Korg’s compact clip-on tuner. It clamps to the headstock and reads string vibration through the wood, which makes it immune to the noise of a room full of other people tuning.
Korg Pitchclip PC-2
Korg’s compact clip-on tuner. It clamps to the headstock and reads string vibration through the wood, which makes it immune to the noise of a room full of other people tuning.
Type
Clip-on, vibration sensing
Mount
Headstock clamp
Brand
Korg — a tuning reference brand
Amazon reference
B07DZRSV54 (identical on 5 markets)
EAN
4959112179103
Works in a noisy room, which no microphone-based tuner does
Korg has been making tuners longer than most of this catalog’s brands have existed
A clip-on cannot tune a wind instrument or a voice — there is nothing to clip it to
Best for: Guitar and bass, especially anywhere other people are also tuning.
Tuning is the first thing a beginner does badly and the first thing that makes an instrument sound wrong, and a clip-on tuner removes the problem entirely.
The mechanism is what matters. This is a vibration sensor, not a microphone: it clamps to the headstock and reads the string through the wood. A room full of people, a television, a fan — none of it registers. That is the whole reason clip-on tuners displaced the microphone-based boxes that came before them.
Korg is the reference brand in this category, and it is worth paying a few dollars over an unbranded clip for a display that is readable from the playing position and a clamp that holds.
The obvious limitation is that it needs something to clip to. A voice, a flute or a piano cannot be tuned with one.
The questions players ask
Why not just use a phone app?
An app listens through the microphone, so it hears the room as well as the instrument. In a bedroom that is fine; in a rehearsal room with three other people it is useless. A clip-on reads vibration through the headstock and ignores everything else.
Does it work on an acoustic and an electric?
Yes. Vibration travels through the wood of both. On a solid-body electric the signal is slightly weaker, and the clip needs to sit firmly on the headstock rather than on the tuner buttons.
A compact clip-on tuner with a display that rotates to face the player. At eighteen dollars on the American store, it is among the cheapest things in this catalog that improves how an instrument sounds.
Type
Clip-on tuner
Display
Rotating, for reading from the playing position
Use
Guitar and bass
Amazon reference
B01IBI88R4 (identical on 6 markets)
EAN
0019954191580
Eighteen dollars on the American store, with almost no spread across the six measured
The rotating display means it is readable whether you are sitting or standing
No stated accuracy figure in the listing, so none is reported here
Best for: A first tuner, a spare tuner, or the one that lives in the case.
A heavy-duty Z-frame rated at 250 lb that publishes how it adjusts rather than just that it does: height in 1.25-inch steps, width in 2-inch steps, with two anchoring straps and a headphone hook in the box.
Load rating
250 lb stated, for the heaviest instruments. Four of the twelve stands on this shelf publish this figure; one publishes 100 lb; seven publish none (maker’s bullet)
Height
22.5 to 33.5 in, in 1.25 in increments — the finest published step on this shelf (maker’s bullet)
Width
22.5 to 33.5 in, in 2 in increments (maker’s bullet)
Retention
Two anchoring straps that attach the keyboard to the stand, plus four adjustable feet and anti-skid foam pads (maker’s bullet)
Included
A headphone hook. Four of the twelve items on this shelf have one, and all four are from this maker (maker’s bullet)
Stated fit
54 to 88 keys, and stated for DJ mixers, turntables, synths and MIDI keyboards as well (from the title and maker’s bullet)
Frame
Z-style, stated less likely to tip than an X-style stand — which is the argument another page on this shelf makes in its own words (maker’s bullet)
Setup
Stated under a minute to set up or break down, packing flat for transport (maker’s bullet)
Wheels
None. The same maker sells this stand with wheels as MS1080, two dollars dearer — and that listing publishes a 1.5 in height step rather than 1.25 in
Manufacturer reference
MS1078
Weight
7,000 g (246.9 oz) in the product record, which is 7.0 kg (15.4 lb) exactly — a shipping figure. Nothing here is ranked on it
Amazon reference
B07574VQPQ
EAN
0703610714892
A published 250 lb rating, which answers the question the X-frame page on this shelf has to leave open
The finest published height step here at 1.25 in, so the right setting is reachable
Two dollars buys the same stand with wheels from the same maker
Best for: A heavy weighted 88-key piano that needs a stand with a number on it.
The MS1078 on wheels, at two dollars more: the same 250 lb rating, the same straps and headphone hook, the same width steps — and a height step of 1.5 inches rather than 1.25.
Wheels
Yes. Three of the twelve stands on this shelf have wheels, at $44.99, $79.99 and $159.99 (from the title)
Load rating
250 lb stated — the only wheeled stand on this shelf that publishes a capacity (maker’s bullet)
Height
22.5 to 33.5 in, in 1.5 in increments. The same maker’s MS1078, two dollars cheaper and without wheels, publishes 1.25 in (maker’s bullet)
Width
22.5 to 33.5 in, in 2 in increments — identical to the MS1078 (maker’s bullet)
Retention
Two anchoring straps, four adjustable feet and anti-skid foam pads (maker’s bullet)
Included
A headphone hook (maker’s bullet)
Stated fit
54 to 88 keys, and stated for DJ mixers, turntables, synths and MIDI keyboards (from the title and maker’s bullet)
Wheel locks
Liquid Stands puts nothing in writing on this. The cheapest wheeled stand on this shelf states locking wheels explicitly
Manufacturer reference
MS1080
Weight
7,310 g (257.9 oz) in the product record, against 7,000 g (246.9 oz) for the same stand without wheels
Amazon reference
B079YWMH91
EAN
0070361071537
The only wheeled stand on this shelf that publishes a load rating, and it is 250 lb
Two dollars over the fixed version, which is less than the castors would cost separately
The height step is 1.5 in, coarser than the 1.25 in of the same maker’s cheaper stand
Best for: A heavy 88-key piano that has to cross a hard floor and then stand still under weight.
The MS1078 stand with a stainless-steel padded bench: both pieces rated to 250 lb, the bench adjusting in one-inch steps from 17.5 to 22 inches and weighing a stated nine pounds.
Contents
MS1078 Z-frame stand and MS1083 bench — the reference is published as the pair, KIT-MS1078-MS1083
Stand rating
250 lb stated, with height and width both 22.5 to 33.5 in, in 1.5 in and 2 in increments (maker’s bullet)
Bench rating
250 lb stated. The only bench on this shelf that publishes a capacity (maker’s bullet)
Bench height
17.5 to 22 in, in 1 in increments — the only bench height figures published on this shelf. The other bench here states four positions and no inches (maker’s bullet)
Bench size
17 in wide, 12 in deep, with a plush padded seat on a stainless steel frame (maker’s bullet)
Bench weight
9 lb stated by the maker. The only published weight of any item on this shelf (maker’s bullet)
Retention
Two anchoring straps, four adjustable feet, anti-skid foam pads and a headphone hook on the stand (maker’s bullet)
Stated fit
54 to 88 keys (from the title)
Manufacturer reference
KIT-MS1078-MS1083
Weight
4,082 g (144 oz) in the product record — 9 lb exactly, which is precisely the weight the maker publishes for the bench alone. The record carries one package of a two-package set, so it is not the weight of what arrives, and nothing here is ranked on it
Amazon reference
B0B5LZNWGM
EAN
0850029514350
Both pieces publish a 250 lb rating, which no other stand-and-bench pairing here does
The bench adjusts in one-inch steps from 17.5 to 22 in, which is fine enough to actually find the right seat
At $159.99 it is twice the stand on its own, and the same price as the second-tier kit here
Best for: A player setting up an 88-key piano properly in one go, where seat height matters as much as key height.
