EVH D-Tuna tuning/setup woes. Damn thing is so finicky. :(

[Number Of The Priest]

Does anyone else find the D-Tuna has a very narrow range of tolerance for proper use? Like, it needs to be set up so precisely, that even the slightest deviation renders it incapable of doing its job.

As seen below, I obviously have the Floyd blocked for dive-only, thanks to the tremolo stopper seen in the center of this photo, and the tremolo claw cranked at maximum to pull the sustain block against the tremolo stopper.



As far as I understand, the fine tuner for the low E needs to be "up" all the way so that the D-Tuna device can accurately do its job in both "E mode" and "Drop D mode". This renders the fine tuner basically useless for micro-tuning if you want to retain the Drop D capability because you need to leave the fine tuner alone in the "fully up" position.

You basically need to compromise. You either:

1) Sacrifice the ability to micro-tune if you want to accurately jump from E to Drop D;

or

2) If you're like me and prefer retaining the ability to use the fine tuner for its intended purpose, which is on-demand micro-tuning without needing to unlock the locking nut and manipulate the tuning machines at the headstock, then the D-Tuna becomes inaccurate when switching to Drop D because the fine tuner will no longer be in the "fully up" position.

Am I frustrated with the premise of the D-Tuna for the wrong reasons? I consider myself a "Floyd guy" and understand everything about a Floyd is an exercise in compromises, but those compromises are far more lenient than the D-Tuna which seems to demand "the fine tuner must be up all the way OR ELSE I refuse to be accurate for you when going to Drop D!"

[ed]

I dont know how you set yours up but this is what the website for the d-tuna says.

"Tune the E-string to "D", lock the string at the nut, and fine tune the E-string to "D" with the bridge fine-tuner. Next, push the D-Tuna into the E position and fine tune to "E" with the setscrew adjuster on the D-Tuna. That's it!"

Also they have a video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLVHuxj6KjhtLl0h216rgCBCTZW_HBl2lz&time_continue=277&v=0jRLp0BL4h4

[Number Of The Priest]

Thank you for the reply. When I originally got the guitar with the D-Tuna in 2016, I followed the below video for D-Tuna setup, which seems to follow the same procedure you copy-pasted from the D-Tuna website. Note that the narrator, at about 2:45, stipulates that the fine tuner needs to be all the way up before tuning the E-string to D. Even after following the rest of his/your instructions, I stumbled across the "compromise" situation I illustrated in my first post.

I feel like a frustrated chef who is following the recipe precisely but the dish still turns out wrong despite my best efforts.

[phragle]

Maybe I got lucky, but I have a DST-3 and if I am careful with tuning it when restringing (and the occasional readjustment) I can cover from E to D with the fine tuner alone. I am more than impressed with how this thing stays in tune too.

[ed]

I actually had a d-tuna on my axis but i took it off because i dont need it. It has the gotoh bridge and yours is OFR so maybe there are differences between the 2?

Maybe i should try installing it again and see how accurate it is. But who knows with these things maybe they just are like that =)

[toejam]

I put one on my old Charvel Star whose trem I dropped to the body. I couldn't get it to work right, but I don't remember having the fine tuner all the way out. Maybe that's why it didn't work...

[Axewielder]

I've got one installed and they are what they are. You can fine tune the low E a bit but don't get too carried away. It really isn't a huge problem because the low E tuning doesn't go out as much as the lighter gauges. Is the tuning stability rock solid otherwise?

[Mossezhoffen]

Here's how I do it. Currently i have one installed on my 82 Charvel. Fortunately the floyd sits perfectly balanced against the body as the route doesn't give any room for pulling up.
So it's basically blocked for dive only. I use three springs by the way. I leave low E fine tuner almost up but with slight room for adjustment. Then I tune the low E to D. Clamp it. Push the Dtuna to E position. Adjust it with the small screw. And it's set. One thing is you need to tune the E slightly down compared to other strings otherwise it sounds sharp even tho a tuner says otherwise.

When it's set I don't need to adjust it at all when changing strings. As long as i remember to start tuning with D position. It is a little bit tricky, like the floyd itself.

[metal_head91]

if youre tuned a half step down and are still using .09 gauge strings you'll have to swap it out for a 10. i had an issues with mine on my wolfgang with it not staying in tune once i pulled it out, talked with adam reiver at FU-tone and he showed me the video on his website/youtube and told me to use a 10 gauge for the low E and tune accordingly.

The trick is to tune the guitar in your preferred tuning, but tune the low E in whatever dropped tuning youre going for for example:

standard - tune to normal drop D
half step down - Tune to C#

.....etc if you wanna go lower

after that and the guitar is fully in tune everythings locked in and ready to play as normal, push the D tuna into "standard" position and use the little adjustment screw on the side of the D tuna to tune the low E string into its normal tuning so Eb or E standard or whatever youre going for. I did that and have had 0 issues with dropping to drop D and returning to Eb/D# (whichever you prefer, same note pitch) no tuning issues nothing goes slightly sharp or flat its bang in tune and spot on....hope this helps!

[Number Of The Priest]

Thank you to everyone for the replies. I discovered the problem a couple of months ago but I forgot to follow up with this thread.

It turns out that I was setting up the guitar and D-Tuna correctly, but on closer analysis, I discovered I was not operating the D-Tuna itself properly, leading to a cycle of frustration.

Here's the story.

After the setup, the device is easy to pull out to go from E to drop-D, with both notes in tune. So far, so good.

However, when it came to returning from drop-D to E, I found out I was not pushing in the device properly. When it's not locked back fully in its original position, the tuning of the E note is obviously affected, resulting in me needing to use the fine tuner to achieve E. As a result of the fine tuner adjustment, when I dropped to drop-D, naturally the D note was affected! Thus the cycle of tuning frustration began, all because I originally didn't realize I wasn't returning the device to its full original locked-in position.

[metal_head91]

well hot damn! dont you hate when that happens, have that homer simpson moment "DOH!" glad you figured it out!

[adampone]

a lot of people have been looking to Tone Vise 'pitch shifters' as an alternative to the D-Tuna

[paranoid]

a lot of people have been looking to Tone Vise 'pitch shifters' as an alternative to the D-Tuna

Who makes a pitch shifter that only detunes 1 string(with out a midi pick up).? Drop D changes your fingering and is part of the fun of using it.

[toejam]

Who makes a pitch shifter that only detunes 1 string(with out a midi pick up).? Drop D changes your fingering and is part of the fun of using it.

It actually looks like a JT6 fine tuner. Supposed to perform similar to a D-Tuna.
www.tonevise.com

[adampone]

Who makes a pitch shifter that only detunes 1 string(with out a midi pick up).? Drop D changes your fingering and is part of the fun of using it.

a pitch shifter than only changes 1 string. sorta like the d-tuna?