The DB-90 mixes traditional metronome functions, including 30 kinds of beat patterns and a 30-250 tempo with features like its “Rhythm Coach” exercises to keep you matching the beat.

The unit features a MIDI input and 1/4-inch headphone and input jacks with amplifier simulating, meaning you can plug your guitar into the Dr. Beat directly, and it will act as a monitor for you. There’s no MIDI output though, so you won’t be sending any data back to your computer/workstation/etc.

The DB-90’s “tap” feature lets you choose your own tempo without having to dial in to a pre-programed setting. After all, it’s your music.

The unit’s default power supply is a 9-volt battery, but we’d recommend buying the Boss PSA DC power adapter to save on batteries.

It’s a big device, but it has all the practice and tuning features you could imagine. It’s a perfect solution for any musician.

The guitar tuner, which can be accessed wirelessly or by connecting your instrument to the input jack, is very easy to use. It also can play a reference tone for you through the “Accu-Pitch” speaker. This built-in speaker will also play another tone indicating that the instrument is in tune (within 5 cents sharp or flat in actuality).

The metronome is also a nice addition. I often avoid metronomes while playing because I don’t want to put the time into finding my exact tempo with it, but the TU-88 bypasses that with a unique feature I had never seen before. The “TAP” button allows a user to set the metronome’s tempo to his or her tempo. Pushing the button with the beat of whatever your playing will set the metronome to your beat. This ensures that you stick to the beat that you intend to. You feel the beat — you set it, and you keep it. If your’re reading music and do know exactly what tempo you need, the TU-88 can certainly accommodate you.

The tuner and metronome are very useful and innovative, but what really makes the TU-88 stand out in my mind is the headphone amplifier. There are tons of devices that tune guitars, quite a few of them offer built in metronomes, but this is the first device I’ve seen that includes a tuner, metronome, and headphone amplifier.

The headphone amplifier allows one to plug their instrument cable into the TU-88’s input jack, plug and pair of standard headphones into the “phones/line out” and play straight to their headphones. This is ideal for an electric guitar player who wants to work on something quickly without dealing with large amplifiers. Often times while traveling a headphone preamp is useful. Noise level is minimal while using a headphone amplifier, which makes it an ideal addition to your gear for private practice sessions. The “Mix in” jack even makes it possible to plug in a CD/MP3 player to play along with — all within your headphones.

Weighing in at only 7 ounces, the TU-88 has everything you need for your next gig whether its in the living room, a friend’s garage or Gillette Stadium.

According to a recent study published in Human Resource Executive magazine, a third of US workers spend a minimum of twenty hours per month at work complaining about their boss. The Gallup Poll estimates US corporations lose 360 billion dollars annually due to lost productivity from employees who are dissatisfied with — you guessed it — their boss. And if there’s but one hard truth the Gallup Polls have taught US Corporations in the last decade, it’s that people may join companies, but they will leave bosses.

In the days of a strong dollar, bulging tech bubble and robust housing market, people working for a bad boss had options. Careers were mobile and talent was in short supply. It was a snap to pack up and leave. But nowadays, things are decidedly different. Jobs are scarce and the prudent worker stays put, even if he or she is working under the worst type of boss imaginable–the seagull manager.

The roots of seagull management can be traced back to the days when “micromanager” was the worst non-expletive you could utter behind your boss’ back. Managers fear of this label grew so intense that they learned to keep their distance from employees, assuming a “good” boss is one who spends as little time as possible breathing down people’s necks. And most do. They give people room to breath until the moment a problem flares up. Then — instead of getting the facts straight and working alongside their staff to realize a viable solution — seagull managers come swooping in at the last minute, they squawk orders at everybody, and deposit steaming  piles of formulaic advice before abruptly taking off.

Seagull managers interact with their employees only when there’s a fire to put out. Even then, they move in and out so hastily — and put so little thought into their approach–that they make bad situations worse by frustrating and alienating those who need them the most. Today, seagull managers are breeding like wildfire. As companies flatten in response to the struggling economy, they are gutting management layers and leaving behind managers with more autonomy, greater responsibility, and more people to manage. That means they have less time and less accountability for focusing on the primary purpose of their job–managing people.

As it turns out, seagull managers aren’t just a US phenomenon. After reading a study that found employees have lower blood pressure on the days they worked for a supervisor they think is fair, researchers from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health decided to take a closer look at this phenomenon. They followed British civil servants for a period of fifteen years to see if the type of boss one works for has any impact upon long-term, physical health.

The researcher’s findings cast a grave shadow upon anyone working for a seagull manager. The team from Helsinki found that seagull-type managerial behaviors lead to a much higher incidence of employee coronary heart disease. Employees working for a seagull manager were 30% more likely to develop coronary heart disease than those who were not. What’s more, the incidence of coronary heart disease — the #1 killer in Western societies — was measured after the researchers had removed the influence of typical risk factors, such as age, ethnicity, marital status, educational attainment, socio-economic position, cholesterol level, obesity, hypertension, smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity.

No one influences an employee’s morale and productivity more than his or her supervisor. It’s that simple. Yet, as common as this knowledge may seem, it clearly hasn’t been enough to change the way that managers and organizations treat people. Few companies recognize the degree to which managers are the vessels of a company’s culture, and even fewer work diligently to ensure that their vessels hold the knowledge and skills that motivate employees to perform, feel satisfied, and love their jobs. The very individuals with the authority to alter the course of company culture lack the facts that would impel them to do so.

With the stoic pragmatism that one might expect from a Finnish University professor, Dr. Mika Kivimäki, the director of the study, had this to say about the study’s findings, “Most people care deeply about just treatment by authorities.”

Indeed we do, Dr. Kivimäki. Indeed we do.

Dr. Travis Bradberry is the president of think tank and consultancy TalentSmart. His new book, “Squawk! How to Stop Making Noise and Start Getting Results,” addresses the problem of seagull managers in the workplace and is published by HarperCollins.