Taylor Beacon

A clip-on tuner that’s also a metronome, timer, and flashlight.

November 22, 2023

A good tuner is every string player’s most important accessory. While tuning by ear is a crucial skill to develop, it’s hard to beat the accuracy of an electronic helper, and of course they’re invaluable in situations where it’s difficult to hear. Today’s musicians have more choices than ever before, with options including free apps for your phone, stand-alone desktop tuners, pedal tuners, and clip-on designs; not to mention tuners that are built into products whose primary function is something else, such as recording software, metronomes, etc. Taylor Guitars has offered a basic clip-on tuner for years, but the company has just upped its game with the introduction of the new Beacon tuner ($49.95), which adds several useful functions. In this video, I demo the Beacon, using a Taylor 355 12-string guitar.

Measuring about 1½ inches square, the Beacon is attached to a sturdy, spring-loaded, and rubber-padded plastic clip. A multi-axis joint allows adjustment to just about any viewing angle. Power comes from an internal rechargeable battery that is charged by way of a standard USB-C port. Naturally, the tuner is at the heart of the Beacon’s functions, and the user can choose from chromatic, guitar, bass, violin, and ukulele settings. But the Beacon can do a lot more than help you be in tune: It also includes a metronome that can be set to most common time signatures, a timer, a countdown function, and a flashlight. A set of five small push-buttons control a menu for the features, as well as the parameters within each function.

I found the Beacon to be easy and intuitive to use. I liked the large and bright display, which makes it easy to see the tuner’s reading even with less than ideal eye-sight (for instance, with some tuners, I can’t see the display well enough without my glasses on, but I had no problem with the Beacon clipped to my guitar’s peghead). Besides using it with the 12-string guitar in the video, I also tried it on a variety of six-strings and a mandolin, and the tuner consistently offered a quick response and accurate readings. The units’ metronome has a beeping sound that can be set to three volume levels, and it was quick to adjust to the desired tempo. The Beacon’s timers are a clever addition with lots of applications. Whether you want to time the length of a tune or a practice session, or want to count-down an exact amount of time that you’re given on stage, the Beacon makes it easy to either count continuously from zero, or to count down to zero from a preset number of minutes. Finally, the Beacon’s flashlight is a feature I’ve never seen included on a tuner. This is obviously not what you’d bring on a camping trip, but if you’re trying to find a dropped pick on a dark stage, it could come in very handy!

Overall, the Taylor Beacon is a clever multi-function tool that works as advertised. First and foremost, it’s a great tuner, and its additional features are bound to be useful for most players.

taylorguitars.com