D-Tuna....yay or nah?

[rcm78]

And that is where the problem occurs and to me was the issue with the tone vise, when you put the fine tuner in play your adding something else that can move and change the tuning then you end up chasing your tail. But everyone works stuff different and if that works for you then that’s cool.

I never used a tone vice. I've had many D-Tuna's and once they're set up I haven't had any issues. Every FR locking nut I've had has raised the pitch of the wound strings when tightening so I need that bit of tuning available in the low E fine tuner.

 

[unix-guy]

Every FR locking nut I've had has raised the pitch of the wound strings when tightening so I need that bit of tuning available in the low E fine tuner.

There are 2 things that I've experienced that cause issues with the pitch changing when you lock the string clamp at the nut:

1. The string retainer is too high. It should be low enough that it pulls the strings all the way down in the backside of the nut slots
2. The lock block "twists" when tightening it. Some of them are too small (in my opinion) and allow enough space for the block to rotate. Typically I've only had issues with the E and A strings. And usually the lower string goes sharp and the higher string goes flat. That's because the block rotates clockwise which pulls the lower string towards the headstock while pushing the higher string towards the body.

To solve #1, you can simply lower the retainer bar...

To solve #2, I find that tightening with fingers first helps. Alternatively, if you manually "pre-rotate" the lock block before tightening then it can't move further.

@Andy Eagle - thoughts?

 

[rcm78]

There are 2 things that I've experienced that cause issues with the pitch changing when you lock the string clamp at the nut:

1. The string retainer is too high. It should be low enough that it pulls the strings all the way down in the backside of the nut slots
2. The lock block "twists" when tightening it. Some of them are too small (in my opinion) and allow enough space for the block to rotate. Typically I've only had issues with the E and A strings. And usually the lower string goes sharp and the higher string goes flat. That's because the block rotates clockwise which pulls the lower string towards the headstock while pushing the higher string towards the body.

To solve #1, you can simply lower the retainer bar...

To solve #2, I find that tightening with fingers first helps. Alternatively, if you manually "pre-rotate" the lock block before tightening then it can't move further.

@Andy Eagle - thoughts?

Yup, I’m aware of those two things. Another common issue is the lock nut screws loosen up and the entire nut moves.
My personal opinion is FR locking nuts suck even after getting everything setup correctly.
I’m down to two FR guitars and barely play them.
I do like the NFT Floyd on my Anderson. Sounds better and stays in tune just as well as a locking setup. The nut has to be perfect though.

 

[Goonie]

There are 2 things that I've experienced that cause issues with the pitch changing when you lock the string clamp at the nut:

1. The string retainer is too high. It should be low enough that it pulls the strings all the way down in the backside of the nut slots
2. The lock block "twists" when tightening it. Some of them are too small (in my opinion) and allow enough space for the block to rotate. Typically I've only had issues with the E and A strings. And usually the lower string goes sharp and the higher string goes flat. That's because the block rotates clockwise which pulls the lower string towards the headstock while pushing the higher string towards the body.

Good advise. I also find issues with headstocks that do not have a straight string pull (i.e. some Jackson's, Gib/Epi, old Charvels, banana headstock, etc.) I almost hate my 89 Charvel Predator because of the reverse headstock and angled string pull specifically on the E and A.
When the string pulls at an angle, it lifts up out of the nut slot, then when clamping the lock nut, it goes sharp. Personally, I've always had tuning stability issues with those headstock.
I have since moved to any Floyd trem guitar I purchase or build has a strat or evh headstock.
YMMV.

 

[Andy Eagle]

There are 2 things that I've experienced that cause issues with the pitch changing when you lock the string clamp at the nut:

1. The string retainer is too high. It should be low enough that it pulls the strings all the way down in the backside of the nut slots
2. The lock block "twists" when tightening it. Some of them are too small (in my opinion) and allow enough space for the block to rotate. Typically I've only had issues with the E and A strings. And usually the lower string goes sharp and the higher string goes flat. That's because the block rotates clockwise which pulls the lower string towards the headstock while pushing the higher string towards the body.

To solve #1, you can simply lower the retainer bar...

To solve #2, I find that tightening with fingers first helps. Alternatively, if you manually "pre-rotate" the lock block before tightening then it can't move further.

@Andy Eagle - thoughts?

Lower the retainer bar so the pitch remains basically the same when you tighten it .
The dtuna is a good design and works well but you do need the low E fine tuner almost all the way out.
It was actually designed for the Gotoh 1988 ( 1996 but with offset intonation bolts and a different footprint ) and it works better on the Gotoh ( either of them ) because the fine tuner has more range.

 

[Andy Eagle]

Good advise. I also find issues with headstocks that do not have a straight string pull (i.e. some Jackson's, Gib/Epi, old Charvels, banana headstock, etc.) I almost hate my 89 Charvel Predator because of the reverse headstock and angled string pull specifically on the E and A.
When the string pulls at an angle, it lifts up out of the nut slot, then when clamping the lock nut, it goes sharp. Personally, I've always had tuning stability issues with those headstock.
I have since moved to any Floyd trem guitar I purchase or build has a strat or evh headstock.
YMMV.

if you have a correctly adjusted retainer bar the headstock style makes no difference.