Tuners advice

[noname]

Hi all,

I came across a nice aged Strat body and although I am not a fan of the whole relic vibe, it was too good for the price so I could not resist :dontknow:. Long story short it will be delivered mid January.

Now I am about to pull the trigger on the neck here in the showcase, but to be honest, I am not very familiar with vintage style tuners.

So, are Gotoh vintage locking tuners ok? They look fine but reviews are a bit mixed. Or I should lock for a bit less vintage look and go for Sperzel or Hipshot? I have Schaller locking on my first Warmoth and they do the job but they are quite heavy so I would skip them if I can this time.

And finally if I go Hipshot - are they direct fit into any of the offered tuner holes?

Thanks.

 

[mayfly]

I've used the gotoh vintage tuners, sperzel, hipshot, schaller, and planet waves.  The Gotoh worked very well in my old looking strat, and looks the part.  However, the best locking tuner that I've used is the Planet Waves tuners.  I have these on 5? 6? guitars and I love them.  The worst locking tuners I've used are the sperzel.  They slip.  It's bloody annoying.

YMMV

 

[pabloman]

TonePros is doing the Kluson stuff and its real good.

 

[thewrathchilde]

I have used Sperzel and Schaller..... never good give Planet Waves a chance couldn't deal with the appearance. Out of those choices I will always go Schaller in the future. They may be heavier than some of the other choices but are well made and dependable.

 

[AutoBat]

I really like the Schaller lockers on my Strat neck.

 

[Cagey]

I used Sperzels for years and liked them, but once I started with the Schallers they're they only thing I want. If they're any heavier than anything else, I've never noticed it. I mean, how much can it be? A few grams? An ounce or two? When that little weight on a guitar starts to affect my happiness, I'll reassess my options. Maybe take up harmonica or something.

 

[AprioriMark]

I've used the gotoh vintage tuners, sperzel, hipshot, schaller, and planet waves.  The Gotoh worked very well in my old looking strat, and looks the part.  However, the best locking tuner that I've used is the Planet Waves tuners.  I have these on 5? 6? guitars and I love them.  The worst locking tuners I've used are the sperzel.  They slip.  It's bloody annoying.

YMMV

I have no idea what the situation was where your Sperzels slipped, but I've had bad experiences with EVERY other brand of locking tuners and NEVER Sperzels.  I've had them on nearly every guitar I've played a lot in the last 20 years, and I would suggest them over every other brand of locking tuner.  They're seriously solid.

-Mark

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

I have Gotoh tuners on mine.  I really like'em.

 

[noname]

I used Sperzels for years and liked them, but once I started with the Schallers they're they only thing I want. If they're any heavier than anything else, I've never noticed it. I mean, how much can it be? A few grams? An ounce or two? When that little weight on a guitar starts to affect my happiness, I'll reassess my options. Maybe take up harmonica or something.

Cagey, I like your sarcasm ccasion14:. Actually, my first instrument was a harmonica Scandalli ( great instrument), very popular instrument where I come from. You are right, Schaller locking tuners are, as stated, doing the job in a great manner, but they are the heaviest afaik and the look would not actually suit what I have in mind for this project. I really want to have vintage (ish) looking guitar.

Schaller is making those ST6 which would put me in the ball park and if I am not happy I can still drop in the modern Schaller later on.

So Schaller ST6 it is :guitaristgif:.

Thank you all for your opinions as always.

 

[mayfly]

I've used the gotoh vintage tuners, sperzel, hipshot, schaller, and planet waves.  The Gotoh worked very well in my old looking strat, and looks the part.  However, the best locking tuner that I've used is the Planet Waves tuners.  I have these on 5? 6? guitars and I love them.  The worst locking tuners I've used are the sperzel.  They slip.  It's bloody annoying.

YMMV

I have no idea what the situation was where your Sperzels slipped, but I've had bad experiences with EVERY other brand of locking tuners and NEVER Sperzels.  I've had them on nearly every guitar I've played a lot in the last 20 years, and I would suggest them over every other brand of locking tuner.  They're seriously solid.

-Mark

Hi Mark,

It's on my warmoth 12 string.  I wanted a super light tuner, because there's 12 of them way out there on that hockey headstock, so I chose the new sperzel locking tuners with the open gears.  Sadly, they will not hold the string tight - the strings slide right out of the locking mechanism and would not stay in tune beyond one chord.  They would go several full tones flat - not terribly acceptable.  Yes, I'm sure that I was installing the strings correctly;  I was very motivated to make the tuners work and read everything I could find and tried a lot of things. The only thing that fixed the problem was to string them like ordinary tuners and use a string winder (sigh).  Yep, they are still on the guitar.  Nice and light, which was the main thing for me on this guitar, and I must say they look cool.  Not locking though.

So sadly, in my experience they did not live up to the promise.  I'll try the hipshots next time I want a light locking tuner. Their super light bass tuners are well made and work very well in my bass players instruments, and I have three hipshot PW b-benders, which work flawlessly.

 

[Cagey]

Those are a different design. The Sperzel "Trim-Lok" style work much like the Planet Waves parts, in that there's a positive lock that depends on clamping the string. Those don't slip. Or, at least I've never had it happen or heard of it happening to anyone else. The Planet Waves and Schallers only improvement (mechanically) over the Sperzels with that style of lock is the the thickness of the locking screw. They're a bit thicker, which makes it a tad easier to get a grip on them to tighten/loosen the locking pin. Oh, and the PWs have an automatic string cutter, which I'm not sold on but gets good reviews elsewhere.

 

[mayfly]

Yep - the Sperzel tuners that I am not happy with are the Sound-Lok tuners.  That is, these ones:

Sperzel claims that they are a locking tuner.  In my experience they are not.

 

[Cagey]

I can understand your worrying about weight when you have to put 12 of the things on. With a six-string, I'd never worry about it as it's too inconsequential to notice.

Knowing that some people obsess over such things, you'd think the manufacturers would publish weights. It would be interesting to to know for certain what the differences were. I mean, if you don't care how well they work, the flimsy beer can tuners such as Klusons are probably lighter, but how much? I'll bet it's not as much as people think. Does it really make a difference? Is it worth it, considering the ongoing fight you'll have for the life of the instrument?