Not into locking tuners

Re: Not into locking tuners

Anyone have an idea what the lightest locking ones would be?

I would guess, based on experience, that the Gotoh Kluson-style Mag-Locks would be the lightest. They have the old-style stamped form, and are small in size, while most other lockers are cast. These also happen to be the best looking IMO, and to be available with the extra groovy height adjustable posts that I mentioned above. All around, they are the best tuners made IMO.

Sperzel used to have that reputation of being light, but they really aren't that light by today's standards.
 
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Re: Not into locking tuners

These top lockers are the lightest I have





GOTOH SD90 I think
Top locking with the slot on top
 
Re: Not into locking tuners

^^^ That is one version of the ones I mentioned to Mincer.

The other cool thing about them is that they can be ordered with a variety of knobs.

I recently got a Mustang/Duo-Sonic/Musicmaster style set for a Tele build: height adjustable, locking, with white plastic butterbean knobs (I thought it would look cool to have the student model white-button tuners on this particular Tele). Took about 6 or 8 weeks for Gotoh to build them and ship them to the U.S.A. dealer I used, but the price was no worse than normal in-stock versions.
 
Re: Not into locking tuners

I remember we chatted about them when I got them
As I was into drop in replacements at the time

nd these were a drop in match for the original ones
 
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Re: Not into locking tuners

On my Gibson I have this si glen pin style original tuners



And my plan is to put on a set of this style Grovers

 
Re: Not into locking tuners

I hate the fact that if you have to loosen and retighten the strings for whatever reason, you will probably have to say b-bye to some strings with locking tuners. They usuall break when doing so.

Otherwise, I dig the self-locking ones better than the thumbwheel Sperzel-likes.

It's the opposite for me with Gotoh locking vs non-locking. I don't have to worry about the curly crap when swapping a pickup. Maybe it depends on the locking tuner.
 
Re: Not into locking tuners

I've started to become a fan of Wilkinson's "EZ-LOK" design. They aren't an extremely revolutionary design that I'll be throwing out all my Sperzels for, but they are cheap (only $30), fairly smooth, and being able to use the top or low hole as the first one the string enters is a great way to adjust break angle for finicky vibrato bridges.

I wouldn't put them on a higher end guitar, but they are great for cheaper guitars that I want to keep mechanically simple.

They're great as long as there's no need for a quick change. I use them in all my guitars.
 
Re: Not into locking tuners

I happen to love locking tuners. They are so convenient and quick. I especially like the Planet Waves auto trim tuners. They work like magic, are quick to use, trim the string ends automatically and so close to the shaft that you will never poke yourself with those pesky pointy string ends left from using diagonal cutters. My ONLY problem with them is that they are pretty heavy. But they are gorgeous looking, especially the gold and black. I now use the Fender lockers almost exclusively on my custom guitars. They work great, are slightly lighter than the Planet Waves. and line up perfectly because of the pins on the back (of course I use a jig to get the pins holes drilled and aligned perfectly).

I have a set of them Planet Waves Auto-Trim tuners that I'll be using for a Squier Strat project. The only thing is that the holes on the headstock for the tuners have to be drilled larger to accommodate the auto-trims and that's basically it. They are a fantastic set of tuning machines and the extra string cut-ff is such a bonus. You're right about giving extra slack especially on the high E string because I did that once and it does tend to slip out even when locked good. The little extra wrap around the post ensures it won't slip out. It's not so much an issue with the wound strings. They usually stay in there pretty good.



;>)/
 
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