Schaller staggered post heights = no string trees needed?

[tiscoat]

Anyone informed on the issue of tuning machines? Planning to get Schaller M6 for the new neck with inline headstock. I’d read somewhere that if you get them with staggered height posts you can eliminate the need for string trees? Is that accurate?

 

[ghostrider25]

You are correct. I have them on a few of my guitars and have never had the need for a string tree.

 

[tiscoat]

You are correct. I have them on a few of my guitars and have never had the need for a string tree.

If it’s not much trouble recalling. Can you tell what post heights you’ve used for:?

E
A
D
G
B
E

 

[stratamania]

If it’s not much trouble recalling. Can you tell what post heights you’ve used for:?

E
A
D
G
B
E

Schaller staggered work well. Heights E, A, D 21.0 mm and G, B and E 19.5 mm. No string trees needed.

 

[cuthbert]

Yes, Schaller and Sperzel were introduced in the Strat Plus back in the 80s and those guitars never had strings trees, that is also another reason why they remain in tune well.

 

[tiscoat]

Yes, Schaller and Sperzel were introduced in the Strat Plus back in the 80s and those guitars never had strings trees, that is also another reason why they remain in tune well.

Whoa! What nut is that?

 

[Bob Hoover Ross]

Whoa! What nut is that?

Pretty sure those were made by LSR. Called it the "roller nut" iirc.

...but I could be totally mistaken!

 

[TBurst Std]

Nope, it’s a Wilkinson nut. No longer made. It is a roller nut. Closest you can get now is a LSR. They use a different shelf from each other so are not interchangeable.

 

[stratamania]

Nope, it’s a Wilkinson nut. No longer made. It is a roller nut. Closest you can get now is a LSR. They use a different shelf from each other so are not interchangeable.

Correct, although a Fender LSR part is supplied with a black coloured shelf that the LSR can sit on so that it can retrofit as a replacement that specific Wilkinson roller nut shelf.

 

[cuthbert]

Pretty sure those were made by LSR. Called it the "roller nut" iirc.

...but I could be totally mistaken!

You are correct...they started with the Wilkinson nut and then in the early 90s they switched to LSR...I know as a fact as my Warmoth scalloped neck I bought many years ago was cut for that nut.

I use the tremolo a lot and I can say the combo Sperzel(Schaller) + LSR (Wilkinson) nut + American standard bridge keeps a Strat well in tune, not as much as FR but it gets very close. OF course eliminating the string trees, even the low friction one is VERY beneficial.

The Plus series for that era was a very advanced guitar IMO, and it´s a shame it is not well considered today.

Strat plus 1988.

Strat Plus 1993.

 

[stratamania]

Pretty sure those were made by LSR. Called it the "roller nut" iirc.

...but I could be totally mistaken!

You are correct...they started with the Wilkinson nut and then in the early 90s they switched to LSR..

There is currently no nut made by LSR.

Wilkinson made the original nut on the Strat plus. The LSR is now made by Fender.

 

[supertruper1988]

LSR was a separate company that got absorbed into FMIC at some point. They made tuners as well.

 

[stratamania]

LSR was a separate company that got absorbed into FMIC at some point. They made tuners as well.

Okay, good to know. Will edit my above post.

Out of interest, I found these on Reverb, previously available and unused.

 

[cuthbert]

Okay, good to know. Will edit my above post.

Out of interest, I found these on Reverb, previously available and unused.

View attachment 62937

I used them on my Strat int he late 90s after recommendation of my luthier, he thought they would have become the next big thing.

Unfortunately they did not, I remember few Jacksons using them back then, now they are completely forgotten.

 

[Rick]

Guitar Tuner Upgrade Kit for 6 Inline Headstocks (10mm Post Hole)

Grip-Lock™ Open Dimensions Classic Open Dimensions Instructions Grip-Lock™ Closed Dimensions Classic Closed Dimensions UMP™ Dimensions Give your guitar a killer look and improve your tuning stability at the same time with the Hipshot® Tuner Upgrade Kit for 6 Inline headstocks. Whether you want...

hipshotproducts.com

Worth a look for staggered tuners, easy mounting and buttons

 

[stratamania]

I used them on my Strat int he late 90s after recommendation of my luthier, he thought they would have become the next big thing.

Unfortunately they did not, I remember few Jacksons using them back then, now they are completely forgotten.

I do not remember them; they must have passed me by.

Hipshot currently sells tuner buttons called Industrial that look like those on the LSR tuners pictured earlier. Perhaps where they got the idea from?

 

[AleForce1]

The Fender Jeff Beck Strats use the LSR nut, but not the style that he used.

 

[Bob Hoover Ross]

Out of interest, I found these on Reverb, previously available and unused.

View attachment 62937

Thread Drift: I installed a set of ^^^those LSR tuners on an old Yamaha strat-clone I owned many years ago. When they worked they were some of the most precise, smoothly-operating guitar tuners I have ever encountered, second only to the Steinberger system.

But
- A) they didn't always work; parts would jam or get stuck, and god help you if the end of a string broke off in the "clamp" because then it required micro-surgery to restore operation
- B) they were built like crap: cheap pot metal that would bend if you just looked at them funny. I finally got rid of mine when the threads that held the low E tuner to the mounting plate stripped out -- just from ordinary use (!!!)

Brilliant idea, horrible execution. Someone should take that LSR tuner concept and make a real Schaller/Sperzel-quality (or better) tuning machine. That I'd buy again. LSR? No thanks.

 

[AleForce1]

Anyone try these tuners from RiotWorks?

 

[electric__steve]

I’ve got those RiotWorks tuners bookmarked; I really want to try them out. I’ve got an idea for a reverse-bodied offset build, a Jazzbird or Firemaster, which would be perfect.