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EVH D Tuna not working as advertised:


paul6string

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I just installed it on one of my strats with an original floyd rose. When I push it in to "E" position, it comes up flat. The tiny little set screw is supposed to take care of that, so I turn the set screw until it's correct. It's all good until I want to go back to "D". The set screw locked the unit in the "E" position, and needs to be backed off to let the mechanism slide to the "D" position. Now I'm going to be out of tune agaiun if I want to return to pitch. If I have to bring an allen wrench to gigs, it's going to be a 3mm to unlock the nut. {censored} this $38.00 piece of {censored}.:mad:

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If your trem floats, it won't work. Make sure the fine tuning screw is adjusted all the way out. I have one and it works flawlessly once properly calibrated.

 

This. I've had them on several guitars and they work fine (as long as you don't have a floating trem) if you set them up correctly.

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First off, make sure you are setting it right before writing it off as crap. Here's what u need to do.

 

With the dtuna pulled away from bridge (out).. Tune low e string to d before locking the lock nut. Then check to make sure all strings are in tune d a d g b e. If they aren't, adjust now.

 

Then push the dtuna in. Now is when u adjust setscrew on dtuna. Adjust until pitch is e.

 

Voila.

 

I have seen some plating issues where the chrome is too thick causing problems but i doubt that is the case here.

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I did all that (as the instructions also explain clearly). The problem is that once i adjust the set screw to get the "e"perfect, it grips the stud and i can't pull it back to "d" unless i loosen the set screw a bit. That throws the "e" out sgain for the next time

First off, make sure you are setting it right before writing it off as crap. Here's what u need to do.


With the dtuna pulled away from bridge (out).. Tune low e string to d before locking the lock nut. Then check to make sure all strings are in tune d a d g b e. If they aren't, adjust now.


Then push the dtuna in. Now is when u adjust setscrew on dtuna. Adjust until pitch is e.


Voila.


I have seen some plating issues where the chrome is too thick causing problems but i doubt that is the case here.

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I did all that (as the instructions also explain clearly). The problem is that once i adjust the set screw to get the "e"perfect, it grips the stud and i can't pull it back to "d" unless i loosen the set screw a bit. That throws the "e" out sgain for the next time

 

Oh ok.. Then try this. Take the dtuna off.. Remove the saddle bolt, and inspect it for gouges. What i normally do for periodic maintenance is stick the bolt in a drill chuck and use steel wool or 1200 grit sandpaper if its really chewed up.. to smooth it out, then apply light oil and reassemble

 

check to see if plating is too thick to allow the bolt to fully seat in through u-shaped channel in the dtuna. . If so you will need to file it down.

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Oh ok.. Then try this. Take the dtuna off.. Remove the saddle bolt, and inspect it for gouges. What i normally do for periodic maintenance is stick the bolt in a drill chuck and use steel wool or 1200 grit sandpaper if its really chewed up.. to smooth it out, then apply light oil and reassemble


check to see if plating is too thick to allow the bolt to fully seat in through u-shaped channel in the dtuna. . If so you will need to file it down.

I will check that out when I get home later. I'm not thrilled about the lack of range of motion in the floyd fine tuner after installation though. I like to gig with fairly new strings, and they tend to drift a few cents flat after taking a beating. This may be a problem with the D Tuna if I have to unlock the nut and take up slack in the middle of a set between songs.

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How far out of tune are you talking here? One or two cents or horribly out of tune?

About 1/4 step. Way too much to live with. I am going to do what maltomario suggested and check to see if the locking stud seats all the way forward before I sell it though. I will let you all know how I made out tomorrow. Not enough time today to mess with it.

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I may have a solution for you. I had this same problem with mine. I figured out you can only go up to a .046 gage string on the low E. Anthing larger than that & you have to adjust the set screw in so far to get it to E from D. As the string gets bigger it takes more tension to tune it up to a given pitch. I went to a .046 gage string on my guitar & it totally fixed the problem. I use Ernie ball heavy bottoms. The E A & D strings are from a set of 10's & the G B & E strings are from a set of 9's. Give it a try. Worked for me!

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On 11/24/2011 at 6:37 PM, paul6string said:

I did all that (as the instructions also explain clearly). The problem is that once i adjust the set screw to get the "e"perfect, it grips the stud and i can't pull it back to "d" unless i loosen the set screw a bit. That throws the "e" out sgain for the next time

First off, make sure you are setting it right before writing it off as crap. Here's what u need to do.
 
With the dtuna pulled away from bridge (out).. Tune low e string to d before locking the lock nut. Then check to make sure all strings are in tune d a d g b e. If they aren't, adjust now.
 
Then push the dtuna in. Now is when u adjust setscrew on dtuna. Adjust until pitch is e.
 
Voila.
 
I have seen some plating issues where the chrome is too thick causing problems but i doubt that is the case here.

 

Paul...   The problem is when you push it in and tune  to. E  and can’t pull out  , The  The bottom of the swiveling saddle is touching the base plate..   you tighten the setscrew to tune E on the Dtuna  and it pushes the swiveling saddle down to the base plate and is jamming tightly is why you can’t pull the mechanism out... THE FIX IS  remove the DTuna  out of the saddle.  Then remove your saddle from the tremolo system.   Get a Dremel tool with a grind stone  and grind away on the swiveling underside of the saddle where it touches down on the base plate.. I  guarantee your problem is solved...  not every genuine Floyd or licensed Floyd or non-licensed Floyd is designed for the DTUNA!!!  The problem is the sixth string swiveling side of the saddle “under saddle“ it’s too low to the base plate and it does not let you have the travel of a whole step “2 Frets  of tuning“...

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Better late than never.  I just ran into this problem.  I agree the D tuna does have a set screw issue.  That said I was able to get it working fairly well.  Here's what worked for me:

Loosen locking nut

Tune the string to D

Tighten the locking nut

Engage the D-tun

Use set screw to fine tune the E.

 

Relocking the nut is the only way I could get it to tune correctly.

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