Locking Tuners

[swarfrat]

I love the Wilkinsons. I avoided them due to the price point but IMO it's the most bullet proof reliable locking tuner. No moving parts. Just two holes in the post. Feed it through, loop it and tighten. I use them in all new builds.

 

[Ronzo]

I've put Fender's own locking tuners on to a Mexican Tele and Strat. Easy to install, no drilling necessary. I don't know if they'd fir on a Bullet but you could check.

I’ve changed my MIM Strats and MIM Tele to the Fender locking tuners. Perfect drop-in fit for those models; no difficulty whatsoever.

Bullet Strats and Teles are a different story. They use 8.5 mm ferrules, not the MIM/MIA 10 mm ferrules. To avoid drilling out the neck, I used the 8.5 mm Hipshot locking tuners with the backing plate system. For the two Bullet Teles, they were a straight drop-in fit - no drilling, and the backing plate system covered all but the topmost screw hole. A glued-in toothpick and carefully cutting the excess flush with the rear of the headstock solved the problem. The Bullet Strat required the ferrule holes to be gently opened to a full 8.5 mm - they were about 0.5 mm small.

The Hipshots are really smooth, but I wish the ratio was 18:1 rather than 14:1. I overshoot tuning because they’re so smooth.

The 2020-2021 Affinity Teles have a good low-cost locking tuners option from Musiclily via Amazon. The tuners line up perfectly with the Affinity Tele ferrule hole and the small retaining/alignment screw. The Musiclily screws are easily damaged, so I suggest reusing the original retaining/alignment screws worth the Musiclily tuners, and being careful to line the threads up as the originals. They don’t need to be that tight.

 

[deano48]

Just looking for faster string change.

 

[T Prior]

I have Sperzels on one Tele, they are fine. The thing about locking tuners is not about staying in tune better or anything of the sort. They are designed to make a string change quick and easy .

Now add that I play 2 or 3 different Teles ,and have over the last 20 years, I don't remember ever breaking a string on a gig ! So basically, locking tuners vs the others , being slotted or wrap around, is purely academic for me.

My opinion, if the tuners are cheap and not holding tune, sure replace them with a good quality set of "lockers", why not ? But make sure you use them correctly.