GT-120. Korg GT-120.

Mar 17, 2007 09:27 GMT  ·  By

Zounds of people in the world play bass and guitar and one thing reunites them all despite the fact that one might play Segovia and a different one plays grindcore: they all have to be in tune! No matter what they play, their instruments must be perfectly tuned unless they all want to play noise.

Tuning forks are really vintage and look cool but they can't offer enough when it comes to the contemporary musician as far as multiple tunings are concerned and especially the impossibility of using them with high efficiency with electrical instruments. Obviously, (NOW we say so, but back then it was a real wonder) the handheld tuner emerged. I am almost tempted to say "obviously, it came form Korg", but I won't; instead, I'll just say that Korg were the inventors of the so popular handheld tuning device.

From what it offered back then in the early days much has changed in the way tuners work and Korg has always been the engine of progress. Needle tuners, quartz tuners, strobe and LCD tuners, Korg has made them all in innumerable ways. And as it looked like it still wasn't enough, alternate tunings were embedded into the new models so any player could access them at a push of a button.

These days, the Korg tuner with the 20 million mark came off the production lines. Not only has Korg sold more tuners than everyone else but as well offered the most for their customers. The new GT-120 tuner from Korg has its warranty extended to three years; and brings great stuff.

Open A calibration ranges from 438 to 445 Hz and is user-adjustable while the new GT-120 will easily adapt to both open and flat tunings - even more, it has direct access to DADGAD-mode for this special yet often met tuning.

The new tuner leans towards acoustic players as well by incorporating a microphone and thus making acoustic instruments tuning a much easier and precise job. The piezo speaker emits a reference note so more musicians can work at the tuning process at the same time. Even the more inquisitive players will be satisfied with the new capability of the GT-120 to recognize all the notes in a chromatic 12-note scale so now it will be easier to tune in G# or Bb.

Finally, the GT-120 comes wrapped in a suede-like soft case; unlike the models they shipped so far , the new model shows off some more delicate care and even Korg's desire to make beloved objects out of their tuners. Personally, I am glad to be a guitarist!