I came from the old school of, "tuners should have 3 wraps of the string to help provide stability and reduce slippage." The local music shop where I bought my new American Strat Deluxe from was telling me that when you string with the Fender locking tuners, you don't have to worry about strip wraps. I just restrung the guitar with .009s about 3 days ago and have not had any problems and the strings are finally stretched out where they stay in tune.

Do the number string wraps around the tuners matter on the Fender Locking Tuners?

Most of my guitars have locking tuners (Strat Pluses) and they're never wrapped around all the way and I never had problems. I think that's the point of locking tuners.

That is correct. You don't need to wrap the strings. Run the ends through and tighten the locking screw. That is indeed one of the points of locking tuners, the other being that the string is locked onto the post. I love locking tuners. Unless I need a vintage look I use lockers on all the Strat's I build. Even my SRV's I now use Gotoh locking tuners because they look just like the vintage Klusons but have the added benefit of a very ingenious locking system.

Only bad part of lockers is that sometimes when you are taking the strings on and off to do a particularly difficult set up on a neck with a trem adjustment screw at the heel, screwing down the locking tuner on a non wound string multiple times can cause that string to break easily. So the suggestion is, tighten em, but don't crush em.

So enjoy the easy sting installation and just run those strings though the post, lock and tune.

+1

The idea with lockers is to avoid wraps altogether. Wraps can be an issue with trems and tuning stability. Wraps are not needed with lockers. The idea is to ensure that when you lower the pitch with the trem that the string stays in and returns to the exact same place on the tuner post thereby helping the guitar to stay in tune. Worst case scenario, trem dive bomb, loose string uses the opportunity to jump a wrap on the post and tighten back up WAY out of tune. Best case scenario, with less than a full wrap it should always return to the center of the post. They work. They do help.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

It's in the manual that when you put the strings, the string hole has to be in right place or something. low E from 5 o'clock, A 4 o'clock, D and G 3 o'clock, B (or H) 2 o'clock and high E from 1 o'clock.

Sorry if you cant understand, my english isn't that good

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Fender American DLX Hss Strat RWOP->
Biyang OD-8->
Marshall JCM800 4211 -combo->
THE sound;)

I agree that in theory there should be less wraps. I cant get it to perform well with less than 2 wraps, so gave up and just put 3 wraps around.
The main problem I notice is tension behind the nut. I need the wraps to increase the string angle and therefore increase string tension. The worst thing is that the tuners are staggered height. Just another marketing scam if you ask me.
I cant find anything aside from a locking nut that is actually a improvment on bog standard well maintained tuners with a string carefully and neatly wrapped around them.

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No no and no

I do one wrap on each of the first three strings, no wraps at all on the low E, A or D strings.

Everyone does it differently.

MY secret:
I have locking tuners on 9 of my guitars.

I get the hole in the post to about 11 o'clock....feed the string through....and PULL TIGHT..almost until you hear a note...once you hear a note....,,,LOCK IT DOWN!!
You're only a few turns from standard pitch!
The string shouldn't even make 1 wrap!!
Believe me this works!
I use somewhat heavy strings E.B. ST/HB .010-.052 and they stay in tune nicely!!

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I refuse to have a battle of the wits with an unarmed man!

I only use approximately 1/2 to 3/4 of a wrap with locking tuners, depending on the string.

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You dig?

Well I have them on 5 guitars and use the same method as HWY1Strat I pull them pretty tight to where the sting wraps maybe halfway to two thirds around the most. Now here is a little tip to try that works great for me and is proven. After all the strings are on and tuned I do what I would do with a Floyd, I spend a few minutes bending each string in three different places like between frets 4 and 6/ 9 and 11/and 15 and 17 up and down then re tune and do it a about 3 times. This should have the strings stretched pretty good and I have never ever had any tuning problems. Welcome to the world of locking tuners and beware they will spoil you.

For those that wish to have wraps on a locking tuner you can achieve the same results by leaving slack in the string before you tighten the string at the post. Much like you may do for wrapping a traditional post. They when you wind the post it will wrap more string around it.

The issue with the string breaking at the post would be relavent for those who are taking the string on and off several times. Typically that may happen, as I mentioned, when you are setting a neck on a heel end truss rod adjustment where you need to remove the neck to make the adjustments. The guitar would need to be then restrung back to tune to determine if the relief is accurate. String tension will effect neck relief. I suspect most people will not take that kind of care, but a knowledgeable luthier who wants it "exactly" right, will do this several times until perfect.

I took a class at the Chicago School of Guitar Making and the Master Luthier there liked locking tuners but felt that the one downside was the potential in breaking those unwound strings when setting up a particularly stubborn guitar. He wound those guitars by lining up the post holes straight on to the direction of the nut slot. It doesn't leave a lot of wraps, but his opinion, and note that all of this can be considered opinion, that the locking tuner replaced the need for multiple wraps where you wrap over and under the string. Once the string is locked down you have achieved the desired result of keeping it from moving from within a loose wrap. I would think that adding wraps to a locking tuner defeats the purpose because now you have created margin for error where the string now has more potential travel once you start tighening down the post.

As with most things guitar, everyone has their own special "mojo" that they do to their guitar that makes it sound just right. And you know what? They are ALL correct.

Hence the constant need for accurate winds around the post. If you can set a string onto a non locking tuner you can set one onto a locking tuner just the same.
I heard the theory that less winds result in less string slippage. I've never had a problem with string slippage around the post of a normal tuner though.

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No no and no