Peterson Electro Musical Products

What Peterson Electro Musical Products does

Peterson Electro-Musical Products, Inc. is a privately held manufacturer of precision strobe tuners for musical instruments, founded in 1948 and headquartered at 11601 South Mayfield Ave, Alsip, Illinois. The company designs, manufactures, and sells mechanical strobe tuners, LCD strobe tuners (pedalboard, clip-on, and bench/desk formats), and software tuner applications for mobile and desktop platforms. Its core technology is strobe-based pitch detection marketed at 0.1 cent accuracy, supported by a proprietary library of 65-100+ "Sweetened Tunings" — exclusive temperaments designed to correct inherent tuning characteristics of specific instruments. Registered trademarks cover Virtual Strobe, Sweeteners, Sweetened Tunings, and Linear & Concentric Strobe Patterns.

The company's revenue model is primarily one-time hardware sales at price points ranging from $59.99 (entry-level StroboClip HD) to $149.00+ (StroboStomp HD), supplemented by software/app sales, accessories, and paid repair services ($48 minimum for LCD units, $95 for mechanical). Distribution runs through a direct-to-consumer e-commerce storefront on petersontuners.com plus an authorized dealer network anchored by Guitar Center, Sweetwater, and Musician's Friend. Primary customer segments are electric guitar and bass players, acoustic instrument players (ukulele, banjo, mandolin, orchestral strings), luthiers and music educators, and specialty instrument players (pedal steel, alternate tunings). Customer review data shows exceptionally high satisfaction (4.9/5 average, 89-96% five-star ratings across flagship SKUs).

Peterson operates as an independent, founder/management-owned business with no disclosed venture capital, private equity backing, parent company, or institutional investors. Product development is evidenced by recent firmware iterations and new SKU introductions through 2025 (StroboVUE pedal tuner, StroboStomp LE, and continuous firmware updates across the LCD product line). The company maintains a small software ecosystem via Peterson Connect (a Chrome-based configuration tool for custom sweeteners and tempo maps) and mobile/desktop applications (iStroboSoft, Strobe for Android, StroboSoft Desktop).

Name

Peterson Electro Musical Products

Legal name

Peterson Electro-Musical Products, Inc.

Website

https://petersontuners.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1948

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Peterson Electro-Musical Products is a privately held, 75+ year old Illinois-based manufacturer of precision strobe tuners (mechanical, LCD, software) for musical instruments, serving professional and amateur musicians globally through direct e-commerce and authorized dealers including Guitar Center, Sweetwater, and Musician's Friend.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Musical Instrument Tuners

NAICS

Musical Instrument Manufacturing (339992), Musical Instrument and Supplies Retailers (459140)

SIC

Musical Instruments (3931)

akta.pro primary industry

Music Education Hardware (Practice Tools, Metronomes, Tuners, Lab Systems) (MPAIAJAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Audio Accessories & Consumables (Cables, Stands, Cases, Strings, Picks, Heads) (MPAIAJAF), Music Production Hardware (Synthesizers, Drum Machines, Samplers, MIDI Controllers) (MPAIAJAE)

Keywords

• Musical instrument tuners
• Strobe tuners
• Clip-on tuners
• Pedal board tuners
• Tuning software

Headquarters

HQ city

Alsip

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Hardware Tuner Sales: Direct sales of physical strobe tuner products including pedal tuners, clip-on tuners, bench-top tuners, and mechanical strobe tuners. One-time purchase model with products ranging from $59.99 to higher-end professional units.
2. Software/App Sales: Mobile applications including Strobe for Android and iStroboSoft for iOS. StroboSoft Desktop software. Some sweeteners and Historic Temperaments offered as in-app purchases.
3. Accessories: Power supplies, cables, pickups, microphones, cases, apparel, footswitches, and mounting hardware.
4. Service and Repair: Paid repair services for products not under warranty. Minimum charges of $95.00 US for mechanical tuners and $48.00 US for LCD tuners plus return shipping.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Peterson Electro-Musical Products designs, manufactures, and sells precision strobe tuning equipment for musical instruments, including mechanical strobe tuners, LCD pedal-board tuners, clip-on tuners, bench/desk tuners, and companion strobe tuning software for iOS, Android, and desktop. Its products deliver 0.1 cent tuning accuracy using proprietary strobe pattern visualization, with exclusive Sweetened Tunings temperaments designed to correct inherent tuning issues in specific instruments. The company also sells accessories, parts, and paid repair services for its tuner products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sweeteners: Exclusive tuning presets designed to correct inherent tuning issues found in many instruments.
• Guided Tunings

Quantifiable outcome

• Tuning accuracy of 0.1 cents (1/1000 of one semitone) - far exceeding typical needle tuners

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SweetwatercoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized online retailer for Peterson tuner products. Sweetwater offers Peterson products through their e-commerce platform with customer support and verified purchase review integration.
• Guitar CentercoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMajor authorized dealer for Peterson products both in-store and online. Integrated customer review system and verified purchase tracking.
• Musician's FriendcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized online retailer offering Peterson tuner products with verified purchase review integration on the Peterson website.
• Conn (Discontinued)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHistorical partnership for Node 8001 and related discontinued products. Different repair procedures apply for Conn tuner repairs.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Korg: Korg manufactures a wide range of tuners including the AW series clip-on and Pitchcrow pedal tuners. It is a direct peer in the chromatic tuner market, with comparable accuracy claims and broader musical instrument distribution.
• Intellitouch: Intellitouch (formerly Sabine) manufactures clip-on tuners including the RT-710 and TW-1 series, directly competing with Peterson's StroboClip line. It focuses on chromatic and strobe tuner accuracy for stringed instruments.
• Boss (Roland): Boss is a leading manufacturer of guitar pedals and accessories, including the popular TU-3 Chromatic Tuner pedal. It competes directly with Peterson's StroboStomp line in the pedalboard tuner category, serving the same electric guitar and bass players.
• TC Electronic: TC Electronic produces the PolyTune series of pedal and clip-on tuners, a direct competitor to Peterson's strobe tuners in both pedalboard and clip-on segments. It targets professional and prosumer guitarists with multi-string polyphonic tuning.
• Snark: Snark specializes in clip-on tuners for guitar, bass, and ukulele, directly competing with Peterson's StroboClip line in the entry-level and mid-range tuner market. It is known for affordable, mass-market tuner products.
• Sonic Research: Sonic Research manufactures the Turbo Tuner strobe tuner app and ST-300 strobe pedal tuner, directly competing with Peterson's strobe technology. It is the closest direct competitor in the high-precision strobe tuner category.

Broad incumbents

• D'Addario: D'Addario is a major musical accessories manufacturer with a broad portfolio including strings, tuners (such as the NS Micro clip-on), and related gear. It competes with Peterson across the music accessories category while offering significantly broader product lines.
• Yamaha: Yamaha produces a full range of musical instruments and accessories, including chromatic tuners and metronomes. It competes with Peterson in tuner products but as part of a much wider portfolio spanning instruments, audio equipment, and pro audio.

Emerging players

• Behringer: Behringer produces budget-friendly tuners including the TU300 and pedal tuners at significantly lower price points. It targets entry-level and price-sensitive musicians, posing competitive pressure at the low end of the tuner market.
• Rowin: Rowin manufactures compact pedal tuners and other guitar effects pedals, competing in the budget-to-mid-range tuner segment. It represents the emerging wave of affordable pedal tuners from Asian manufacturers.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/petersontuners
• Xx.com/petersontuners
• Facebookfacebook.com/petersontuners
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/peterson-elctr-msical-pdts-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Peterson Electro Musical Products