KORG Sledgehammer Pro Tuner Review

One of the recent deals on Musician's Friend for Memorial Day was the Korg Sledgehammer Pro tuner for guitar and bass - I was used to just rolling with the built-in tuner in my amp or an app on my phone, but for $12 I was too intrigued by the design to say no.  The Korg Sledgehammer is an excellent, easy to use tuner with a killer design.

First things first, this tuner came packed very nicely, in a signature tin can inside a spacious box.  No way even the most brutal UPS man could break this little guy in shipping.  Only took 3-4 days to arrive as well, props to Musician's Friend for delivering once again.

Inside we find this compact little tube of electronics with a clip.  It's surprisingly lightweight but built well enough, it's not as rugged as I might like, but should last a long time if treated carefully enough.  The battery pops into a little slideout tray from the center, while the sides each have circular switches for switching modes, power on/off, and calibrating tuning.

It looks quite stylish on the headstock, primarily because the LED display is a fantastic design for being easy to see and looking great in the meantime.  The circular display means you can read the tuning from almost any angle without a problem.

It has three modes (regular, strobe, and half-strobe) for varying levels of precision, as well as calibration from 430-450 hz, if I remember correctly.  The regular tuning mode is simplest and will get you pretty much anywhere you need to, but the strobe is cool for a bit more precision when you need it.

Overall it's an extremely cool little tuner with a solid set of features and a great design.  Construction is a 7/10 for potential long-term durability concerns, but all in all it's a nice step up from most cheap tuners and the excellent display is perfect for the performing musician.  At the sale price of $12 it's a must-buy, at $30 it's worth it if you're performing live with any regularity.