Tanglewood Flex Tuners and Capos

Guitar tuner and guitar capo from Tanglewood Flex

Staying in tune and changing key quickly are the two jobs that most players need help with. The Tanglewood Flex accessories series has 5 products between £10 and £69, so there is a choice for a first tuner or a more complete upgrade. The range also links with our wider tuners and capos section.

Choosing a guitar tuner

A guitar tuner is the most useful accessory you can own. A clip-on guitar tuner fastens to the headstock and reads the vibration of the instrument, which means it works in a noisy room as well as a quiet one. That makes it good for acoustic guitar tuners duty at home, at a session or backstage. The Tanglewood TCT1 at £19 is one of the products in the series.

Tuners are not only for six-strings. A mandolin tuner uses the same clip-on idea, and many players use one device across several instruments. Classical guitar tuners work in the same way, as nylon strings produce a clear signal for a clip-on unit to read.

What a guitar capo does

A guitar capo clamps across the fretboard and raises the pitch of every open string. It lets you play the same chord shapes in a different key, which is handy for singing along or matching another player. Fit it just behind a fret rather than on top of it to avoid buzzing, and retune after fitting.

Which one should you buy

• Starting out: a low-cost clip-on tuner at around £10 to £19 covers the basics.
• Gigging regularly: look further up the price range for something easier to read on a dim stage.
• Playing several instruments: pick a model that works with guitar, ukulele and mandolin.

Other things to add

Fresh guitar strings make a tuner's job easier because new strings hold pitch better. Keep your instrument protected with a bag from our guitar gig bags, and see the full guitar accessories page for more. Delivery on every order is free in the UK.

Small items, big difference

These accessories are cheap compared with a guitar, yet they change how often you pick it up. Being in tune makes practice more enjoyable, and a capo opens up new songs without learning new chord shapes. Keep both in your gig bag or guitar case so they are always to hand. Beginners especially benefit, since a tuner removes the guesswork while the ear is still developing.