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There was nothing wrong with the set that came on my Taylor W14CE-LTD. They were Gotoh 510's in Antique Gold, 1:21 gear ratio . I bought these locking tuners 2 years ago, but never got around to putting them on. Today I decided that I'd waited long enough. I had a good afternoon shaping up, from a pain standpoint, and actually felt like I had some energy for a project. That doesn't happen very often.
I had to special order these tuners from the North American distributors rep out of Seattle, as they don't normally stock this color in locking tuners in the US. Nickel and gold yes, even black IIRC, but not antique gold. I wanted to match the OEM color. It took 6 weeks + to receive them once ordered, but well worth the wait. I had to convince the rep that I knew I could get locking tuners with the thumb wheels locally, in the correct color, but that's not what I wanted. You can order on Gotoh's Japanese site directly as well, but it's not easy to navigate and since they were a special order I didn't want to chance getting it wrong at almost $100.
Really simple installation. They have a hex head shaft nut and a washer on the top a single screw on the back, set at either 5 o'clock or 7 o'clock depending on which side you're looking at. The footprint is exactly the same as the original tuners. Six off, six on, nothing to it. The only difference is that the posts are all shorter on these vs. the non locking version. Not sure why and they don't make different post heights that I'm aware of. They work just fine though. Also, on the back the new ones say Double Speed Lock across the top and then Gear Ratio 1:21 on the bottom. The old ones say Super Machine Head.
To string you have to loosen the top of the post just enough to allow the string to slide through. There is a slot for a coin or a fat flat head driver. Once the string is through, you DO NOT have to tighten the post aging with a coin or anything. You simply turn the tuning peg in the direction you use to tune, and the internal cam locks onto the string, tightens down the post on the top and tunes to pitch in a half to 3/4 turn. The internal cam is the exact same as the cam on the Grover 106 series, and I love it. I don't like the look or the additional weight of tuners that have thumbwheels added. These look clean and not like locking tuners at all.
Some of you are probably thinking why go to the bother of locking tuners on your acoustic? For me, it comes down to the time it saves changing strings. I have a back injury with lingering nerve damage in both legs down to my feet, in my lumbar area and some down my arms. Even sitting at our pub height kitchen table while working on guitars makes my back hurt very bad after a bit. I've tried sitting the whole time, standing, combination of both and sometimes I last longer than normal, but never a whole string change without locking tuners.
Pics below:
I had to special order these tuners from the North American distributors rep out of Seattle, as they don't normally stock this color in locking tuners in the US. Nickel and gold yes, even black IIRC, but not antique gold. I wanted to match the OEM color. It took 6 weeks + to receive them once ordered, but well worth the wait. I had to convince the rep that I knew I could get locking tuners with the thumb wheels locally, in the correct color, but that's not what I wanted. You can order on Gotoh's Japanese site directly as well, but it's not easy to navigate and since they were a special order I didn't want to chance getting it wrong at almost $100.
Really simple installation. They have a hex head shaft nut and a washer on the top a single screw on the back, set at either 5 o'clock or 7 o'clock depending on which side you're looking at. The footprint is exactly the same as the original tuners. Six off, six on, nothing to it. The only difference is that the posts are all shorter on these vs. the non locking version. Not sure why and they don't make different post heights that I'm aware of. They work just fine though. Also, on the back the new ones say Double Speed Lock across the top and then Gear Ratio 1:21 on the bottom. The old ones say Super Machine Head.
To string you have to loosen the top of the post just enough to allow the string to slide through. There is a slot for a coin or a fat flat head driver. Once the string is through, you DO NOT have to tighten the post aging with a coin or anything. You simply turn the tuning peg in the direction you use to tune, and the internal cam locks onto the string, tightens down the post on the top and tunes to pitch in a half to 3/4 turn. The internal cam is the exact same as the cam on the Grover 106 series, and I love it. I don't like the look or the additional weight of tuners that have thumbwheels added. These look clean and not like locking tuners at all.
Some of you are probably thinking why go to the bother of locking tuners on your acoustic? For me, it comes down to the time it saves changing strings. I have a back injury with lingering nerve damage in both legs down to my feet, in my lumbar area and some down my arms. Even sitting at our pub height kitchen table while working on guitars makes my back hurt very bad after a bit. I've tried sitting the whole time, standing, combination of both and sometimes I last longer than normal, but never a whole string change without locking tuners.
Pics below:
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