To cut to the chase--simply strum all six open strings of your guitar and PolyTune reads and displays all their pitches at the same time. Furthermore, it reads the deviation from correct pitch of each string by showing a bright LED above (sharp) or below (flat) the centerline of correct pitch nirvana.

So, obviously, if it can do this then it has no problem at all working as a chromatic tuner with a +/- 0.5-cent accuracy. Called MonoPoly technology, PolyTune automatically toggles between chromatic and poly without touching it--just play more than one string at a time and it figures it out. I love this--who wants to bend down to "adjust" a guitar tuner?

I also liked the bright LEDs, the standard pedal box size so that it fits into any existing pedal board collection, and the true bypass feature for silent tuning. Uniquely it has a 9VDC output jack to run another pedal--a great "backup" feature when you lose a battery during a show and forgot a spare.

The PolyTune pedal is made using a sturdy die-cast aluminum box, a heavy-duty footswitch and precision 100 LED display. It sells for $149 MSRP, works fine with drop-tunings and four, five or six string basses, and runs on a standard nine-volt battery held in an easy-access compartment.