Peterson Stomp Classic

First of all, i want to pay a tribute to my Boss Chromatic Tuner - TU2 which has been working perfectly on my pedalboard for years.

So, why change it? And why spend almost 200 bucks in a tuner?
Well, here we are : with 6-string electric guitars, 6- and 12-string acoustic guitars and a banjo, I
- no longer felt like spending my time wondering about all the open/drop tuning and capo tunings.
- needed a DI routed toward the TC helicon Voice live 3, or straight to the bose L1 or a mixer.

Specs
https://www.petersontuners.com/products/stompclassic/
3 modes: Tuner mode, active DI mode and “monitor + DI” mode.

The monitoring mode constantly analyzes the note you play and gives you the pitch and reference octave in real time (don’t play incredibly fast, though). Very good to validate the guitar’s tuning all over the neck.
Can be parametered through USB from a PC or Mac. Navigation controls provide for an easy control to the different tuning settings you might need on the spot.

Building quality
It’s really sturdy, and the sensible parts are protected flawlessly.

As far as the electronic circuit and supply are concerned, no hiss or noise to be heard, the sound is perfectly transparent in all modes.
A ground lift switch allows to activate the ground if need be.

The English manual is comprehensive and easy to read. The box’s advanced functions are soon at hand.

Tuning quality

With the TU2, I always ended up adjusting using my ears without ever really realizing it – only slight readjustments so as to find the sound more pleasant… Well, that’s what I thought: I’m no longer readjusting now using the peterson stomp classic, as the tempered tuner is calibrated to take into account the characteristic of various instruments (sweetened), and that’s very efficient feature.
Just select the bass, banjo, electric guitar or acoustic guitar mode, and the tuning is perfect.

The strobe display allows to get the tuning right while stretching the string, hence providing a solid, stable tuning.

It provides a more visual approach of the action on one’s hand on the instruments’ tuners. That’s both sensible and incredibly precise.

Control and display
Very easy: 4 controls on the top to navigate within menus and access the different tuning presets. Can easily be set through USB (PC or Mac).
A very big LCD screen, very easy to read even in full light. Very comfortable.
3 modes can be set through a 3-way dip switch: true bypass on/off (normal mode), monitor and Active DI.
PAD: 3 entry level signal control settings using a 3-way dip switch - 0dB, 10dB or 20 dB.


Pros
A Rolls Royce of a tuner, with all that it implies in term of quality and comfort.

Cons
It’s a Rolls, with the size of it : its dimensions are plain ridiculously big, half a wah-wah in all dimensions so when you have to put in on an already crammed pedalboard…
Of course, you can also consider that the space it takes is for a tuner AND an active DI and that makes things more acceptable, but still… I’ll take one star away for the size, though I’ll admit wilfully that I’m not sure whether all these functions could have been crammed within a smaller format. However, it’s clearly a point to be improved.

Comparaison
The only comparaison I could make was between the peterson stomp classic and theST200 turbo tuner by sonic research.
The ST200 obviously takes less space, its strobe mode is easier to use with the LEDs blinking on the target frequency, in monitor mode it’s also quicker to analyze the frequency. However, the ST200 is more expensive, the strobe mode is more difficult to read in broad light, plus it doesn’t have a DI mode and it offers less configuration possibilities.

In a nutshell, the Stomp Classic is a slightly different concept compared with the classic tuner pedal, you just need to know it before ordering it online.

In the end
Everything is top notch – accuracy, transparency, configuration, ease of use, versatility… Everything, except for its size which can only lead to advise you against getting it if your pedalboard is already lacking free space. Otherwise, this one’s all right!