For years I thought I was pretty accurate tuning drums by ear. Before testing the DrumDial I retuned my 10" and 14" toms (both batter and resonant heads) just to see how accurate I really am. The DrumDial revealed that I was for the most pretty accurate with the 10" tom but way off with the 14" tom. In fact, one tension rod was off by almost a full turn! I'm truly amazed!
DrumDial's instructions mention that most toms will be tuned to "75". If you haven't used a DrumDial before, that number will seem arbitrary. Go here to learn how the DrumDial works. I went with their recommendation and tuned the batter heads on both toms to 75. The reso heads I tuned to 74, also recommended by DrumDial. I personally always tune my reso head slightly lower or higher depending on the drum to get that bend effect in the drum's tone.
Tuning both drums with the DrumDial took no more than 5 minutes. When I was done I mounted them back on the kit and played a groove. With the first fill around the toms I could hear a noticable difference! Seriously, the toms sound significantly fuller and warmer to me than before. I'm impressed by the DrumDial and it is completely worth the $60 I spent on it. I'd write more but I'm going to tune the rest of my drums and then move on to the Gretsch kit!
