Hipshot staggered tuners don’t fit Warmoth Strat neck??? Pics!

[EVH_5150]

Maybe I’m missing something obvious but this doesn’t look right. The shaft of the 2 shortest tuners are barely long enough, and the string holes aren’t even visible. I have only tightened them snugly by hand with a 10mm socket, but I don’t think adding any more compression will help??? If I over-tighten them and they show signs of being “installed” they are not returnable. I removed the UMP plate and rechecked but it’s not that much better, and to be honest the UMP concept is the whole reason I chose this brand.  Many of you are using these exact Hipshot tuners so I'm confused.  This is a Strat conversion neck, btw, so is there a difference in headstock thickness to the other Warmoth models?  These tuners range from 19 to 21 mm in height.

 

[pabloman]

They fit. Your bushings just aren't tight enough. You can clearly see there's play on the front and the back of the headstock. Make sure there's nothing wrong with the fitment and then tighten them down. The UMP plate takes up a little space but it's really not enough to cause problems.

 

[Fat Pete]

I have 2 sets and they both came with very thin washers, not like the thick ones you have. Maybe they supplied the wrong ones or you've used some that belong to a different tuner set? The difference is easily enough to cause the issue you're having.

 

[EVH_5150]

I used the washers supplied in the kit.  I do see the slop but there was something else I noticed.  With the UMP plates positioned correctly (tabs above the holes), the shaft of the knob is being "pushed" out by the tab on the plate.  In other words, those tabs on the UMP are preventing the tuners from sitting flush against the back of the headstock.  I tried reversing the plate but obviously the plate couldn't do it's job of holding the tuner in position without rotating because the tabs were no longer in position to keep the tuner from rotating in the hole. 

I've taken a few measurements between a MIM Charvel headstock and the Warmoth headstock.  There is about ~ 0.020" difference (Warmoth is thicker).  The UMP plate also ironically is ~ .020".  When I remove the plate, I'm able to see the eyelets on the shortest tuners. 

Charvel:

Warmoth:

UMP:

String hole visible without UMP installed and tuner sitting flush:

 

[Fat Pete]

Not sure what you mean by 'tabs above the holes', but here's how mine fit:

The only thing I did need to do was file the ends of the plates slightly.

 

[EVH_5150]

I'm noticing a huge difference in the tab size and location on your plate versus my plate!!!  Ugh!  What did I buy?  LOL!

Here is what I'm referring to.  The instructions said to position the tabs "above the holes" with the headstock oriented as such. 

Now here's a better look at how this is affecting the tuner from sitting flush.  The tab is pushing the tuner out of the hole.  I tried sliding the UMP up and down to alleviate this but didn't have any luck. 

 

[Rick]

Call Hipshot or send an email to the person you bought from.  Or use a file to lower the height of the tab.  my experience is the same as big Pete.

 

[pabloman]

Just flip the plates over.

 

[mayfly]

I think you have those plates installed back to front.  The tab is supposed to be against the body of the tuner, not against the shaft.

 

[mayfly]

Just flip the plates over.

yea what he said 

 

[EVH_5150]

Just flip the plates over.

Not sure if you mean to rotate the plates so the tabs are "below" the holes....but I tried that. 

If you mean to flip the plate so the tabs are now digging into the back of the headstock, well...that's not going to happen.

 

[EVH_5150]

Call Hipshot or send an email to the person you bought from.  Or use a file to lower the height of the tab.  my experience is the same as big Pete.

I sent an email to the Reverb seller.  So you filed down the height of the tabs? 

 

[EVH_5150]

I think you have those plates installed back to front.  The tab is supposed to be against the body of the tuner, not against the shaft.

I've already tried rotating the plates...no dice.  The tuner just freely spins in the hole because the tab is no longer holding it in position.

 

[Logrinn]

It looks like you have some other version of UMP than what I and Pete’s got. You can see on Pete’s picture that there’s only tabs on one side. You seem to have a version with tabs on both sides. A new model perhaps? I can imagine those tabs interfering with the shaft.
Try filing those down as you only need tabs on one side.

 

[EVH_5150]

It looks like you have some other version of UMP than what I and Pete’s got. You can see on Pete’s picture that there’s only tabs on one side. You seem to have a version with tabs on both sides. A new model perhaps? I can imagine those tabs interfering with the shaft.
Try filing those down as you only need tabs on one side.

Yeah, that's exactly what I noticed too.  I reached out to the seller on Reverb AND Hipshot's customer service. 

It's frustrating when things don't work as advertised. 

 

[Logrinn]

You should have these:

 

[EVH_5150]

You should have these:

Thanks!  That's what I'm looking for but apparently didn't get.  Mine look like this:

 

[Fat Pete]

Yep, mine definitely only have the tabs on one side. The filing I did was only on the ends of the plates as Warmoth's tuner holes are slightly closer spaced than Fender, I didn't need to touch the tabs.

 

[Rick]

Hipshot responds to phone calls.  You get your answer immediately.  I hate emailing because you don't get nuance and is so slooooow.  Speaking as someone who gets tons of emails a day, I hate it.  If someone calls I'm so happy. :hello2:

Before filing, bend the tab out to see if it does the trick.  If it does, you're good to go.

 

[Logrinn]

Before filing, bend the tab out to see if it does the trick.  If it does, you're good to go.

I'm not sure that will be possible (not easily anyway).
I'm guessing these are steel plates.