Pitch key

[Tom Campbell]

Anyone using one of these?

https://www.pitch-key.com/instructions/

I've used them on regular guitar with some success. Lap steel, the strings behind the nut, are at a steeper angle.

[Mike Neer]

I’ve used them a lot in the past, especially on gigs for tuning tweaks. They always worked really well, but currently I have no need for them.

[Jerry Overstreet]

I have 2 or 3 of them. I use for a D drop on guitar and for a tuning change on a couple of things on dobro.

They work pretty well. Just a little slow for the D drop back and forth and sometimes a pain to install on some axes.

I've not tried them for steel.

[Joe A. Roberts]

I use one to go from:

E
C#
A
F#
D# -> D
C#
A
B

And it works great. It is a middle string though so it is less steep and easier to put on.

[Jerry Overstreet]

Besides the steep angle of some keyheads, there is also a need for adequate length between the string posts for installation.

[Jeff Highland]

I use one on my Weissencone, tuned to open D to drop the 3rd string from F# to F for minor blues

[Keith Aiken]

what about going from gbdgbd bluegrass dobro tuning to dadF#ad d tuning? would it work well?

[Jeff Highland]

I don't think it would work well to drop the low G to D. As well as the string gauge it would not drop 5 semitones

[Jerry Overstreet]

There is a limitation on the string gauge. Should be stated in the instructions that were posted above somewhere.

Gauge range .009 to .054 with the lower gauges only lowering pitch.
https://www.pitch-key.com/pitch-range/

[Cappone dAngelo]

I ordered a pair of these after seeing this thread - quick shipping, and I've installed one on my lap steel and it works great! I loaned the 2nd one to a bandmate to try for drop D tuning on his 6-string so he doesn't need to mute and tune between songs.

[Sebastian Müller]

I use several of them on my steel guitars.
As Mike mentioned, they are great for live situations,
it really helps for quickly doing some changes on your
tunings. I use them mostly for small changes like tuning
the C on a C6 tuning to C#.
How well they work depends on the setup of your steel guitar,
especially the nut. A little bit of finetuning after you made the
change from C to C#. and back might be necessary. If the
steel would have a roller nut that might be not necessary.