D’Addario/Planet Waves to anyone looking for a small, easy to use headstock tuner. It’s particularly well-suited for Fender-style headstocks, but you can also use it on 3+3 headstocks with a little work to find the position that works best for you. The street price of the NS Mini Headstock Tuner is less than $20.

Check out the video below to see the tuner in action (notably with a Gibson-style 3+3 headstock):

Joe Bonamassa was recently provided the opportunity to play Rory Gallagher’s legendary 1961 Strat during a concert at London’s Hammersmith Apollo. Here he is playing Gallagher’s “Cradle Rock” and his own “When the Fire Hits the Sea” on the guitar:

In the next video, Bonamassa plays Gallagher’s Strat on Gary Moore’s “Midnight Blues”:

Inspired in part by the Cult of Jazz III ads that Dunlop has published, I decided to try to play the Jazz III picks exclusively for the month of November. I’ve been using the standard Dunlop Tortex picks (.88 and 1.0mm) pretty much since I started playing many years ago. I’ve tried to play the Jazz III picks in the past, but I like the size and feel of the Tortex picks, so I’ve always ended up going back to them. The purpose of this 30-day experiment is to see if I can get used to the size and feel of the Jazz III picks to add another flavor to my playing.

As I write this, I’m currently 20 days into my experiment, and it’s going really well. I really like the clarity and precision of the Jazz III picks. And, I’ve largely become used to the smaller size of the picks. I’m aware that there are Jazz III XL picks that are about the same size of the Tortex picks, but I didn’t like the feel of the larger Jazz III picks.

Some people complain that the smaller Jazz III picks are slippery. I have not found this to be a problem for me, but I should also note that I have not tried to play the Jazz III in a gigging scenario. In my experience, the smaller Jazz III picks are easy to grip. However, I do find that if I’m doing a lot of strumming, the pick sometimes rotates slightly, making strumming more difficult.

Speaking of strumming, this is the area where the pick becomes more difficult to use for me. I have a heavy right picking hand, and I find that I hit my right index finger a lot if I’m doing a lot of strumming. Frankly, my fingernail on my right index finger has been mangled this month. I’ve had to keep my fingernail shorter than usual, which affects my fingerstyle playing. I’ve been adjusting my approach to strumming to use a lighter touch, which has helped but hasn’t completely kept my fingernail from getting mangled when I play.

Strumming issues aside, the precision and clarity of the Jazz III picks make them worth the effort, in my opinion. I’ve still got another 10 days or so in my experiment, and we’ll see if the strumming issues work themselves out, but I would consider the experiment a success so far. While I can’t say for sure yet if I’ll continue using the Jazz III picks exclusively after my experiment is over, I can say that I’ll definitely be using the Jazz III picks in some form after the experiment is over. They add a new sound to my playing that I can’t get from the regular Tortex picks.

As an aside, I’ve ordered a pack of the newer Tortex TIII picks, which (theoretically) combine the feel of the Tortex picks with the precision of the Jazz III picks. This combination seems like it could be a perfect fit for me. Perhaps I’ll do a 30-day experiment using only TIII picks in December.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd recently gave Music Radar a tour of his guitar gear. In the first video below, Shepherd talks about his collection of Strats:

In this next video, Shepherd gives us a tour of his effects:

(via fellow guitar blogger Jim)

Speaking of Oz Noy, Darren M. has let me know that Noy has written another blog post for Guitar Player, this one covering how to choose what effects to use.

Oz Noy recently released his new album Twisted Blues Volume 1. To help promote the album, Noy and crew have created a couple of videos from the studio sessions for the album. The first video is a teaser of a documentary that they are making of the studio sessions:

The second video is of the full song “Cissy Strut” from the new album:

Regular Guitar Lifestyle reader and commenter (and clearly a man of excellent taste) Chad S. recently let me know that Andy Timmons was interviewed on the Bill Murphy Show, a music interview show based out of South Florida. In the interview, Timmons talks about his new album, Plays Sgt. Pepper, attending the Jazz School at the University of Miami, some of his early concert memories, his recording process, and they also preview a couple of tracks from the new album.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd recently recorded a few videos for Total Guitar magazine. In one of the videos, Shepherd gave a lesson about how to play the intro and main riff to “Never Looking Back” from his latest album How I Go: