Hipshot D Tuner Pro's Con's

[Quadzilla]

OK, you have me convinced that I should give one another shot and I"ll be sure to follow the directions to the extreme (even though I thought I had before). I'll get one and put it on my '78 P and report back.

Quad

 

[deaf pea]

...The cons of the Xtender are:...- Makes the winding post shorter (can't get as many wraps on it)...

a non-issue . . . I once recieved a Hipshot Xtender that had a shorter winding post than the other (Gotah) tuners . . . I mentioned this and Hipshot sent me ANOTHER Xtender with a longer winding post . . . Before I had even sent the shorter winding post version back to them!

They have VERY good Customer Service . . .

 

[bucephylus]

Really stupid question from a Hipshot noob here. Can you set these to drop to Eb instead of D? i don't really need the D, but the open Eb would be a help for some tunes.

Thanks!

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

Really stupid question from a Hipshot noob here. Can you set these to drop to Eb instead of D? i don't really need the D, but the open Eb would be a help for some tunes.

Thanks!

Yes. You can set that to any increment from just a few cents down to as low as a low B or so (depending on the amount of room your headstock allows the Xtender to swing).

 

[bucephylus]

Many thanks!

 

[Unrepresented]

Not a con with the actual D Tuner itself, but I find that on my Fender Jazz, the string tension in drop D is too floppy for my tastes. I'd definitely recommend you experiment with the instrument you intend to install it on, and know that you'll be happy playing in that tuning.

 

[bucephylus]

Bryan, thanks for the info. I went ahead and bought one of these puppies, and it arrived last night. Took all of about 5 minutes maybe to install it on my '62 RI J. Indeed, it drops to Eb no problem. Intonation going back and forth is OK; I'll probably still end up correcting a little bit.

I'm taking the bass to the gig tonight. Don't know why I never tried one of these; except I guess I was never trying to use a 4 in a cover band that needed to click along and change tunings on the fly. I always just detuned at the tuner; which, of course, takes a little longer.

Great little add-on. Dig it.

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

Cool Make sure to read the instructions on how to accurately get it to stay in tune when switching back and forth- lots of folks don't follow those directions to the letter and don't get the best results.

 

[bucephylus]

Yup, did that. Used my Phil Wood high performance cycling grease on the cam.

I'm just blessed (cursed) with pretty exacting pitch discrimination and can hear the VERY little offsets. I suppose a little graphite in the nut might also help things...

 

[bikeplate]

HI

All pros, no cons

Rob

 

[SPYD3R #9]

bump the old thread, recently upgrade both of my axes with hipshot ultralight detuner, so here it is

 

[ComeHomeShane]

Pro: Allows you to quickly drop a string by a designated amount

Con: Costs money

I have the D-tuner on both of my main 4 strings (fretted and fretless) and like it a lot. Honestly, it's very easy to tune manually, but I've played in cover bands (and currently play in a tribute band) where a significant number of songs are in Drop D so that it makes sense to be able to do it on the fly.

It takes a bit of tweaking to get the dropped D to be in tune (and your E to still be in tune when you flip back) but once you get it, the screw stays in place fairly well. I generally only have to adjust mine once a month or so.

I'm in the same boat... cover/tribute bands and getting tired of manually tuning every time I need drop D. Which switch do you use? Recommendations for a stingray special?

 

[Jared Lash]

I'd contact BestBassGear and ask them which detuner would be the best fit for a Stingray Special. They carry quite a few but are awesome to work with/buy from.

Invalid Link Removed

 

[ComeHomeShane]

I'd contact BestBassGear and ask them which detuner would be the best fit for a Stingray Special. They carry quite a few but are awesome to work with/buy from.

Invalid Link Removed

Thanks!

 

[wraub]

I took a pic of my tuners with a ruler in the frame and sent it to Hipshot, they responded fairly quickly with the necessary tuner.

I'm in the same boat... cover/tribute bands and getting tired of manually tuning every time I need drop D. Which switch do you use? Recommendations for a stingray special?

 

[Geri O]

I'm in the same boat... cover/tribute bands and getting tired of manually tuning every time I need drop D. Which switch do you use? Recommendations for a stingray special?

For all the Stingrays I bought D tuners for, I used the BT1. With the Special, it might be different.

 

[Ulf Buck]

Never had any luck with them. I don’t trust them to be accurate EVERY time. Just put a note on the setlist takes seconds to tune 1 sting

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

Never had any luck with them. I don’t trust them to be accurate EVERY time. Just put a note on the setlist takes seconds to tune 1 sting

If it only takes seconds to tune a string, wouldn’t it only take seconds to correct any tiny tuning variable from using the Xtender?

While there’s a little discussion on these anymore as there’s a million out there and they’ve proven themselves to work great, the benefit of them is on the fly tuning changes that you can do mid-song or in between songs where you might not have time to tune.

 

[Geri O]

If it only takes seconds to tune a string, wouldn’t it only take seconds to correct any tiny tuning variable from using the Xtender?

While there’s a little discussion on these anymore as there’s a million out there and they’ve proven themselves to work great, the benefit of them is on the fly tuning changes that you can do mid-song or in between songs where you might not have time to tune.

Yeah, ask the piano tuner.

Once the easy little procedure that Hipshot recommends is done, the string will return to the right pitch every time.

Oh, I forgot to mention….

I use Xtenders on my 5-string basses.

Yeah, low A, baby.

I don’t use it very often, but it’s a great effect when I do. Especially on PAs with good subs….