Quick tom tuning

Goreliscious

Senior Member
I'm interested to see if anyone else has a quick tom tuning method. To me tuning is just a boring neccessity that I want done as quickly as poss and I know I like my toms with a slight pitch bend down, so...

All lugs finger tight.
Even them out.
1/2 a turn each on top.
3/4 a turn each on bottom.
Line 'em up on carpet reso side up - check they work together.
Flip 'em over.
Line 'em up on carpet batter side up - check they work together.
Done.

By the by I use coated G1s on bottom and coated G2s on top.
 
If I'm re-heading the whole kit I will put the head on finger tight on both sides. Go around a quarter turn, press down and look for wrinkles. While pressing down I go around the drum and turn until there aren't any more wrinkles. After that I crank the reso up about a quarter turn more than the top head to get a little more resonance and I'm good to go.
 
When I install new heads I don't spend a lot of time tuning.
I just even out the tension on the rods.
I go around and I slowly tighten both tom heads until they are at about 77 on the drum dial.
I play the drum for a few days until the heads settle in a bit.
I then recheck the head with the dial and fine tune the drum by ear.
I seldom have to touch the drum after that for a long while.
 
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