Staggered tuners. To use, or not to use

[Birdman642]

I just recently brought an old Epi Explorer I had back to life. I swapped the hardware over from gold to chrome, changed the pickups and put a new nut on it (when I was younger, and before I knew how to do repairs properly, my dad and I tried to put a locking nut on it to alleviate tuning issues. Suffice it to say, It didn't work so well haha.)
Anyway, I pulled a set of staggered locking tuners from a Jazzmaster copy and put those on the Explorer. I know that staggered tuners are intended for non angled headstocks. I was wondering if there would be any benefit from putting non staggered tuners on the Explorer, or would the difference be negligible?

 

[Will S-T]

Re: Staggered tuners. To use, or not to use

Won't make any difference to an angled headstock.

You got them, so go for it.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Staggered tuners. To use, or not to use

I use staggered tuners because they lower the EA low strings..I still use two string trees on the DGBE strings irregardless. Gotoh HAPM(?) height adjustable tuners are the best for lowering the low E and A strings, and making a less drastic angle for the string trees on DGBE.I personally have never seen a modern guitar neck that won't ping or thud on DGBE strings even with staggered tuners , well with good low action ...a lot of modern neck makers like Warmoth have a really deep dish behind the nut that sets the strings up way high -not sure why.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Staggered tuners. To use, or not to use

I don't think they make much of a difference on angled headstock, but one of my Explorer copies came from the factory with all short-post tuners.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Staggered tuners. To use, or not to use

It won't hurt to try them, but they may actually cause more issues than they fix. Staggered tuners are designed to maintain adequate downward pressure on the nut with a straight headstock. Explorers have rather extreme string angle at the nut, so staggered tuners may make string binding issues worse. One thing to try (before going to non-staggered tuners) would be to wind the G, B, and high E strings backwards to decrease the angle between the nut and string windings.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: Staggered tuners. To use, or not to use

On an angled headstock, it would mean the break angle is steeper for higher strings. Slight change in feel, just maybe. Not a disadvantage provided your nut is cut right. If the slots aren't well beveled on the tuner side, I agree with dystrust that the upper strings could be a little more likely to bind. I wouldn't expect any real problems but I don't see any advantage in it.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Staggered tuners. To use, or not to use

Staggered tuners don't do diddly squat. Period!

 

[Mincer]

Re: Staggered tuners. To use, or not to use

I think they are an improvement on non-angled headstocks over something like string-trees.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: Staggered tuners. To use, or not to use

I think they are an improvement on non-angled headstocks over something like string-trees.

I agree. That's what they were designed for, and IMO it's the only practical advantage they offer.

Except to the OP, since he's converting from gold hardware to chrome. Practical because he has them already, but the benefit is cosmetic rather than functional.