Les Paul Locking Tuners

Well, your experience with cheap tuners has been good for you. (Or maybe you're just used to poor tuning stability and think it's the norm). My experience...not so.

I've had some cheap tuners on some REALLY cheap guitars (note that is plural...more than just one guitar...in fact quite a few) and with doing nothing else to the guitar but changing to good quality ones, improved tuning stability. But like I said, that's just my experience. Others, including you, may have had a different experience. And that's fine.
 
GuitarDoc said:
Uhh. Yes, nut and bridge are important, but how can you say that about cheap tuners?! Cheap tuners (all else being equal) can definitely affect tuning stability.

But anyway, like Mincer, I like locking tuners for ease of string changes more than anything else. But I only buy good ones which coincidentally also hold the strings better.
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There's cheap, and then there's dirt cheap.
Chinese tuners on Epiphones are cheap but decent.
Tuners on a $100 Strat copy? Not so much.

As for high ratio, you'll get no argument from me on that. Absolutely better.

PS: I can see faster string changes being a factor; hadn't really considered that.
The old fashioned lock-under-string method is second nature to me after all these years.
 
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Mincer said:
Was never about tuning for me...it is about fast string changes.
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Same here. A set of locking tuners don’t “lock” like a Floyd nut. That’s a common misconception that they actually lock your tuning or in any great way will stabilize your tuning. Of course, without a number of string wraps around the post you will certainly reduce the likelihood of string slippage but again, locking tuners aren’t meant to lock a non-locking system. (Floyd Rose for ex).
 
3 things I like about the Grover locking tuners:

1. They weigh more than stock tuners which gives a noticeable amount of sustain.
2. They stay in tune so much better than the stock Gibson ones. (Which are the only tuners that I've ever really had issues with)
3. They look 100x better than those plastic green vintage tuners Gibson puts on everything.... F those things! Ha ha.
 
As a matter of fact I'm going to order another set for my new Les Paul right now.... Maybe I'll give the Gotoh a chance.
 
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I really like the Schaller M6 tuners on my EBMM. With a well designed floating trem, and strings following a straight, short path over a well cut nut to tuners without excessive wraps, it stays in tune better than my fixed bridge guitars.

Also, string changes are really quick.
 
JB_From_Hell said:
I really like the Schaller M6 tuners on my EBMM. With a well designed floating trem, and strings following a straight, short path over a well cut nut to tuners without excessive wraps, it stays in tune better than my fixed bridge guitars.

Also, string changes are really quick.
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I agree with all of this. The smaller headstock contributes to the stability, too.
 
Securb said:
Of course not. But a well cut nut and a well set up bridge can only benefit from a great set of tuners. I think it is more about the sum of the parts more than one component.
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It’s 100% about the sum. That’s what I was getting at with my post about the EBMM. I’m really curious to see how it works without the straight string path on your LP.
 
JB_From_Hell said:
I’m really curious to see how it works without the straight string path on your LP.
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My Icemen are both 3 per side tuners. I have Sperzel locking tuners on both guitars. One has a Kahler the other has a Bibsby with no locking nuts. I have great tuning stability on both guitars. For this reason, I am looking to put them on my Les Pauls. Especially the Custom with the Bigsby.

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Securb said:
My Icemen are both 3 per side tuners. I have Sperzel locking tuners on both guitars. One has a Kahler the other has a Bibsby with no locking nuts. I have great tuning stability on both guitars. For this reason, I am looking to put them on my Les Pauls. Especially the Custom with the Bigsby.
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That looks a lot closer to straight than a Gibson.
 
80's_Thrash_Metal said:
3 things I like about the Grover locking tuners:

1. They weigh more than stock tuners which gives a noticeable amount of sustain.
2. They stay in tune so much better than the stock Gibson ones. (Which are the only tuners that I've ever really had issues with)
3. They look 100x better than those plastic green vintage tuners Gibson puts on everything.... F those things! Ha ha.
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1. Also causes neck dive.
2. Never had a problem with Klusons
3. Subjective.
 
80's_Thrash_Metal said:
3 things I like about the Grover locking tuners:

1. They weigh more than stock tuners which gives a noticeable amount of sustain.
2. They stay in tune so much better than the stock Gibson ones. (Which are the only tuners that I've ever really had issues with)
3. They look 100x better than those plastic green vintage tuners Gibson puts on everything.... F those things! Ha ha.
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While I don't like the look of Grovers, I hate the plastic look of vintage Klusons more.
 
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