I received the drum dial as a gift. I wish they would have saved their money. I do a much better job with my ears. It's just not user friendly. I would much rather have one of the digital drum tuners that gives you frequency. Just not a tool I need. Makes a great paperweight. Yes I may just be too ignorant to use it properly, but like I said it's not very user friendly.

Great product! Very pleased

I have had one in the past and sold it because I got the ITunes drum app….WAY TO DIFFICULT TO WORK …. So I got another drum dial… it tuned me up fantastic… just like I wanted !!

Quality piece and works well for maintaining drum head pitch and tension. Great to use this item along with a tune-bot if you need frequency info as well.

I recently put new heads on my my Tom's and really struggled to get them to sound good. I got the 12" sounding pretty good, but just couldn't get the 13" and 16" to sound good at all. It's an old Pearl Export kit and has always been a challenge to get tuned properly, particularly with low tuning. I bought the Drum Dial and finally, I have my kit sounding great. The Drum Dial is very easy to use and I still had to do quite a bit of tweaking to get a good tone on each drum. The Drum Dial allows you to make subtle changes to either the baatter or reso head quickly until you find the right combination of tensions for each drum Once I found a good tone for the 12", it was easy to tune the other drums to the correct intervals. Getting each head evenly tensioned is the key and t Drum Dial makes it a breeze to do. It has an adjustable pointer so you can easily set the tension at each lug once you set it to a particular value. This is a really well made tool and it comes in a protective case and should last forever.

an easy and consistant way to tune drums, exspecially when replacing heads. start with the recomennded numbers, tweak as desired and record them for a repeatable sound. soilid product

After watching may videos about tuning drums with no success, I came across a video featuring DrumDial. It made so much sense especially for a new drummer who doesn't yet have the "ear" for the correct drum pitch. I mentioned it to other drummers and learned that it is a widely and handy tool. The DrumDial comes with a chart listing drum sizes and the recommended ranges and also a clip to place the DrumDial the correct distance from the rim for measuring the head tension. Buying from Sweetwater was a good experience. The DrumDial was shipped with care and arrived quickly and in perfect condition.

I've been playing drums since I was 6 years old and I'm now 64 years old. This want replace your ear for tunning but makes it so much faster. I think what I like the most is being able to make sure my tension is consistent as I've tuned drums before and the sound was good but uneven tunning will cause problems later when the head is tuned uneven. Great product!

It's a great little gadget. I used it to tune my new drum heads. The item arrived just a few days after I ordered it. It was well packaged. It was easy to use, especially after watching a few videos. My drums sound a lot better. I had also bought some new drum heads-colored-Red, White and Blue. They make the drum set look really cool(Check photos below).

Thank you, Sweetwater.

Peter J Sabo

I have always had my own preferences how I like to tune my drums.
I don't use the Drum Dial's suggested tunings, but it helped me to measure and consistently repeat my drum
tunings. I will often change the tuning of my snare to that song that I am working on. I also sometimes
want a bit more resonance to the pitch of a drum, so I will generally change bottom head a bit
closer to match the beater head. I take my Drum Dial and check the tension so that I can always
tune to my own preference fast and easy. I love drum Dial!

This tuner has made tuning my drums easy.

As a first time user I found this to be a good tool. It's easy to use and gets the heads very close quickly. After that, a final tune up by the ear and the drums sound great!

The drum dial is a very usefull piece for studio especially if you are recording the same instrument repeatedly. Great to have the same tuning on drums or if your matching tunings with the song.

This is a great producto to have a consistent tuning on drums, timbales, in my recordings. I use the same musician on different days, now we can have the same tuning even recording on different days.
Thanks

Great addition for the perfect sound!! No question about being in tune!

I purchased a lot of different tuner helpers and this one is the most practical, especially compared to the tunebot.

Worked just as advertised. Feels well made, though it's a delicate tool that should be handled with care. Definitely helped me get my drums sounding great.

It works! And just like the drums themselves, it's nice for a change to use something that doesn't have a computer chip in it.

It's a technical way to achieve even tension at the lugs. More precise than try to use your ear and match pitches.
It took a bit to get use to it. It works great.
The 1st time I used it, I wasn't sure. When I actually got my drums on their stand at the gig, they sounded great.

The Drum Dial is exactly what works for me. Being a mechanic for a living, I can relate to dial indicators and this is perfect for me.
I want to see the tension on the head and the Drum Dial gives me that. My drums always sounded great before but with this tool, I can get them pretty much exact and the drums sound even better and I didn't think that was possible. I'm very happy with it!

I love it! Don't regret purchasing it at all, especially from Sweetwater. It's a great tool that allows me to get my drums tuned quickly and easily without having to depend on my already bad hearing. If you don't have one, buy one!

I really hoped this would make tuning easier, faster & more accurate vs. by ear. So far, not really.

I used the DrumDial (DD) to tune new batter & resonant heads on my Tama metal snare drum. Batter: Remo Fiberskyn & Resonant head: REMO clear Ambassador.

I discovered that I could take a measurement and then gently lift up and gently put down the DD and get a different reading! Often 2-3 units different.

As I tightened or loosened a lug, with the DD in place… The dial did not move. Usually when I lift & replace the DD, the dial moves but, not always.

Finally, I discovered through trial and error, that if I twist the DD back-and-forth slightly, the dial moved up several numbers.

Using this slight twisting & lift up/down method I think I got all 10 lugs the same, w/in ½ a unit.

I set the new batter head at 87. I didn't stop until I could go around all 10 lugs, without tuning any of them and still getting very close to exactly 87 for each of them.

Unlike the videos, this took a very long time.

I set new resonant head to 82. Same issues.

The DD may have an accuracy of +/- 2 units!

I had thought my unit may be defective but I emailed the company & they said they do not think so. I understand that after you change tension on lug #5, then the tension at lug #6 or #4 may also change. However, once you stop changing lug tension you s/b able to go around all the lugs to measure w/o changing & get consistent results.

So, after I think I am finished with all lugs at 87…w/o using the drum key, I can check a lug & it may read 87, 88, 86 or even 85. Lift up, place down again & the reading changes.

Same thing happened when I checked tension on 3 Tom Toms, with old heads installed.

So far I am disappointed in this product. I do not think I should have to twist the DD, once in place, using edge guide, to get the true reading. Or maybe after twisting I get a false, higher reading? IDK.

This product mnade my drums sound so much better.

Takes alot of guess work out of tuning drums . Great product. High quality.

The drum dial is one of the greatest things i have gotten for my drumset, it allows for many sounds a nd a great feel 10/10

For decades I've been using my Wheeler torque driver(in.lb.) to fasten the lugs to uniform tightness,then do the fine tuning w/Tunebot. Now doing the fine tuning w/Drumdial is quick and quiet. Drumdial got me the lug pitch that makes my toms sing in less time that it took using Tunebot.

This product was everything I expected it to be, something to help make sure the pressure of my tension rods are all, by and large, the same, to take some time out of the tuning process. It's great at that, and it's a must-have for me when putting on a new head, it just makes the whole process a breeze. However, when they're all the same pressure, the drum will most likely not be as sonically balanced as it could be, but I don't blame the DrumDial for that, because to me, it's not what it sets out to do. TL;DR: this is a great product for getting all the tension rods to the same amount of pressure, but after that the tuning will still need to be perfected by ear.

I play different types of music so I spend a lot of time tuning drums and changing heads to get a specific sound. The DrumDial makes the transition much quicker. I use the DrumDial to get the drum in tune with itself, fine tune for the overall pitch, then check the tympanic pressure again. My drums sound so much better!

The Drum Dial is a must have tool. It allows you to get your drum heads even at each lug. With the Drum Dial you tune up to your own custom number or the basics which allows you to easily get back to your favorite tone when changing out heads.

I had to relocate my drums from a big unfinished basement to a small spare bedroom. I knew I was going to need to overhaul my kit to adjust to a smaller space, and my kit needed a tune up anyway. I have a Drum Dial already but I thought it would be an interesting exercise to try and tune by ear. For reference, I've been playing for almost 30 years, have owned multiple kits from just about every brand, and would change out my heads as necessary. So tuning was nothing new to me. But I am not a master at it either. Hence why I wanted to not use a tuning device.

I wasn't even worried about my toms at this point. Just kick and snare. I spent several hours across 2 days trying out different combinations of tensions. Tight batter with medium tight reso. Then medium batter and tight reso. Then JAW (just above wrinkle) batter and tight reso…and so on, hoping I would eventually land on that magical combination of tuning and muffling. I was getting frustrated and it was quickly becoming unenjoyable to practice. I eventually landed on a tuning that was just OK but I wasn't in love with it.

I finally caved in and brought out the Drum Dial. I used the recommended tension settings from the instructions. BOOM!!!! There we go!!! Instantly I had all the punch, attack, tone, sustain and control I was wanting. And these weren't even new heads. I immediately had a smile on my face and was enjoying practicing in ny new space.

10/10 will recommend every time!!!!!

Useful easy to use!!

I don't play drums but I do play banjo - both 5 string and tenor. Of course, a banjo is nothing more than a drum with a neck and strings. Over the years I have gotten good at setting up my banjos by myself including getting the head pretty good but the DrumDial takes me a step further. When the DrumDial arrived I quickly tried it on my main 5 string and found that I had done a pretty good job with the head but it was not quite even. Adjusting it using the DrumDial I was amazed at the improvement. My pre-war arch top in particular came wonderfully alive. An added bonus is that when I replace a head, I can get it right to the sweet spot right away.

I've always tuned my drums by ear.
Bought this as a treat for myself.
It's not really a tuner but is a good tension reader.
I used it on 2 of my snares (top and bottom). The result is a consistently tensioned drum. Really got a good balanced Crack from the snares afterwards. Will try on Tom's and kick next. It's neat tool.

First off. I am brand new to drums. A friend gave me a beatup set which needed new heads which led me to drum tuning which led me to this device. I use idrumtune and tune bot but both get confused like my ears from the overtones. The drum dial lets you quickly get in the ball park lug tuning. I use a synth note to tune to key recheck pressures and even up the lugs. Less time tuning. More time drumming.

This device takes all of the guess work out of drum tuning. Its great to be able to dial in the perfect drum tone,
knowing that I can replicate it, when I need to tune it again. This product is very well made. Definitely worth it.

I use this to balance the tension on my banjo head. So far I'm pleased with results.

My tuner didn't work like all the illustrations I saw on all the different videos. I couldn't get the dial passed 30. My assumption was because I must have cheap drumheads. However, I DID read that all drums are different. That's the only explanation I had. For that reason, I gave this product 3 Stars.

I bought the Drum Dial to tune my Banjo head. Works great. Set up out of the box was perfect. Worked like a charm.
A quality instrument, well made and accurate.

I am not a drummer. I'm a guitar player; but keep a drum kit in the basement jam/practice area so that drummers don't need to move a drum set through my house on practice nights. I use the drum dial to keep the set in tune. I just follow the directions and set the tensions according to the recommendation on the list based on the sizes of the different drums. The kit sounds great! The Drum Dial Tuner makes it very easy to maintain the drum kit as a non-drummer.

I've been playing drums all of my life and have become pretty good at tuning by feel. I've generally been a Remo guy, which means that I deal with the collar glue cracking and conforming to particular bearing edges in a more organic way. Lately, I've switched to Aquarian and found them a bit less temperamental.

I thought the drum dial might be something that's at least helped me mark a measurement once I had the head tuned by ear and to make things easier in the future if I want to replicate it after taking a head off and putting a different one on. It's not. The problem is that this thing measures tension, not pitch. Anyone who knows how temperamental drums can be knows that you have to go by pitch and that some lugs will just end up being tighter than others to get things to even out. You have to tune the head all the way up to seat it, drop it back down, then bring it up again.

It costs a little more, but it is worth it. This thing was a nice early try, but unfortunately just doesn't pull it off.

I bought the Drumdial from Sweetwater to tune my Banjo head but i also have a Electronic Drum Set so it was a no brainer, The tool works well and takes the guesswork out of tuning the heads on both and since i am new to the Banjo i really couldn't tap tune it as well as i wanted to and the Drumdial helped solve that problem as well as helping with the Drum Set too. If you want a more scientific approach then the Drumdial is the way to go for ease of tuning plus it's built like a Tank. If you ever need any help just ask for Nick Grawcock he knows how to get it Done!

I've been battling drum buzz and hum constantly. Using this extremely easy to use dial, I eliminated 95% of the unwanted noise. I run a studio in central WI and any audio engineer will appreciate the lack of unwanted disturbance in the drums. Buy this thing. Now. I'm kicking myself for not having this sooner.

The measurements from the drum heads are very inaccurate unfortunately. When tuning a drum, some lugs don't even register or allow for the recommended measurement. Once the drum is at the recommended measurement, the tone from the drum is not that favorable. I was hoping for a better performing product. Same your money and trust your ear.

Bought this for my banjos. Great and well made tool. Now I can tighten my banjo head evenly and at that "just right" tension for that sweet sound I've been looking for. 89 sets it at a "g" sharp. Thanks Mike. Got in 2 days. I also bought the Washburn B17 banjo. Best decision I've made in a long time. Thank Sweetwater. Paul in Idaho

Great product! It actually made my drum heads and drum set sound like they should . Recommended!

Takes the guess work out of tuning. Great new toy.

Helps me get in tune real easily

Just got my Drumdial and love it! Now I see why all the good guys use them! Must Get One!

Worked great tuned all 7 heads in 3 mins def easier to improv /change tones high n low..

The DrumDial takes all of the guess work out of tuning your drums. I've been using the DrumDial for the past year and I've never found an easier way to tune my set. Whether it's in a noisy bar or in my quiet home studio, I can get perfectly tuned drums every time. Just follow the the easy directions and you're all set. Highly recommended!!

Works! Gets you at or close to the tone you want. I found a low spot on my Tom bearing edge that I had no idea was there.

I have gotten the best sound I have ever gotten out of my drums with this!

I wish i would have bought a drum dial years ago...This instrument sets up the drums so fast and so very simple to use...

This is a good inexpensive tuner - it holds it"s reading when checking the same tension rod multiple times.

Waste of money. Doesn"t really perform a valuable function, just wastes time. I thought it would help me match the pitch of all my lugs and give me an exact numerical answer to write down so I know what settings sound good, but it doesn"t do that. Some lugs are impossible to tune, the needle won"t move no matter what you do to it. When I finally get it all to match at 80, the sound is choked and has overtones and tuning by ear I can see that I just wasted an hour with the drum dial. Thanks for nothing, drumdial. Don"t bother.

I usually hold Sweetwater products in high regard --which is why it was a shocking disappointment to find this tuner unacceptable. When used as directed (metal indicator to rim), the measurement appeared to be right -- until I noticed something was off. The number did not correspond with the lug tightness on one of the lugs. I then tightened and tuned by hand and was good to go.

Don't always go by numbers... use your ears and touch.

Great gadget to keep the tuning consistent, and to quickly get it where you want it. Especially if you are a beginner, like me, and can't tune by ear.

Prior to purchasing the drum dial tuning was a combination of guessing and counting turns. Now with this there is no guessing only precision.

I found the drum dial to be quite useful. It does what it says. One issue is that it will scratch the drum heads if you are not careful. Also, the resonant head on the snare is very thin and the drum dial indicator tip leaves impressions in the surface. Otherwise, it is a good product.

A little tedious, but worth it in the end. Even the ut heads sound good.

I have been a drummer for 40 years and feel I have a really good grasp of drum tuning.
I have always historically tuned by ear and it has been sufficient.

I am not only a live player, I also have a Studio where I record my own drums as well as others.
With recording takes over extended periods of time I need to be able to get drums back in close tuning to previous takes to preserve the same vibe.

In the past I have had to solo the drum tracks and tune the drums to that.
With the DrumDial I am able to tune the drums, record the tension readings of each drum on a recall sheet and later faithfully recreate the tunings as long as there has been no damage to the drums or the drum head type changed drastically.

I also have historically used somewhat smaller diameter drums which are easier to tune by ear, but recently splurged on a really nice large drum sized kit from INDe Drum Labs. (24,13,16,18)

These shells are BIG and the larger drum diameters make it a little more challenging to tune by ear.
Using the drum dial helps in a huge way.
With bigger drums (including Kicks) the interaction between opposing heads in regard to tension and tuning can have you chasing your tail for hours trying to get the tuning good... particularly if a head has been overstretched or a hoop bent slightly. your ears will play tricks on you.
The accuracy of achieving equal tension all around takes the guesswork out ...PLUS... it will often uncover problems in the drums, rims, or heads you were not aware of that are impacting your ability to tune.

I can dial in the tension of the heads and then tweak the tuning ever so slight to please my ear and I am done!

Love this thing. It makes getting a baseline tuning 10 times easier.

I've been a guitarist for 40+ years and a drummer for a scant one. I can tune a guitar by ear, but drums - not so much. The DrumDial is easy to use and within 15 minutes I had my 3 piece Ludwig Fab 3 kit tuned and sounding great. Well worth the money!

I started playing drums around 1 year ago and I got my drum set around 6 months ago. Like any new drummer, I started searching for videos online, about how to tune your drum set. Most of these drummers would suggest that the best way would be to tune by ear, which is not really obvious for beginners, but I still tried it. I was not really satisfied with the sound of my drum set and I decided to get the DrumDial drum tuner and I could not be happier! DrumDial helped me get the best sound out of my drum set!

The easiest and fastest way to tune drums IMO. Plus it's quiet. You don't have to keep hitting the drum to tune it. You tune it silently which my wife appreciates

its great if your new at drumming you need this...

I am not a drummer, but bought a kit for my home studio. I never could get them tuned just right. Too many overtones, torque style tuner didn't work well, etc. Then I bought the drum dial. The drums sound better than ever. The first drummer who used them was shocked how much better they sounded since the last time he used them. If a non drummer like me can use this to make the drums sound that much better, the Drum Dial deserved the 5 star rating I gave it! Great took!

Best tool to use when tuning your drum heads. Why did I waited so long? Guess I've used to just tuning it via ear. Really easy to use too.

Awesome product!!! My DW’s stay tuned perfectly with drum dial! Highly recommended!

This little device is the best thing going, I could not believe how fast and easy it was to accurately tune my drums. I am very happy I have this tool.

Great. Product. Easy. To use. Gets. Drum. Head in tune. Fast. Lower. Drum tension. For. Your. Sound. I used it for my double. Bass. Was. Having trouble. With. The. Drums. Could. Not. Get. Them. In tune. Till. I got this tuner. Well worth the. Price

The DrumDial is as advertised, it does the job and does it well. It is helpful to watch the videos on Youtube to get more detail and helpful hints . It was easy to set up and read. The only thing better is customer service from Sweetwater!

Great tool for tuning equally. Easy to use. Go to Drum Dial website and watch video's on how to use it properly.

this thing really worked great on my 5 string banjo I was really impressed

Precision tuning. No more guessing.
It would be nice if instructions or guidelines come with the instrument providing specific levels to tune different drums to. Tuning values found in YouTube often contradict each others.

I bought a DrumDial and used it to tune two snare drums. The DD is easy to use and accurate. I have years of experience on other instruments, not drums, so this is a big help. The clip that is used to space the DD from the rim is awkward to use. I found it easier to take a 1 x 1 scrap and mark the head 3/4" from the rim at each lug. That way, I don't have to adjust the clip or turn the DD. I recommend the DrumDial highly.