Long time, no post . . . but I found something I wanted to share. I've been playing with a Line 6 digital wireless rig for a couple of years now with fantastic results. In addition to the Hi-Z out for the amp, it has a 20 hz - 20 kHz full bandwidth Lo-Z that I use to feed the house, and of course with an Alembic it sounds fantastic.
Now the problem - there's no good way to tune quietly. Even if I put something in line with the amp (which I hate to do), I've still got signal to the house.
So I looked around for bass-mounted tuners, but everyone I found was large, ugly, didn't work or some combination thereof. Until I found this little Planet Waves PW-CT-12 NS Mini Headstock Tuner. It's about the size of a quarter, very unobtrusive, and works well. Seems Ned Steinberger had something to do with the design, but don't quote me on that.
Easy to read, hidden behind the headstock, no damage to the finish and you can leave it on in the case. Now I just turn down the volume and tune to my heart's content without hitting the mains or the amp.
My main Alembic is a 5 string MK, and it does tune the B string accurately. (I have found it helps on the B string to mute the others with your palm to eliminate sympathetic vibrations).
I've been so happy I bought 4 more for my other basses and a guitar. Doesn't replace my TurboTuner for accuracy, but the cost (about $20) and convenience make this the coolest new technology I've bought since I bought my first Alembic.
I don't work for the Planet Waves, and I'm not earning a commission - just thought I'd pass along something that has worked well for me and costs less than a set of strings.
