Drumdial Tuner

[cc777]

I've been thinking about getting one of these, and I was wondering if anyone has one. For $60 is it worth it? It got good reviews on musicians friend.

[el presidente]

I have one of and if you are learinging how to tune it's great! It's not perfect but it will get you close. And it's not $60.

[1DrumBum]

Well, I happened to have some extra cash in my pocket (still trying to figure out how that happened...?) this morning and went down to the music store and bought a drum dial. I've have been reading and hearing rave reviews about it for quite some time now and decided to check it out.

3 words describe it:

wow

WOW

WOW!!!

My drums have NEVER sounded this good! It took me about 2 hours to dial them all in (7 piece kit) and I spent the next 3 hours playing just because I could'nt believe how good they sounded. They absolutly sing! I have tried a few different tuning methods and Torque keys, but the do nothing compared to the dial. I feel it is money well spent.

[pocketdrummer]

if you know how to fine tune you dont need it, you cant find the pitch with the D/D, but its good if you found the fundamental note of each drum, tuned to it, and found the frequency relationship, and want to record the settings with the Drumdial.

[XJ99]

Well, I happened to have some extra cash in my pocket (still trying to figure out how that happened...?) this morning and went down to the music store and bought a drum dial. I've have been reading and hearing rave reviews about it for quite some time now and decided to check it out.

3 words describe it:

wow

WOW

WOW!!!

My drums have NEVER sounded this good! It took me about 2 hours to dial them all in (7 piece kit) and I spent the next 3 hours playing just because I could'nt believe how good they sounded. They absolutly sing! I have tried a few different tuning methods and Torque keys, but the do nothing compared to the dial. I feel it is money well spent.

Which one did you buy? I'd like to check one out...

[1DrumBum]

It's the same one that cc777 has posted:

Well worth the money. I can get my drums in perfect tuning in a matter of minutes before each gig now. It used to take about 15-20, now it takes 2!

[XJ99]

It's the same one that cc777 has posted:


Well worth the money. I can get my drums in perfect tuning in a matter of minutes before each gig now. It used to take about 15-20, now it takes 2!

Does it matter how loose you tune the heads? I've got the Aquarian Performance II's and they are supposed to be tuned rather loose from what I gather... Sorry, I'm just not sure how the tool works..

[Jobby]

I'm interested in how it works as well - does it measure head tension or what?

[eggman]

yeah, it measures the head tension...my band director in middle school had one...and our drums sounded like great...and he knew NOTHING about drums

[1DrumBum]

It sits on top of the drumhead next to the lug. You turn that lug until the dial is at the desired number (it gives you a range for average tuning on the instructions) and then go to the next one and do the same until all the lugs are at the same number. This means your head has the exact same tension all the way around for optimal performance. Do this with both the top and bottom heads until you find the sound that you like. Make sure you write the numbers for each drum down on they sheet that comes with it so you can't forget them. It took me a couple hours to get my drums sounding the way I wanted them to the first time, but after that, all I had to do was tune them to match the numbers that I had already written down.

The tuning that is suggested is a little higher than what I like, so I just tuned to a lower number until I found the sound I wanted. This thing is great when I'm gigging as I can make sure my drums are in perfect tune before the show without having to make a bunch of noise beating on them. If the room does'nt make your drums resonate the right way, you can change the tuning of your entire kit in a matter of minutes. It seemed like a lot of money to spend on a tuner, but the quickness and ease of tuning has made it a worthwhile investment. I would recommend it to anybody who is gigging regularly (especially if you are playing indoors and outside) or who is recording ( I had to do ALOT of tuning in the studio before!). Studio time wasted tuning drums = BIG $!

[XJ99]

I think I'm going to get one. I don't play any gigs yet, but I want my drums to sound better for practicing.

I spent the next 3 hours playing just because I could'nt believe how good they sounded. They absolutly sing!

This is why I want one......

[sticks]

I picked one up also and the only problem I had was with the bass drum.I believe it said to adjust it to 40.In the directions,it said to loosen the lugs and hand tighten them then start adjusting but,when I hand tighten them thy were still very loose and already over 40.Could that mean the head is streatch out or does it just vary from each set?I think it still sounds good.

[hellsbells58]

I'm really interested in getting one of these. They sound well worth the money. Although tell me, is that $60 US?

HB58

[Jobby]

Yep. It's a hell of a lot of money for us Aussies.

Dunno what they retail for in the shops here.

[hellsbells58]

Couldn't be that much Jobby... $60 US = ~$100-110 AUD? Right?

HB58

[jmartinz32]

Got one today. I will use it tomorrow and see how this works. $60 US plus tax. Got a Guitar Center gift certificate for my birthday so I walked out with it for $15 out of pocket. Couldn't pass it up.

[cdogchuck]

Hoping to hear more about this drumdial. I knew a guy who had a TAMA tension watch, and he could not acheive any worth while results. He liked to tune his toms as low as possible so maybe that was the problem??

[drummer]

Only $58.95 at Drum Bum
http://store.drumbum.com/skuA-136.html

Everybody I know that's bought this thing swears by it.

[jmartinz32]

I'm swearing by it. Used it this weekend. Took about an hour and a half to tune my set. Came back and adjusted to my taste. They sound great!

[XJ99]

So it looks like the Tama one does the same thing right? 2112 has them in stock here local to me. I think I'll go check it out now..

[XJ99]

Hoping to hear more about this drumdial. I knew a guy who had a TAMA tension watch, and he could not acheive any worth while results. He liked to tune his toms as low as possible so maybe that was the problem??

I think it depends on the heads. This is working great for the bottom heads, (which were way off from one another!)

My top heads are the Aquarian, Performance II's. It isn't working at all with these. You tighten up one lug, and it throws the whole thing off. They are meant to be tuned loose, and I'm wondering if the muffle ring has something to do with it.. .

I'm still messing with it though..

[XJ99]

Ok, so I took the Tama one back. It was a little sketchy as I kept getting different readings on the same exact lugs. (set it down 5 different times, get 5 different readings) The Drumdial seems to work better. I think the rim tab that sticks off to the side might help out some. (both work, the DD just seems more user friendly)

It's still not much help with the Aquarian Performance II's, but I think I have them nailed down. Just hand tighten the lugs, then give them a few tweaks and they are good to go. If you over tighten them they sound like plastic.

Here's a good review on the drumdial..

http://www.mikedrums.com/drumdial.html


This is a great tool if you're new to tuning drums like I am.

Worth the $64 to me.....

[Metal forever]

how would you tune the toms to get a fat, deep, warm tone using the DrumDial? What reading should you get for both heads? and does the chart even help? how did you tune yours? I mean i've been playing for awhile but i need something that would help do the job quicker then how I would do it so... answer please

[jmartinz32]

Man your just gonna have to use trial and error on your setup to get your sound. Lotta factors are playing on the sound of your drum. Size, wood, heads, room acoustics, etc. Looks like you got a great kit. I have the drum dial and I am very happy during my experimental phase. Try tuning the bottom heads tighter than the top, top tighter than bottom, or even the same. Just keep notes of your settings and make notes or sound bites of the sound you get from a paticular setting. What kind of heads are you using? Don't forget about the quality and thickness of the bottom head The thicker the head the fatter the sound. So, I guess I didn't answer the question but let us know what you come up with.

[Metal forever]

Thanks for the reply, i've been playing for a while and know how to tune a set but thought the drumdial would quicken the job up at gigs and such. i'll keep messing with it though.