dts one touch tuning system

drummingman

Gold Member
i just read the review for this in the new modern drummer and it looks very cool. does anyone have one of these systems yet?
 
They are cool man. Personally, I really enjoy tuning my drums by hand. You also have to understand that you have to start off, before you can even use it, by making sure all of the tension rods are at equal tensions. They also are pretty expensive at $50 a pop. Thats something like $400 for an entire basic 5 piece kit. Thats not too cool...
 
Without regards to their merit or function my question would be, how often do you need to tune or re-tune your drums in a hurry? Most of us tune and then leave them alone.
 
too expensive, i don't think many of us would value Quick tuning at that price, nor would it always work, cause sometimes you dont want your lugs to all be the same, you just want the same tone outta each of them.

-Wes
 
Well, Just like the Catapult pedal, its a neat idea, which may or may not be suitable for everyone.

I like tuning, and Know that I wouldnt ever need such a device - but its good for some people, for example session drummers who need to raise or lower pitch between songs in the studio.
 
Look at their arists page. Apparently some pros like Neil Peart use it, but I wonder if that's actually true or not.
 
I am seriously considering trying these out. I have always thought that having lugs on a drum which had to be tuned to the same tension was primitive compared to what was being done in simlilar applications in the manufacturing world.

In other words, why should I be spending all this time making them all the same when I could just connect them all somehow and have one turn affect all equally? Am I a slave to tradition?

Plus, how many of you have actually experimented with all of the possibilities of relative head tension? What do your drums sound like when the top head is a fourth higher? or the same pitch? Most guys are happy if they get a good sound and they leave it alone. I know I don't have the time to properly experiment. For me, this is a bigger selling point than the speed thing.

Remember, tuning is NOT an art. The piano player is an artist, the piano tuner is a craftsman. We just need to get the job done so that we can then display our art.

The only place I can't see it working would be on the bottom snare head. Snare beds require the lugs near them to be cranked higher to achieve the same tension.

If I get them, I'll post a review but it is worthwhile to note that MD, DRUM, and Drumhead mags all loved it.
 
Look at their arists page. Apparently some pros like Neil Peart use it, but I wonder if that's actually true or not.

Getting paid to say you use something is not the same as actually using it.

Toothpaste commercial. "4 out of 5 dentists recommend ....." What happens is they ask a dentist, would you recommend this product?...he says yes....BIngo, its recommended.
 
It looks cool, but it's just a novelty item...a really expensive novelty item.
But one option would be to only get them for the top heads, and just continue to hand-tune the bottom heads.
 
It sounds very cool, and seems like as long as you don't expect it to do all the work it does the job. Of course the problem is that it's only a worthwhile investment for the small group of touring drummers who need to change their sound that often. If I had the money like Jeff said I would totally put this system on one good kit and spend the time to experiment and teach myself about tuning.

As far as Les's Arbiter tuning system... You lost me.
 
As far as Les's Arbiter tuning system... You lost me.

Arbiter ATS drums intro'd in 96' ceased in 2001. ATS drums are everything DTS wants to be an more. ATS lives on in the Arbiter 'Flats', but they're only 1/3 a drum.

Well, it looks like you had to buy the whole drum, though, even though it is the same idea as DTS. Was there a way to get the just rims/tuning system and put it on your own shells? That would seem easy because there's way less hole-making for the shell.
 
Those Arbiters look better than the DTS system. Too bad they're not around as a retrofit.

The cables on the DTS bother me. They make it look like one of Professor Bullfinch's crazy contraptions. But if it works, and is reliable over time then it's worth it.

Betcha 50 bucks it's not around in 5 years though, even if I do buy it. :)
 
Those Arbiters look better than the DTS system. Too bad they're not around as a retrofit.

The cables on the DTS bother me. They make it look like one of Professor Bullfinch's crazy contraptions. But if it works, and is reliable over time then it's worth it.

Betcha 50 bucks it's not around in 5 years though, even if I do buy it. :)

I think DTS has been around for a while, at least 5 years. I haven't gotten MD in ages, but I remember seeing ads for them I believe a few years ago. There must be enough people buying it for it to still be here.
 
i thought that arbiter drums looked killer. i was really bumed that they stopped making them.
as far as a use for the dts my main use is to be able just to tune all the lugs up in the same intervals to get a good sound without have to go tension rod to tension rod getting everything in pitch. it just seems like an archaic way to tune drums after all these years. the arbiter drums were a great idea that should have taken off big time.
 
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