D’Addario NS Micro Soundhole Tuner

The latest Ned Steinberger–designed tuner clips into the soundhole.

May 12, 2016

D’Addario’s line of Micro tuners, the result of a collaboration between D’Addario and designer Ned Steinberger, has become a favorite with musicians. Earlier this year, the company introduced a new model designed to clip into an instrument’s soundhole. The NS Micro Soundhole Tuner’s black plastic housing clips into the soundhole with an integrated padded plastic lip backed by a small metal tab that acts as a spring. A CR2032 battery is exposed on the bottom of the unit, and there are two small buttons, one for power, the other for calibration on each side of the tuner’s display, which measures about ¾ x ⁵/₁₆ inches. The tuner is preset at A=440, but can be set anywhere between 435 and 455.

Installing the NS Micro Soundhole Tuner into a Martin OM took just a few seconds, and the tuner felt very secure in place. The tuner is easy to see in this position, and because of the protected location in the soundhole, it remains visible under different lighting conditions. Like other NS Micro’s, it has a multi-color display that turns from red to green when approaching the correct pitch. The unit is chromatic, making it easy to tune to both standard and alternate guitar tunings, even lowered tunings where C is the lowest note. I also tried the tuner on a round-hole flattop mandolin (it won’t fit into a typical f-hole). It took a little finesse to fit the unit into the tighter space (compared to the guitar), but once installed, the NS Micro Soundhole Tuner worked like a charm in this application as well. Overall, the NS Micro Soundhole Tuner is a great alternative to headstock tuners, and it will fit most instruments that have a round soundhole.