fdesalvo
Hero Member
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My new, favorite guitar has enjoyed the following hardware for the past month or so:
1. Schaller Lockmeister (OFR Type)
2. LSR Roller Nut
3. Gotoh Vintage Locking Tuners, Staggered Height
4. See below
This is an unconventional setup, but having come from the traditional strat trem AND locking trem/nut worlds, I can tell you that the advantages this setup brings over the latter two are significant.
For me, the main PITA with the locking nut is having to play the string stretching game and tuning shuffle. The locking nut is supposed to keep the strings in place when the strings go slack and keep them in perfect pitch upon return. It does its job well enough.
By ditching the locking nut for the LSR, the guitar is much less temperamental to the condition of the strings. I can install new strings and stretch them by playing on them for a few minutes and that's it. No more pulling on each string down the length of each, which can result in dead sounding, lifeless strings. The guitar stays in perfect pitch, provided I did my job balancing the tension b/t the strings and springs. Additionally, the strings do not pup out of the LSR's slots when the strings are completely slack. It just doesn't happen at all.
What I have found with going without string trees/retainer bar is an annoying sympathetic resonance when doing hard stops. I also never thought the GBE strings had sufficient break angle over the nut and this was confirmed by closely inspecting the nut.
The LSR has an ingenious little feature that goes overlooked oftentimes: a rubber pad lies behind each string, purposed to silence this resonance. The strings should lightly contact this pad and despite these staggered tuners' best efforts, they don't. In fact, these tuners are as low as you can go without the apertures disappearing within their bushings. I decided to add the retainer bar that came with the Lockmeister.
Initially I thought I'd made a huge mistake - while the sympathetic vibrations were gone, tuning stability was impacted. In the end, I just had to tune the height of the retainer bar, so the strings just made contact with the pads, and all was right with the world again. The bonus is that it looks really cool, giving the headstock some bling in the absence of a logo.
For anyone contemplating a locking setup, I highly recommend investigating this alternate setup. It's the best of all worlds for me. Massive tuning stability coupled with convenient string changes and maintenance. An added bonus is that, as an avid capo user, I can clamp anywhere along the neck and use the fine tuners to bring me home.
1. Schaller Lockmeister (OFR Type)
2. LSR Roller Nut
3. Gotoh Vintage Locking Tuners, Staggered Height
4. See below
This is an unconventional setup, but having come from the traditional strat trem AND locking trem/nut worlds, I can tell you that the advantages this setup brings over the latter two are significant.
For me, the main PITA with the locking nut is having to play the string stretching game and tuning shuffle. The locking nut is supposed to keep the strings in place when the strings go slack and keep them in perfect pitch upon return. It does its job well enough.
By ditching the locking nut for the LSR, the guitar is much less temperamental to the condition of the strings. I can install new strings and stretch them by playing on them for a few minutes and that's it. No more pulling on each string down the length of each, which can result in dead sounding, lifeless strings. The guitar stays in perfect pitch, provided I did my job balancing the tension b/t the strings and springs. Additionally, the strings do not pup out of the LSR's slots when the strings are completely slack. It just doesn't happen at all.
What I have found with going without string trees/retainer bar is an annoying sympathetic resonance when doing hard stops. I also never thought the GBE strings had sufficient break angle over the nut and this was confirmed by closely inspecting the nut.
The LSR has an ingenious little feature that goes overlooked oftentimes: a rubber pad lies behind each string, purposed to silence this resonance. The strings should lightly contact this pad and despite these staggered tuners' best efforts, they don't. In fact, these tuners are as low as you can go without the apertures disappearing within their bushings. I decided to add the retainer bar that came with the Lockmeister.
Initially I thought I'd made a huge mistake - while the sympathetic vibrations were gone, tuning stability was impacted. In the end, I just had to tune the height of the retainer bar, so the strings just made contact with the pads, and all was right with the world again. The bonus is that it looks really cool, giving the headstock some bling in the absence of a logo.
For anyone contemplating a locking setup, I highly recommend investigating this alternate setup. It's the best of all worlds for me. Massive tuning stability coupled with convenient string changes and maintenance. An added bonus is that, as an avid capo user, I can clamp anywhere along the neck and use the fine tuners to bring me home.
