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Post subject: Re: LOCKING TUNERS- WHAT"S YOUR OPINION?
Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 6:13 am
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I have owned guitars with locking and standard tuning keys. When changing strings, I prefer locking tuning keys. Other than that, I don't think about it much. Locking tuning keys don't seem to hinder the guitar is any way, but a poorly string guitar will cause tuning issues.

When it comes to tuning issues, most of them come from a poorly shaped nut, crap nut material, or imporperly strung guitars.

Here's a helpful video about restringing a Gibson. The Luthier is Phil Jacoby, Baltikmore luthier, friend and the guy who has worked on my guitars for the past 15+ years.



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Post subject: Re: LOCKING TUNERS- WHAT"S YOUR OPINION?
Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 6:46 am
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paris wrote:
I have owned guitars with locking and standard tuning keys. When changing strings, I prefer locking tuning keys. Other than that, I don't think about it much. Locking tuning keys don't seem to hinder the guitar is any way, but a poorly string guitar will cause tuning issues.

When it comes to tuning issues, most of them come from a poorly shaped nut, crap nut material, or imporperly strung guitars.


I'm in full agreement with you, Paris.
I use the same stringing technique as your luthier friend on any guitar with standard tuners.

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Post subject: Re: LOCKING TUNERS- WHAT"S YOUR OPINION?
Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 7:19 am
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stratmangler wrote:

...I use the same stringing technique as your luthier friend on any guitar with standard tuners.


Ditto. I don't hold with the poke in, bend and twist many times method. The only slight disadvantage with the locking over the upwards string is, on the thicker strings, if you are tuning just on the crest of the upward string below, the tuning can get a bit sensitive.

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Post subject: Re: LOCKING TUNERS- WHAT"S YOUR OPINION?
Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 10:54 am
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Bluer Monkey wrote:
I guess it's a little hard to judge exactly how tight is "do not over tighten".

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I don't think there is a such thing. I used to really crank on my lockers. Like, really, really crank on them. Then someone told me they didn't have to be that tight to hold so I stopped cranking so hard and they still held. As a long term user of Schaller locking tuners who has never once had an issue with them even though some might say I was abusing mine, I can attest to the fact they can take a lot of tightening. I'm not advocating clamping onto them with a set of vise-grips or anything like that but if it's just the strength of your hands, I don't think the average person could ever harm them unless, maybe they come from the planet Krypton. If they're slipping, crank 'em a little harder. You won't hurt them. They're pretty tough.

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Post subject: Re: LOCKING TUNERS- WHAT"S YOUR OPINION?
Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2016 11:21 pm
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I have locking tuners on one (Tele) that came with it ... yep, helps at string change time, but that's the only value I've found. Not enough for me to have changed to them even on my frequently used Strats and Teles. At the same time, no incentive to remove the locking tuners on the one that has them. My conclusion was that the brief amount of restringing time savings wasn't worth the price difference.


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Post subject: Re: LOCKING TUNERS- WHAT"S YOUR OPINION?
Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2016 7:46 am
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philipk wrote:
I have locking tuners on one (Tele) that came with it ... yep, helps at string change time, but that's the only value I've found. Not enough for me to have changed to them even on my frequently used Strats and Teles. At the same time, no incentive to remove the locking tuners on the one that has them. My conclusion was that the brief amount of restringing time savings wasn't worth the price difference.


It does come in handy in the middle of a gig. This has happened to me a few times. The issue was a bad saddle.


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Post subject: Re: LOCKING TUNERS- WHAT"S YOUR OPINION?
Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2016 7:55 am
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How big are the differences between staggered lockers and the new "all-short posts" from the American Elites?


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Post subject: Re: LOCKING TUNERS- WHAT"S YOUR OPINION?
Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2016 2:38 pm
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I would say less than 1/8".
If your guitar has trees it becomes a moot point.
In fact, if your guitar has trees I would mount the staggered set the opposite way round, with the short ones close to the nut.

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Post subject: Re: LOCKING TUNERS- WHAT"S YOUR OPINION?
Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2016 7:18 am
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Are the all-shortpost lockers compatible for the older Deluxes with LSR roller nut and the mini Floyd Rose locking tremolo?


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Post subject: Re: LOCKING TUNERS- WHAT"S YOUR OPINION?
Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2016 6:14 pm
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BMW-KTM wrote:
I would say less than 1/8".
If your guitar has trees it becomes a moot point.
In fact, if your guitar has trees I would mount the staggered set the opposite way round, with the short ones close to the nut.

Doesn't the gear ratio differ between the different tuners in a set, though?


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Post subject: Re: LOCKING TUNERS- WHAT"S YOUR OPINION?
Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2016 1:07 am
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arth1 wrote:
Doesn't the gear ratio differ between the different tuners in a set, though?


No.

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Post subject: Re: LOCKING TUNERS- WHAT"S YOUR OPINION?
Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2016 11:08 am
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chromeface wrote:
Are the all-shortpost lockers compatible for the older Deluxes with LSR roller nut and the mini Floyd Rose locking tremolo?

Yes but I don't see any benefit to changing from the staggered set of lockers to the all short set. At least no benefit that would warrant the expenditure.

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Post subject: Re: LOCKING TUNERS- WHAT"S YOUR OPINION?
Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 4:50 pm
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I didn't find anything special on locking tuners, both on my Strat with floating bridge and use of whammy bar, or Tele, both hold tune for days, and I do a lot of bends and whatnot, but I always check tuning before playing with tuner, it's like 15 seconds....
Well setup guitar with well put and stretched strings won't need em in my opinion.


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Post subject: Re: LOCKING TUNERS- WHAT"S YOUR OPINION?
Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 6:54 pm
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Bluer Monkey wrote:
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the the stock Strat tuners ...
I would even extend that to Squier. When I got my Squier Tele Thinline VM, I full intended that I would need to change pups and tuners. I replaced the pups with Tele MIA Std pups, but never changed the tuners ... the guitar stayed in tune much better than I expected.

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Post subject: Re: LOCKING TUNERS- WHAT"S YOUR OPINION?
Posted: Wed May 04, 2016 5:26 am
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These are, as always, just my own opinions...please use them as such.

Personally, I've always looked at locking tuners pretty much the same way as I do graphite saddles and all that other stuff...pretty much just a gimmick. Obviously some people swear by them (for one reason or another), others such as myself just don't like them.

The theory behind locking tuners is that it's supposed to help with tuning stability, but it's been my experience that 9/10's of tuning issues with a Strat simply come down to the setup. In short, I've played some very inexpensive instruments that hold their tuning just fine because someone went to the trouble of having them properly setup. On other other hand, even the most expensive instrument on the planet will give you issues with a poor setup. To be honest, the -only- instruments I've ever had tuner related problems with have had those el' cheapo covered tuners...slap some sealed Pings on there, do a decent setup, problem solved.

Beyond that, it's all pretty subjective as far as I'm concerned. For all intensive purposes, standard tuners have worked fine on most guitars for ages...certainly LONG before locking tuners were ever around. And as far as things like changing strings go, I actually think vintage tuners are probably the fastest/easiest...although for the difference, I would not go out of my way for them if the instrument in question already had decent tuners to begin with.

In this case, I have to go with the attitude of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"...and here I would add the addendum that -if- there is an actual problem, it's probably best to address the problem by starting with the setup. In other words, locking tuners will NOT compensate for a poor setup, but a proper setup will likely alleviate any need for locking tuners.

Again, just my own opinions.


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