Do you prefer locked or standard tuners?

[Rex_Rocker]

Standard for sure.

I mean, I like locking tuners and the ease of restringing as much as anyone. But I hate that if you losen the strings, and then retighten them, they almost always end up breaking. Not that I change pickups more than I change strings, but I like having the ability to just use the same strings whenever I work on something on the guitar.

Plus I don't find locking tuners any more stable on my guitars.

Plus my guitars have kinda lightweight bodies, and locking tuners are heavier most of the time, so they throw the balance off. Very minor gripe, though.

 

[ExplorersRock]

Locking tuners unless I have a locking nut.

 

[marcello252]

I mean, I like locking tuners and the ease of restringing as much as anyone. But I hate that if you losen the strings, and then retighten them, they almost always end up breaking.

I had similar problems with locking tuners until I started winding the string for at least half turn on the post before tighting it, I mean, I try to move the string contact on the tuner far from the edge of the hole, the input hole faces the headstock, not the nut, I don't know if I explained it well

 

[ehdwuld]

I had similar problems with locking tuners until I started winding the string for at least half turn on the post before tighting it, I mean, I try to move the string contact on the tuner far from the edge of the hole, the input hole faces the headstock, not the nut, I don't know if I explained it well

I will hold the strings over my fingers at the nut as I lock them down
This ensures I have enough room to set them out of the nut if needed be
And enough slack to put them back in if it take them off

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I had similar problems with locking tuners until I started winding the string for at least half turn on the post before tighting it, I mean, I try to move the string contact on the tuner far from the edge of the hole, the input hole faces the headstock, not the nut, I don't know if I explained it well

Yeah... but I feel like if I start having winds around the locking tuners, that kinda defeats the purpose of having locking tuners. Maybe partially, but at the very least.

The whole point of having no winds is supposedly less friction. Plus no winds is easier to restring. If I'm not taking advantage of those aspects, the way I see it, what's the point of paying however much the upcharge from locking tuners is from regular tuners.

 

[Chistopher]

Often times the reason strings break when you slack and then tighten on a locking tuner is because of burs on the hole

 

[GuitarStv]

I can see things being marginally easier to restring with locking tuners, but if you're using a string winder you're maybe saving what . . . like ten seconds per peg? If you properly wind the string around the tuning pegs you shouldn't have any slack left after stretching the strings in. A good re-string on normal tuners should finish looking like this:

Zero space, 3-4 tight windings going down the tuner, no overlapping of the string, no excessive extra stuff, no looping . Every guitar I have looks like this after a re-string.


However, if your guitar looks like this after a re-string, you need to learn how to properly change guitar strings. This is mediocre and can cause tuning problems:

See how the winds aren't tight, they're looped over and under unnecessarily, and there's lots of space for stuff to move? Garbage. If you're doing this, I can see why locking tuners would probably be better. So don't do it that way.

 

[Chistopher]

I think steel strings are actually very forgiving when it comes to sloppy windings. Probably has to do with all the tension they are under.

Now a classical guitar, how well you string it up has a very obvious impact on how well it stays in tune.

 

[Mincer]

Now a classical guitar, how well you string it up has a very obvious impact on how well it stays in tune.

Classical guitar tuners and the headstock as a whole should be fundamentally re-designed.