Can a D Detuner Tuning Peg Be Used to Only Tune a String Down 1 Half Step?

[Baloney Balderdash]

As the tittle says, can a D detuner tuning peg mechanism be set to only tune a string down 1 half step, rather than a full step?

[skidder652003]

Isn't E dropped to D a full step?

As you can tell Im not music theory savy!

[BreadBin]

It can be set to whatever interval you choose (within reason - there is a mechanical limit but its quite far)

[Waddo Soqable]

I've not used one, but don't they work on a lever to lower the tension, you could maybe improvise a "half stop" position for the lever with a screw or something? 

[Waddo Soqable]

2 minutes ago, BreadBin said:

It can be set to whatever interval you choose (within reason - there is a mechanical limit but its quite far)

There you go then, I guess sorted! 

[Baloney Balderdash]

24 minutes ago, skidder652003 said:

Isn't E dropped to D a full step?

As you can tell Im not music theory savy!

Yes, that is the point of my post, it's a full step, hence why I ask if such a mechanism, designed to drop the tuning of a string a full step can be set to only drop the tuning half a step instead.

 

Edited January 29, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[clauster]

It can.

[Newfoundfreedom]

Yes. They have an adjustable stop screw so you can drop by any range up to the physical limit of the lever. 

Edited January 29, 2023 by Newfoundfreedom

[Waddo Soqable]

Brilliant!... He won't need to stick a screw in the back of the headstock then 

[Baloney Balderdash]

1 hour ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

Yes. They have an adjustable stop screw so you can drop by any range up to the physical limit of the lever. 

That's the exact tuner I have had a look at, the Gotoh 20600CT Hipshot GB7 Xtender D  tuner, or rather the left hand version, since I will be using it for the top string of a 4 string bass with a 2 + 2 headstock.

 

To be exact it would be for my Ibanez GSRM20B Mikro Bass, which I tune in F# standard tuning, 2 half steps above regular 4 string bass E standard tuning, so this would be for the high A string (high G string in regular E standard tuning), for dropping it to G# (Ab), to obtain a third interval similar to that between the G and B string of a 6 string guitar, for chord/chord arpeggio work.

 

So to the point, do you know if this would be a direct drop in replacement for Ibanez basses?

 

Looks very much like it would be, but would be nice to know for sure.

 

 

Edit!!! :

Never mind found the answer myself with some Googling magic, and the answer would be: Yes! This would be a direct drop in replacement for the tuners Ibanez uses for their basses.

 

Edited January 29, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[Newfoundfreedom]

5 hours ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

That's the exact tuner I have had a look at, the Gotoh 20600CT Hipshot GB7 Xtender D  tuner, or rather the left hand version, since I will be using it for the top string of a 4 string bass with a 2 + 2 headstock.

 

To be exact it would be for my Ibanez GSRM20B Mikro Bass, which I tune in F# standard tuning, 2 half steps above regular 4 string bass E standard tuning, so this would be for the high A string (high G string in regular E standard tuning), for dropping it to G# (Ab), to obtain a third interval similar to that between the G and B string of a 6 string guitar, for chord/chord arpeggio work.

 

So to the point, do you know if this would be a direct drop in replacement for Ibanez basses?

 

Looks very much like it would be, but would be nice to know for sure.

 

 

Edit!!! :

Never mind found the answer myself with some Googling magic, and the answer would be: Yes! This would be a direct drop in replacement for the tuners Ibanez uses for their basses.

 

 

Happy days. 😁

 

I have it fitted to my Traben in the same 2x2 configuration and there are no visible new holes so I'm assuming the same applied. It was on when I bought it. 

[prowla]

As per comments, you define the interval by where you set the 2nd position using the adjuster bolt.

Incidentally, there is also a 3-position optional lever available.

[uncle psychosis]

I'm intrigued as to why you would want to. 

 

"D - A - D - G" is a super common tuning, so it makes sense to be able to switch between that and E-A-D-G. But Eb-A-D-G...?? 

[gjones]

6 minutes ago, uncle psychosis said:

I'm intrigued as to why you would want to. 

 

"D - A - D - G" is a super common tuning, so it makes sense to be able to switch between that and E-A-D-G. But Eb-A-D-G...?? 

I'm glad you asked that question because it means I don't need to.

[Baloney Balderdash]

53 minutes ago, uncle psychosis said:

I'm intrigued as to why you would want to. 

 

"D - A - D - G" is a super common tuning, so it makes sense to be able to switch between that and E-A-D-G. But Eb-A-D-G...?? 

 

On 29/01/2023 at 11:47, Baloney Balderdash said:

That's the exact tuner I have had a look at, the Gotoh 20600CT Hipshot GB7 Xtender D  tuner, or rather the left hand version, since I will be using it for the top string of a 4 string bass with a 2 + 2 headstock.

 

To be exact it would be for my Ibanez GSRM20B Mikro Bass, which I tune in F# standard tuning, 2 half steps above regular 4 string bass E standard tuning, so this would be for the high A string (high G string in regular E standard tuning), for dropping it to G# (Ab), to obtain a third interval similar to that between the G and B string of a 6 string guitar, for chord/chord arpeggio work.

 

So to the point, do you know if this would be a direct drop in replacement for Ibanez basses?

 

Looks very much like it would be, but would be nice to know for sure.

 

 

Edit!!! :

Never mind found the answer myself with some Googling magic, and the answer would be: Yes! This would be a direct drop in replacement for the tuners Ibanez uses for their basses.

 

 

Edited February 3, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[uncle psychosis]

ahhhh. yes that makes sense. 

[prowla]

The way the drop-D eXtender works is it turns the tuning peg a fraction to detune it to the note you want, typically D.

It does exactly the same as you would do if you grabbed the tuning key and turned it.

The only difference is it has a lever to do it for you and allows you to set the turn precisely via a thumscrew to set the stop-point of the rotation.

This pic shows two of them and you can see that the levers are pulled and the tuning key has dropped backwards maybe 1/16 of a turn as the whole tuner chassis has rotated.

 

Looking behind, the way it works is that the whole original tuner is a floating assemble which pivots around the tuning peg and sits on top of a backplate which is fixed to the headstock.

Pulling the lever allows it to rotate the requisite amount.

 

It's great if you want to easily flip between the two, but if you're going to permanently play in drop-D then there's no point in having it.