Tom tuning drum dial question

drums32

Senior Member
hi i just got the drumdial im tuning all my toms batter and reso to 75 on the meter and the only one that sounds pretty good is my 12x9. my 10x8 when i hit it it makes sound for like 1 second then like echos and you barely hear any sound then a half second later it starts to make sound again, i know its weird and yes i tried experimenting with tuning and cant get a long sustain that i want, what do i do? does the reso need to be on 80 and batter 75? also my floor tom sounds like pure plastic when i hit it and i have to put a moongel on to control the plastic sound and deepen the tone but then the moongel chokes it even with half a moongel so do i tighten the reso to 80 or the batter or what? my floor tom is a 12x14
thanks
 
there's a thread on here somewhere about the drum dial and the many tensions members use. search for it
 
Don't use the dial to *tune* your drum. Use it to create equal tension. Then experiment by tweaking each lug no more than a quarter turn in any direction. Don't be afraid to try lot's of settings. Developing your tuning ear takes time & lot's of experimenting. Along the way, don't forget to have fun!

Peace
 
1. Sell the drum dial.
2. Use the money to get a couple of lessons from a drummer who can tune.
 
I just bought the drum dial and found it is good for getting close but I still had way more tension on one side than the other and I discovered this by using the Torque key in conjunction with the drum dial. The dial is nice but I would not buy it if I knew then what I know now but I guess most of us have to find these things out for ourselves.

As far as your problems it may just be the heads you are using. What type of sound are you shooting for and what heads are you using?
 
Try the batters at 75 and the resos at 84. That works for me.
 
I just bought the drum dial and found it is good for getting close but I still had way more tension on one side than the other and I discovered this by using the Torque key in conjunction with the drum dial. The dial is nice but I would not buy it if I knew then what I know now but I guess most of us have to find these things out for ourselves.

As far as your problems it may just be the heads you are using. What type of sound are you shooting for and what heads are you using?


yea i noticed one lug was way loose and the next lug was way tight but they both read the same tension because i guess it measures head tension not rod tension. Im using ec2 clear right now but next time im going to try coated g2s. Im still unsure whether to take it back and get my money back and buy some more drum stuff or just keep it. I dont know if its worth 60 bucks.
 
It's not, I would return it but dont want to go through the hassle. I will sell it on CL or E-bay soon
 
Don't sell it, the drum dial is a great tool....the lug that was loose....you should have checked the lug 180 degrees from the loose one to see if it was overly tight....When I get a loose one next to a tight one, I check the opposite lug of the loose one, it's usually too tight, so I loosen the tight one and tighten the loose one. I do that with all the lugs to ensure good parallel hoop alignment in relation to the bearing edges of the shell. If you have true bearing edges the drum dial is a useful tool, in the right hands
 
got new g1s for the resonate side and g2 for the batter side trying to follow the different ways of tuning, when i got done the floor tom sounded like a tympany, any suggestions on what i did wrong, they were around 75-77 on the drum dial thks
 
Tuning is a very personal taste thing. Its right up there with your throne and your pedals and sticks. I don't use a drum dial and most of the cats I hang out with don't like them. Remember that sometimes to get a good tone out of a drum all your lugs will not be at the same tension. Its really up to you and the drum. As far as using other drummer settings this probably won't work either depending on the wood of the drum (maple, birch) the size of the drum and the type of heads you use. (1 ply, 2 ply, coated etc. ). Each drum has its own tuning nature. You need to find that out about your drums and get a good sense to tune them yourselves.

Best of luck

Joe
 
Don't sell it, the drum dial is a great tool....the lug that was loose....you should have checked the lug 180 degrees from the loose one to see if it was overly tight....When I get a loose one next to a tight one, I check the opposite lug of the loose one, it's usually too tight, so I loosen the tight one and tighten the loose one. I do that with all the lugs to ensure good parallel hoop alignment in relation to the bearing edges of the shell. If you have true bearing edges the drum dial is a useful tool, in the right hands

Even with a perfectly constructed drum, the dial can only get you 80 percent of the way at best. Tiny inconsistencies in the head material, in the natural density of the wood, layers of glue and hardware will require you to finish the tuning by ear. You'll find that a drum with exactly even tuning all the way around sounds terrible, and that a bit of human adjustment is needed.

I have a Drum Dial and I love it. Getting that 80 percent of the way done in minutes allows me to really focus on the 20 percent of ear tuning.
 
hi i just got the drumdial im tuning all my toms batter and reso to 75 on the meter and the only one that sounds pretty good is my 12x9. my 10x8 when i hit it it makes sound for like 1 second then like echos and you barely hear any sound then a half second later it starts to make sound again, i know its weird and yes i tried experimenting with tuning and cant get a long sustain that i want, what do i do? does the reso need to be on 80 and batter 75? also my floor tom sounds like pure plastic when i hit it and i have to put a moongel on to control the plastic sound and deepen the tone but then the moongel chokes it even with half a moongel so do i tighten the reso to 80 or the batter or what? my floor tom is a 12x14
thanks
I have cantalina club kit,10 ,12 ,14 inch floor,with 2ply batter,,1 ply reso,try78top,77bottom,my drums sound crystal clear.regards les.
 
This thread is almost 5 years old and the OP hasn't been active here for over a year and a half.Just saying.

Steve B
 
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