Hipshot GT1 Grover-Style Guitar Xtender

Good morning Bender Masters

Anyone use one of these drop-d tuning heads? If so, how do you like it? And, would it install ok along side Kluson style vintage heads? If there enough room?

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Hipshot-GT1-Grover-Style-Guitar-Xtender-360811-i1422172.gc#

Thanks,

Andrew

I used a schaller hipshot dropper for a while. It was ok. I was happier with the schaller d-tuner banjo peg I put on my bender tele for a while. Nothing I know of will work as well with kluson. Keys as a banjo tuner. You'll have to enlarge the peg hole to a modern size but could replace with a conversion bushing and the old key if you changed mind. Hipshot droppers require a hole for anchor screw on the back of the peghead.

Why don't you get the Fender, (Klusen?) style extender. That's what I have on one Tele, and on my Baritone Strat. Really cool on the Baritone!

Why don't you get the Fender, (Klusen?) style extender. That's what I have on one Tele, and on my Baritone Strat. Really cool on the Baritone!

Didn't know such a thing existed. Where do I find one? I did all kinds of searches for these things. Thanks

Looks like they don't offer them anymore. Call and ask them. They may have one, or can point you to a vender that has one. Here's the one on my Baritone.

I have one on my Epiphone Sheraton, my main Telecaster, my Epiphone Riviera P-93 and my Schecter Mercury Strat. Here's a front shot of the headstock of my Schecter Strat, it's actually the model made for a three on a side headstock and had the Grover peg but I changed the button out for a small Schaller type............JH in Va.

Looks like they don't offer them anymore. Call and ask them. They may have one, or can point you to a vender that has one. Here's the one on my Baritone.

Holy hannahh! Where did you get that!?

It's been several years, but as I recall, I just ordered it from Hipshot. Here's the one on my favorite Tele. Schaller.

Some gigs I do require a little more "bluegrass" playing so I use a Keith/Scruggs peg on my high E and low A string to get an "open G" chord. I already have one of the Hipshot pegs with the lever on my low E string so this works out well. I used to use three Keith/Scruggs banjo pegs on the guitar but in addition to being "heavy" at the headstock they were hard to use quickly on the low E and A strings as they were too close together! With the combination of the two banjo pegs and the Hipshot extender I can get to open G very quickly when needed. I'll take a picture of the back of the headstock in a little while and post it on here.........JH in Va.

my Tele headstock......... I use the A string Keith peg a lot for a G drone on tunes like "Boot Scootin Boogie" and others. I use it a lot by itself and also with the Hipshot lever D-tuner for some stuff.... I've found that two Keith tuners side by side on a Tele or Strat just aren't easy to activate quickly but the combination of a Keith and a Hipshot are........

Also I use the Keith peg on the 1st string along with the others for the full open G chord and a lot by itself for slide guitar on the 1st four strings. Very useful!.......

I like the Keith peg on the 5th string for a lick where if you're in the Key of D and you're going to the IV chord (G) you just use the peg and then if you're going to the V chord (A7) you bring the peg back up to A and at the same time activate your B-bender which will give you a very nice lick....

Another tip with the Hipshot D-extender... You'll notice that when you activate it the low E string will raise in pitch a tad when you flip the lever before it starts to lower. If you'll look at the back of the headstock you'll see a small piece sticking up that the lever rests upon when it's not in use. If you'll get a pair of needle nose pliers and bend that little piece toward the lever a little it'll eliminate most of that "raise" so you'll get a smoother lower to D with it............JH in Va.

I just recently bought some Timara string drops (Tim's New Design) and they are really sweet. They work great and you won't have to modify anything.

I bought one of Tim's as well.

I have Schallers on one guitar, which I really prefer over the Timara unit, but Tim's unit is inexpensive, easy to install (using existing tuners) and extremely simple and accurate.

If you need one and will use it a lot I'd go with Keith tuners or the Schallers, but for periodic drops the Timara unit is more cost-effective.

The only negative is it's a riveted construction, and right out of the package it rattles like crazy (and seems to work loose after a period of time after tightening it up). I use a pair of pliers to squeeze the rivets just enough so there's movement with no rattle. It's something you can do in 30 seconds even on stage, but is a bit annoying.

I havent had any rattling with his new designed ones (With the old designed ones It did have a little rattle because the black cover of the extender arm would unscrew) but it never picked up through an amp.
But Silverface I think you are referring to the old designed ones. Not the new ones. His new ones are the real deal. I've got 4 on there right now and No rattles on this guitar.

my Tele headstock......... I use the A string Keith peg a lot for a G drone on tunes like "Boot Scootin Boogie" and others. I use it a lot by itself and also with the Hipshot lever D-tuner for some stuff.... I've found that two Keith tuners side by side on a Tele or Strat just aren't easy to activate quickly but the combination of a Keith and a Hipshot are........

Also I use the Keith peg on the 1st string along with the others for the full open G chord and a lot by itself for slide guitar on the 1st four strings. Very useful!.......

I like the Keith peg on the 5th string for a lick where if you're in the Key of D and you're going to the IV chord (G) you just use the peg and then if you're going to the V chord (A7) you bring the peg back up to A and at the same time activate your B-bender which will give you a very nice lick....

Another tip with the Hipshot D-extender... You'll notice that when you activate it the low E string will raise in pitch a tad when you flip the lever before it starts to lower. If you'll look at the back of the headstock you'll see a small piece sticking up that the lever rests upon when it's not in use. If you'll get a pair of needle nose pliers and bend that little piece toward the lever a little it'll eliminate most of that "raise" so you'll get a smoother lower to D with it............JH in Va.
Hi there - are the banjo style tuners actually banjo tuners? I have a Hipshot Drop D on my Tele and I'd like to 2 more on for the E and A strings like you did. Where did you get them and how do you like them?

Yes, they actually are Banjo tuners made to go on the 2nd and 3rd strings of a 5 string banjo. As to where to find them, I'm not sure anymore. Stewart/McDonald used to have them in their catalog but they haven't had them lately. The Beacon (or Bacon) banjo company make the original Keith/Scruggs tuners which are fairly expensive. The Schaller company makes a similar set for a lot less money. I have the Schallers on a couple of my guitars and they work well also......JH in Va.

I have a Hipshot drop D tuner with the Schaller style tuner on my Tele. I experienced the same slight raise in pitch when I dropped the lever. A few minutes with a flat file on the cam part of the lever fixed that. Just had to be careful not to take too much off.
The other thing I had an issue with was when I dropped the lever, it would swing down too far and make it more difficult to grab and swing back up in the middle of a song. I installed a small screw as a stop. All working perfectly now.

an Epi Les Paul that I have. They all lower each string a whole tone except for the third string which I only lower from G to F# as part of the open D chord.......... With this set up I can get Open G, Open D, DADGAD, dropped D, double dropped D and sometimes when I'm in the key of C, I'll lower the 4th string D to C and the 5th string A to G and use those two strings as "drones" while soloing on the first three strings....... Also when in open G you can play banjo instrumentals such as "Flint Hill Special" using the tuners on the 2nd and 3rd strings just like a banjo player would.........JH in Va.

Anyone know if the GT1 is a drop-in replacement for Grover mini-Rotomatic tuners on a Tele (actually its for a Reverend Buckshot)?