Tuning problem on toms. loose tension rod but drum dial displays overtension

Putting the dial in the center of the head is not going to work. I sold my dial found it better if I sat down and tweaked on them and as I have heard over and over the practice helps. Keep at it.
 
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Can you use a drumdial in the center of the head to get an "overall" reading or is this not a good idea?

No it wouldn't do any good, each lug, to be in tune, the head has to be more or less at the same tension near it. The only way you can tell that is if the DD is right near the lug. You will get a reading in the center. Not that it means much.
I like the DD when I get new heads, and I'm at home and have time.
Everytime after that it's by ear, because my drums are either in their cases or gigging.
I just like precision gadgets. The DD's aren't really practical. I'll tune them to perfection at home, then take them out at the next gig, and I usually end up tuning them slightly different anyway.
I would use them before a recording session, as part of the prep. Just so I know that the heads are tensioned evenly. Because if I get them perfect according to the DD, my drums are in tune. No need to ear tune for me, they're beautiful.
 
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I got my Drum Dial about a year ago and I was disappointed with it at first.
I already knew how to tune drums from my 40 years of playing.
I sat down with the Dial and I slowly learned how to use it.
There is a learning curve that one must go through with the drum Dial.

You should first learn how to tune drums without using it.
I can't express the importance of this enough!

The Drum Dial is a tool.
Just like any other tool, It is only as good as the person who is using it!

The Drum Dial is not a, "Set It And Forget It Device"

When you first put a new head on a drum you should take the time to tune it by ear first.
You should play the drum for a while and seat the head.
This process takes time.
Time that is well spent.
Once you tune your new head and give it time to acclimate to the drum you should then use your Drum Dial to check the tension and equalize the tension rods.
Some drums will have finicky tension rods. This happens!
You have to learn how to work around this by both ear tuning and Dial tuning.

I don't know how to explain it any better than this!

I am thinking about getting a good vidio camera and making some vids of my own to share what I have learned about both tuning and the Drum Dial in the near future.
I may just do this soon in an effort to help fellow drummers that have tuning issues.

I have watched many vids that deal with tuning and I think that I can contribute some more knowledge that I have learned from my experiences.
 
Unless you have perfect pitch memory you will have a hard time getting your drum back to the same sound when a new head is applied without a drum dial. I tune to get a good sound all the way around the toms and minimize snare resonance. Doing that takes a lot of time. to repeate it would be hell without a drum dial. Having said that it is not the end all and be all. I have had problems like you discussed. The dial gets you close if not very close and the ears go from there.

While I don't doubt there are great tuners buy ear I would bet that the tunings are not reapeatable and snare buzz abounds for most ear tuners.

Instead of "perfect pitch memory" (which I don't have) I use a pitch pipe or piano keyboard instead.

I finished tuning the drums by ear. The loose rod is not an issue anymore. Each drum appears to be in tune with itself. Now my issue is getting the correct sound.

Can you use a drumdial in the center of the head to get an "overall" reading or is this not a good idea?

You need to find the sweet spot for all your toms. Take each one down to finger-tight, then add 1/4 turn at a time to all tension rods, top and bottom. Use two keys and tension opposite rods at the same time. Once you get a real tone, make the pitch of the batter and reso the same and make the lug-to-lug tuning decent. Now keep adding 1/4 to every tension rod, striking the batter after every round of tension. When you hit the sweet spot you'll know--the drum will be louder and have the most sustain. Do that with all your toms.

I got my Drum Dial about a year ago and I was disappointed with it at first.
I already knew how to tune drums from my 40 years of playing.
I sat down with the Dial and I slowly learned how to use it.
There is a learning curve that one must go through with the drum Dial.

You should first learn how to tune drums without using it.
I can't express the importance of this enough!

[snip]

Posting in blank verse--I love it! ;-)
 
I had the same problem with die cast hoops, so I wonder if that is the issue here. I used a drum dial for years and found it to be a great tool for even tuning. The day I bought my superstar with the die cast rims the drum dial became basically useless. One lug would be completely loose and the dial would read that lug as over tight. I have since ditched the drum dial and have gone to just tuning by ear. What a revelation it has been.

I don't think it has anything to do with die-cast hoops. I love my Drum Dial and have Superstars with die-cast hoops. It really makes changing heads and tuning them up a lot easier and quicker.

There's a lot of hate in this thread about the Dial, but personally it has served me very well.
 
Hate? Well, no. Disagreement does not equal hate, even if a lot of people seem to think so these days.

The DD has foibles, not hateful to point them out, nor to recommend against its use. Just opinions, rather clearly expressed!

Will avoid saying more, since we have a drum dial discussion here about every month, and we've still a couple of weeks to go. ;-)
 
I may have found something that might add to my issue of the loose rods. I just bought a package of Evans E-rings. The 10" E-Ring doesn't quite sit on the head properly. There is slack between the E-Ring and the head. It almost looks like the E-Ring is just slightly larger than the hoop and I can't get it to sit flush with the head. When I hit the drum, it buzzes.

Do you think something is wrong with the hoop or E-ring and is this what is giving me the tuning problem. I should also note that the head sits very snug into the hoop.
 
I may have found something that might add to my issue of the loose rods. I just bought a package of Evans E-rings. The 10" E-Ring doesn't quite sit on the head properly. There is slack between the E-Ring and the head. It almost looks like the E-Ring is just slightly larger than the hoop and I can't get it to sit flush with the head. When I hit the drum, it buzzes.

Do you think something is wrong with the hoop or E-ring and is this what is giving me the tuning problem. I should also note that the head sits very snug into the hoop.

You shouldn't be tuning with the e-rings on.

My 12" e-ring rattles too, I think its pretty common for them, esp if your toms are at an angle. It doesn't bother me though 'cause I can't hear it once I'm wearing my ear protection (which is always), and I'm actually playing the kit, as opposed to just hitting a drum by itself to hear how it sounds.
 
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