Forgot to mention the Hipshot Xtender with the double stop lever. Since I haven’t had to do anything but minor tweaks in 5 years, I thought I’d have difficulty setting it up with a new E string, but it took 5 or 6 minutes. Some folks have major problems with them, but there’s a certain path you need to take to get them right. I use drop D and drop B but you can use what you want.
1. Tune up to E and give the string a few light stretches to get it tight on the post.
2. Tune to slightly below E, and flip the lever to the B position, then back to E. If you’re in tune, then you’re good to proceed. If not, detune and tune back up to where you think you’ll be in tune once you flip the lever down and back up. Always tune up to your notes, never down.
3. Flip the lever to your lowest note, and use the big hex screw to find the B. Flip it up and check that your E is still in tune, then down to check the B. If they aren’t in tune, keep at it till they are. Once you do that…
4. Flip to the middle position and find the D with the little hex screw. Flip down, then all the way up, checking your tuning in E position, then to the middle again to check D position. Rinse and repeat till it’s settled.
Getting the string conditioned to flip and always come back to E after retuning is the key to success, as well as always tuning up to your note and never down. Sounds a lot harder than it is, but the more you do it, the easier it gets. You learn how to judge how flat you need to be to get the E string to be in tune, and the other notes usually fall in line once you can flip it down and up and have the E be in tune.
