Originally Posted by randyjawa

When I tried the Park Tension Meter, I did not get consistent results. And, I was warned of this by a local and sincere bicycle mechanic Guru. These days, because I cannot afford a decent spoke tension meter ($250.00+ where I live), I go by sound, not feel or measurement. I would prefer measurement but sound is much more accurate than feel, in my opinion.

A spoke under no tension will not ring. A spoke under some tension will ring, and the greater the tension (up to a point), the crisper or higher the note the spoke will produce when struck. It is also important to note that the spokes must all be the same to offer similar notes under equal tensions.

This is how I tension spokes and seek to get them even. I have had no problems, since I started doing wheels this way...