Tuners are difficult not because of small SMD parts (which often have through hole equivalents we can use), but because they require digital programming. They have to take the input, strip out all the overtones, then compare it against various frequencies to decide the closest note. Then output the discrepancy in some readable form, etc, etc.
I'm not sure what the schematic you posted does exactly. It has a 6 way switch that looks like it controls what note the 555 chip is generating. Each point of that switch has a pot, might be a trim pot for adjusting the tuning. There's an LED driver as well. But I don't see how this would actually compare the input to the sine waves generated by the 555. There's a speaker in the schematic as well, so maybe it's just meant to be a tone generator, like an electronic pitch pipe? But then what's the 8 LED bar for?
Q: Why is a drummer like a scud missile?
A: Both are offensive and inaccurate.