I thought my initial setup was good and I relied on the number of turns. Once I tuned them, it was a world of a difference. It was also incredible easy to do.

Andrew

Miami, FL

First time I've ever used one.. doesn't work like it says and drums were left terribly out of tune and had to do it by ear anyway. I figured for the money it would work a little better than it did. With as many variables as there are when it comes to tuning.. I would recommend tuning by ear.. or with a torque tuner. Bearing edges, heads, and rims are all different in every setup.. this doesn't take all those things into account.

Drummerguymatt

Sumiton, AL

EASY TO USE. HELPS GETTING YOUR DRUMS TUNED IN RANGE FASTER. GREAT PRODUCT!

DONNY

HENDERSON, NEVADA

I've heard good and bad things about the tuner, so here's my take: No, it will not tune the head for you. No it will not make your drums sound better than a good tune. And no, it has nothing to do with torque on the lugs themselves. However, what it does excel at, is getting a consistent tension from all of the lugs on a drum, and being able to quantify the head tension, so your "tune" is repeatable.

Dude06705

Waterbury, CT

Great little tool to get your kit within range and you can tweak it after that! My kit hasn't sounded this good in years! haha!

Skern

Columbus, Ohio

I just had to get this device, after hours of trying to tune my DW snare with Aquarian Coated Response 2 drumheads. I also had 5 new heads on their way. I'm not a pro at tuning, but I do know the tone and pitch I'm after. I also can be a little impatient. First off, this thing is kinda heavy. Probably required as it measures tension. I first wanted to see how close my snare batter was to their recommended specs. I was a little to loose, which was fine, because it did not sound that good. I started with the bottom head, and it was little loose as well. That head (being thinner) was easy to tune. I jumped back to the top head, and started finger tight, then brought it up about 3/4 turn. I placed the drum dial on and turned as needed. People have said that when they had to lower the tension, the drum dial would still display a high reading, when in fact a tension bolt was really loose. Steve at Drum Dial (great guy) explained that often the pressure of the surrounding lugs is enough to keep tension on the loosened lug. Especially if you have a 10 lug rim, or one that is thick die-cast or triple flanged. He suggested pressing down about an inch from the rim on the head to compensate. After hitting the marks, I then fine - tuned by ear. After that, write your reading down on the head for future reference. Awesome tool to use to "start" with. You still need your ears to finish. Steve at the shop was a great help. Go Get one, if you're not a pro at tuning by ear!!

BigDinSD

SD, CA

My whole drumming life my problem has always been tuning! When I saw an advertisement for this I was curious and thought it was problaly hard. So for my birthday I received one. Let me tell you it is easy & fun!! It's like playing with that one toy and ignore all the rest of the Christmas toys.What a smile I got when I started to tune ALL my drums! And yes toms too. It also has an easy to read chart for most size top & bottom heads which is a major plus. Hats off to Drum Dial for their product!!

The Baldblaster

Phila,Pa

I'm a bass player who owns a studio... my confidence level on tuning drums was pretty low. Every drummer I meet has a different take on tuning. This is a great tool for non-drummers and I suppose drummers too. Easy to use. Well built. Made in the USA!

M.P. Lyons

Indianapolis, IN

Hello! I just recently purchased the Drum Dial to aid me in tuning. I have been a drummer or 16 years and I would say my weakest area is tuning. I do fine tuning rack toms, but when it comes to floor toms or bass drums, I tend to find it hard to tune, since the pitches are quite low. I had tried to the Tama Tension Watch in the past and absolutely hated it! It was too sensitive and one had to be pretty precise when it came to putting the Tension Watch on the head. Anyhow, I just got the Drum Dial today and I can say it is a lot easier to use than the Tension Watch. However, it is still not 100 percent accurate, but it will definitely get you in the ball park. The only con I have found is that it is pretty clunky and heavy. It probably would not be wise to carry it around with you to shows, unless it's a significant and important show. Also, be mindful to calibrating it. Calibrate it each time you decide to use it.

Weezer

Greenville, NC

I just picked up the drum dial today at my local [...] store and it helped me right out of the box. [...]I'm not the greatest at tuning drums, but using the drum dial takes away a lot of the guesswork involved and makes experimenting with different tensions much easier and consistent. It's a little pricey, but I believe it's worth every penny. My kit has never sounded so good...

Ryan

San Antonio, TX