In the world of "who can make the smallest / brightest / lightest / most accurate / etc clip-on headstock tuner?", the D'Addario NS Micro Soundhole Tuner offers a rare genuine alternative with some neat innovation. 

If you want to talk about heritage, let's talk about the name. The "NS" stands for Ned Steinberger, who famously brought the world of headless guitars into the mainstream and who has been working with Jim D'Addario to put together a range of guitar accessories. 

The tuner is small and light. Initially I thought it would get in the way of my strumming hand, but as the tuner can hide away in the soundhole so snugly you never need to worry about it. The buttons are maybe a little fiddly to work with on the fly, but I think that is offset by how discrete the tuner is (and let's face it, nobody looks cool rocking out with a headstock tuner attached). 

Fully chromatic, the tuner had no problem taking my Taylor Baby from DADGAD through to standard tuning and back down to my preferred half step down tuning. As with any tuner worth it's salt you can adjust the calibration, but most people won't need to deviate away from 440. 

One concern I had when I first took the tuner out the box was the lack of battery cover, as the battery looks rather exposed. Once attached to the guitar, however, the underside of the soundboard keeps everything safe and sound where it needs to be. 

D'Addario claim that by attaching the piezo directly to the soundboard of the guitar, you get a far more accurate reading. So if you're after discrete, accurate tuning, this is for you! 

7/10 - Jay