Wrapping the high strings on a guitar with locking tuners?

[MetalManiac]

I've heard someplace where its a good idea to wrap the unwound strings, and the very least the high B and E.
It takes much of the convenience out of the locking tuners, but logic would dictate its a good idea. I just now even did a half wrap on the wound D( with Sperzels).

 

[LReese]

Re: Wrapping the high strings on a guitar with locking tuners?

Maybe a variation of this?

 

[esandes]

Re: Wrapping the high strings on a guitar with locking tuners?

i read an article in premier guitar magazine stating that you should have at least two wraps around the post to increase sustain. even if it is a locking tuner.

 

[SlyFoxx]

Re: Wrapping the high strings on a guitar with locking tuners?

What's the point of using locking tuners if you wrap the string? No wraps = no chance of slack...the main advantage of locking tuners in the first place.

 

[LReese]

Re: Wrapping the high strings on a guitar with locking tuners?

1 minor point that really doesn't matter - a wrap will put a little friction on the post and will lessen the stress on the sharp bend at the tuner.

Oh another point - might need a little extra angle at the nut. I wrap a few extra turns sometimes with standard tuners.

 

[esandes]

Re: Wrapping the high strings on a guitar with locking tuners?

What's the point of using locking tuners if you wrap the string? No wraps = no chance of slack...the main advantage of locking tuners in the first place.

maybe because the locking tuner keeps the string put when the string tension is released when using the whammy bar? i doubt it's just for looks. even with a couple of wraps it might move without the lock?

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Wrapping the high strings on a guitar with locking tuners?

Why not tie on the strings in a manner that locks them down tightly against the tuning post? Simples.

 

[constant mesh]

Re: Wrapping the high strings on a guitar with locking tuners?

Funkfingers, most modern locking tuners are staggered to the max so there's almost no room.

My rule of thumb is to leave as little as possible but still maintain a sharp 90° bend so that the string ends are actually pointing towards the bridge once the guitar is in tune.

Some locking tuners are likely to slip on B and E strings because they are either worn out or it was made out of tolerance. Rather than replacing them you can try and squeeze two or three turns on them if that's your problem.

 

[astrozombie]

Re: Wrapping the high strings on a guitar with locking tuners?

I used to use Schaller locking tuners, I'd just put the string in and clip it so there's no excess really.

I never had any trouble or felt any loss of "mojo" or "sustain" or that unreachable "tone" nirvana guitarists on the internet talk about.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Wrapping the high strings on a guitar with locking tuners?

Wrapping strings around the post on a locking tuner completely defeats the purpose of having locking tuners.

The reason for locking tuners (and why they often improve tuning stability) is to remove the excess binding and "slack retention" /slippage that traditional tuners and the corresponding multiple winds cause.

Think of the tuning post like a tree trunk with a clove hitched rope. If you wrap the rope around it a few times (traditional tuner), when you slack the tension off, there is a significant chance that the rope will not be in exactly the same spot(s) it was before when you pull it back, leaving you with a net difference in tension (went out of tune).

If you eliminate the wraps and only use the hitch itself (locking tuner), there is no excess length to "rewind improperly", and unless you`re incapable of tying it properly (locking the peg properly), there is absolutely no reason for any slippage to result from the system. You can slack it off as much as you like, but when you pull back the hitch will be in the exact same spot, and teh rope will have the exact same tension it did before.

Half a wind to 3/4 is pretty much standard for unwound strings, but that is a primarily a result of the plain strings needing more tension to reach their pitch.

 

[Bludave]

Re: Wrapping the high strings on a guitar with locking tuners?

What Zerb said!!

 

[mojosman]

Re: Wrapping the high strings on a guitar with locking tuners?

When I had a Strat Plus with Sperzel lockers I did lock the lighter gauge strings when they were very slacked, so when I tightened them to pitch they would have a turn or two around the post. I was paranoid that they would slip and go flat otherwise. It never happened I was just afraid that it would. I would snip off the the excess, and it would look very neat. My friends would ask why I did it, and I really had no reason. It just became a habit. It still made changing strings a breeze, and I had no tuning issues.

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

Re: Wrapping the high strings on a guitar with locking tuners?

The people in this thread saying you should wrap them anyway are a good example of, "I've always been doing it this way so I refuse to accept that there is any other way it could be done" mentality. I put Fender locking tuners on one of my Telecasters. I noticed zero change in the guitar's tone, sustain, or whatever mojo you want to dream up, but it did make string changes extremely quick and easy (the point of locking tuners).

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: Wrapping the high strings on a guitar with locking tuners?

Why would locking tuners change the tone in any noticeable way? If you strum behind the nut you barely get any sound coming through the pickups so anything past the nut doesn't effect tone except a string tree, which makes sure the string has the correct break angle leaving the nut which has to do with sustain on open notes. And if you fret a note noting behind it makes any difference. Not even the nut, because one of the points of a zero fret is to have a consistent sound between open and fretted notes.

Though if you do the winding method that pinches the string from moving, that really helps. I also like the vintage Fender tuners, just because I like the way you string them and they don't slip for me.

 

[Jeff5]

Re: Wrapping the high strings on a guitar with locking tuners?

I don't wrap my strings at all on my guitar with locking tuners. Tuning stability is no problem.

Even with my other guitar that doesn't have locking tuners, I don't wrap too much. I basically use that technique of pulling it tight with no slack, bending it under itself and then turning the peg and having it lock itself in place. It's hard to describe and might even have a name. I forget who it was, but he posted an article in the vault on it here 6 or 7 years ago and I've been doing it that way ever since. No tuning issues with that either. I even do this on my guitar with a locking nut.

So I guess my point is that wrapping or not wrapping, at least for me, has no impact on tuning stability or sustain that I can see if I either have locking tuners or use the self locking technique.

 

[Grindspine]

Re: Wrapping the high strings on a guitar with locking tuners?

I completely agree with Zerb. And like Jeff5 said, whether you wrap the strings in a locking fashion or use locking tuners, either way works. I have one guitar with locking tuners, but the rest are either tied at the tuner post or have the ball end still attached at the tuner post. I do not have tuning issues with those guitars. The only one with tuning issues needs a new nut, but the nut is the culpret, not the tuners.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Wrapping the high strings on a guitar with locking tuners?

i never bother wrapping with my sperzels. I just put the string in a little bit slack, tighten the nut and tune it up. Been working ok for more than 20 years on my axe.