How do locking tuners compare to slotted tuners for stability?

[HootOwlDude]

Changing strings is a pain, and always has been. Locking tuners make it faster and easier, but are no more stable than properly loaded strings.

With Safe-T (slotted) tuners -- wound strings: cut the string 2 tuners long. Set the tuner so the slot is parallel with the neck. Insert the string the center hole. Push it down into the slot away from the nut and bend it sharply halfway around the post towards the nut. Keeping tension and downward pressure, wind until it is somewhat taut.

G string -- same as wound strings except cut the string 3 tuners long. This will wind the string far enough down the post to put adequate pressure on the nut. Make sure your bends are sharp.

B & E -- cut the string 3 tuners long. Don't forget to line the slot with the neck. Insert the string, bend it as before. Wind halfway around the post, then run the string through the slot again. Pull it tight, then wind around the post, maintaining tension ad downward pressure. This forces an overlap that locks the string securely.

Now, the most important part, the stretch. Tune to pitch, put your finger over the string at the nut to keep it in the slot, then use your other hand and 3 or 4 fingers to gently tug on the string. Retune and repeat until the string does not go flat, not even a little.

I always stretch, pretty aggressively, twice, all the way down the string, every three inches or so, tugging with my thumb holding the string stable while my forefinger pulls up, pretty hard. You can actually feel the string tensing and stretching. Do that to all strings, almost to the point where maybe you might break the thing, and—by my experience—you’re golden. The string will hold tune like they’re broken in. I effin love that sound when I install a fresh set and all is stable and full and bright. On my electrics, it’s Diaddario (sp??) 11s, across (almost) all guitars. The regular ones, no fancy all-nickel or anything. I really don’t know how one can expect a mass-produced, affordable product to do better. They last a good long while.

 

[oregomike]

Changing strings is a pain, and always has been. Locking tuners make it faster and easier, but are no more stable than properly loaded strings.

With Safe-T (slotted) tuners -- wound strings: cut the string 2 tuners long. Set the tuner so the slot is parallel with the neck. Insert the string the center hole. Push it down into the slot away from the nut and bend it sharply halfway around the post towards the nut. Keeping tension and downward pressure, wind until it is somewhat taut.

G string -- same as wound strings except cut the string 3 tuners long. This will wind the string far enough down the post to put adequate pressure on the nut. Make sure your bends are sharp.

B & E -- cut the string 3 tuners long. Don't forget to line the slot with the neck. Insert the string, bend it as before. Wind halfway around the post, then run the string through the slot again. Pull it tight, then wind around the post, maintaining tension ad downward pressure. This forces an overlap that locks the string securely.

Now, the most important part, the stretch. Tune to pitch, put your finger over the string at the nut to keep it in the slot, then use your other hand and 3 or 4 fingers to gently tug on the string. Retune and repeat until the string does not go flat, not even a little.

I guess YMMV. I’m much faster with my slotted tuners than the locking Schallers I have. Like, by a long shot. I suppose it helps to have technique dialed. I’ve grown to not like locking tuners and wont touch them again. Not the Schallers anyway.

 

[telemnemonics]

What are my chances of finding someone to sell me just one tuner if it happens to be broken?

I cant imagine how a split shaft tuner could break so that the string slipped out.
Pics might help.
There are sellers on ebay listing just one tuner but you end up with one thats old for like 1/3-1/2 the price of a new set.

 

[E5RSY]

99% of what people feel is tuning instability from the tuners are wrong.

Most of those issues are from:
- under stretched strings.

-Improperly wound strings tightening/ slipping over time.

-Too tight nut slots.

-String binding in nut or tree due to bad string angle.

I'll add a couple to your list:

1. Nut slots that are too high/not cut deep enough.

2. People that fret with too much downward pressure. In other words, squeezing the hell out of the strings/neck.

 

[Rocky058]

I've used Sperzel staggered locking tuners for the last 15 years, and while they are a little bit heavier than some, they are the best tuners I've ever encountered.

 

[Boreas]

I cant imagine how a split shaft tuner could break so that the string slipped out.
Pics might help.
There are sellers on ebay listing just one tuner but you end up with one thats old for like 1/3-1/2 the price of a new set.

My thought is the worm and the gear part company due to a bent shaft or damaged threads. This would cause the shaft/string to rapidly unwind until it grabs again, or is totally loose and pops out. Just speculation since we haven't heard back from the OP.

 

[bgmacaw]

Will locking tuners help the "tuning stability" on these guitars?

 

[drmordo]

I don't bother looking at fancy spendy but complex moving parts lockers anymore. Every new tuner I buy is a cheap Wilkinson EZlok. I don't really trust tiny threads on cheap tuners. Even if they're not cheap at retail. EZlok is bombproof simple. Two holes drilled at right angles. Through one, quarter turn through the other, pull tight and tune up. It's absolutely brilliant in it's simplicity and robustness

I love the EZ loks.

 

[Happy Enchilada]

Lots of people love tradition (I do too, in some cases), but IMO locking tuners are a huge improvement. They are easier to use when loading a new set of strings, and they are more stable over time. I have Fender lockers on my Jeff Beck and wang the crap out of it with no issues at all.

^^^^This in spades. Locking tuners are one of the first upgrades I do with an electric I plan on keeping. It does two vital things: 1. Streamlines string changes. 2. Stabilizes tuning. And as I get older and my eyesight and hand/eye isn't what it was, they really are a godsend.

Another upgrade I do with "keepers" is GraphTech nut and saddles. This eliminates friction at key points where the string makes contact with the guitar. No more futzing with messy pencil lead in the nutslots. Hardly ever break a string at the bridge or nut - I only change strings when they get crusty.

I have used many of the popular brands of lockers, and my favorites are Sperzels. They are light in weight so if you have a neck-heavy instrument they help some. They don't require drilling additional holes in the headstock and are therefore a breeze to install. Best of all, they're made right here in the good ol' US of A.

I actually put lockers on an acoustic recently - my inexpensive Teton dreadnaught that I consider my go-to knockaround. It's also the acoustic that goes through the most string changes since it gets the most play. D'Addario ones worked just fine, and they also trim the strings for you in case you forget your nippers.

Finally, locking tuners pale in expense next to aftermarket pickups, fancy necks, and other mods and upgrades. But they are worth every penny.

 

[Happy Enchilada]

In a practical note, it is highly unlikely that you could find drop-in replacement locking tuners. You would likely need to fill the screw holes from the vintage-style tuners (or not) and drill new holes for the locking tuners.

There are styles and brands of locking tuners that have screws located in the same place as your stock tuners. Just eyeball your existing non-locking tuners for the position of the screw and then scroll around on Amazon until you find ones that match. Guarantee you you'll find a match. I recently did that with a guitar and was able to use the existing screw holes without any muss, fuss, or bother. Also, Hipshots have that "universal mounting plate" that covers the old screw holes, and Sperzels don't have screws at all. I dig the Sperzels and pretty much use them all the time now.

 

[fleezinator]

Saw this scanning thru CL and I let out an audible groan.

 

[kuch]

You are not the first to do it wrong...
Cut the string about a ring finger length pass the tuner (two tuners up) and feed the end of the string INTO the hole and bend it over. Then wind..
The unwound strings i usually give a little more length for a extra wind around the post.

+1 cut the string 2 tuner post lengths past the one you're stringing
Insert the end of the string into the "hole"
bend the string 90 degrees
Keep tension on the string as you wind it on the post
slip it under the string tree and tune

IMHO locking tuners work great too

 

[cyclopean]

+1 cut the string 2 tuner post lengths past the one you're stringing
Insert the end of the string into the "hole"
bend the string 90 degrees
Keep tension on the string as you wind it on the post
slip it under the string tree and tune

IMHO locking tuners work great too

This is exactly what I’ve been doing. I’ve had this guitar for over a decade.

 

[AndrewG]

Hi.



To be honest, I’m not quite sure what you mean.

As in, jumps out at that awkward stage before there’s any pressure on the string & you’re trying to hold it down / in with one hand while winding with the other? Or the wraps somehow slide or spring up and off after you’ve removed the guiding hand?

Like others here (it seems), I thread up the string, cut it three or so post lengths past it’s destination (little less for wound, little more for plain), sick it end first down the hole in the post, bend it over, and sort of pin it & guide it with my index finger pressing it down onto the headstock while winding with my other hand. Once it gets any sort of tension on it I can remove my index finger, pop the string into the nut slot if it’s not in there (and under any string trees), and continue winding up to pitch.

It can be slightly fiddly keeping the string down in the hole at the start, esp the plain ones, but it’s never really any kind of problem. Once tension is on, it should stay in there.

So, at what stage is it popping / jumping out for you?

Pax/
Dean

Yes, I do the same-except I also use one of those cranked string winders to speed up the process while holding the string down.

 

[Metacaster]

Locking tuners are very good. I have some “vintage looking” ones on a couple of teles. You just stick the string through and start cranking, very easy.

I’ve never had a problem with slotted tuners either, though. I usually go for an approximation of “staggered” tuners by varying the windings as I go up the strings.

E: 1 tuner past; A:2; D:3; G:4; B:5; E:6

It usually ends up with the Low E having 1 1/2 wraps, and the high E being wound halfway down the peg. I can almost get away without string trees this way.

A bit of pencil graphite on the nut and saddles and a good stretch after restringing, and the guitar holds tune like a piano.

 

[Tonetele]

Can't comment on locking tuners so I won't.
If you have slotted tuners try 1/2 wind after slotting, the string can then be wrapt around UNDER and you have created a lock like they used on capstans and ships. It has never failed me.

 

[fenderchamp]

In a practical note, it is highly unlikely that you could find drop-in replacement locking tuners. You would likely need to fill the screw holes from the vintage-style tuners (or not) and drill new holes for the locking tuners.

Hipshot tuners drop right in in fact. You can even get mounting plates that make the whole installation screwless, and you can even buy different knobs for them too, if you think the stock knobs are ugly, which I do.

 

[Tonetele]

@cyclopean that is 1/2 a wrap on top then wind under the string, creates pressure from top and then bottom, like locking the string in between itself. BTW I love thse types of tuners, you don't need staggered use just one string tree close to directly under the fourth (D ) string .

 

[Tonetele]

Justin guitars on Youtube does an excellent slow demonstration of this ( another Aussie from Tasmania ).

 

[jrblue]

If your string keeps popping out, you're not stringing it correctly even if you think you are. That's the way human error works. We think we're right, but we're wrong. It sounds like you just want locking tuners, so why not do that? I do not use locking tuners as I prefer simpler stuff, but it is undeniable that they are more stable, particularly for users who understandably do not want to have to fuss with stringing technique to assure non-slippage. I'm surprised that most locking tuners are not lighter and smaller than they are, but they work. And yes, I know you can string a non-locker so it's totally stable and won't slip -- that's what I do -- but nevertheless, lockers are a more reliable, better solution for those who just want easy security.