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Korg's Pitchblack Poly runs off a single nine-volt battery.

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• Review

After the success of the TC Electronic PolyTune, it's no surprise to see Korg follow the polyphonic trend with this Pitchblack Poly.

In similar fashion to the TC tuner, with a simple strum of the open strings, the Pitchblack Poly will automatically work out whether you're playing a guitar or bass, including four-, five- and six-strings, and then tell you how in tune you are via a clear display.

From there, you can tune each string individually, and the display changes to show the relevant note you're aiming for, plus a meter that can be set to regular, strobe, half-strobe or split. Furthermore, you can calibrate the tuner to operate with various capo and altered tunings, and we're happy to report that the interface, although involved, is straightforward to use.

In Use

Assuming that accurate tuning is a given with a modern tuner, we'd argue that the main feature for any such item should be that it mutes the signal when in use.

Your audience has no interest in hearing you tune up and fortunately the Pitchblack Poly clears this hurdle effortlessly. What's more, it also includes a true-bypass circuit.

Although not quite as bijou and compact as the new PolyTune Mini, the Pitchblack won't take up too much space on your pedalboard and, unlike the Mini, it can be run by a single 9V battery.