Gibson Tuners

I know, I read that stuff all the time about tuners that won't stay tuned. It's just a mechanically unsound theory, though. Try doing what I said, tune up, mark the positions of your posts (by the axis of the hole through them) and check again later when it's out of tune. Bet your tuners haven't turned.

Ok, I'll give it a shot before I swap them out. I'll let everyone know the results shortly!!! :P

The white coat. Love it. Can't wait for the results. Interesting post. I think I'll make a post that has something to do with this.

Hey guys, I swapped out the tuners last night. The Kluson's DID appear to move on me, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to try. I still have the Gibson Deluxe tuners that I can always replace.

I'll let you know how it goes.

OK. Thanks for reporting back what you found!

the locking tuners on my am dlx strat are amazing...and easy to restring...simply pull the string to length and screw down the lock on the back of the head stock...no need for winding and no slippage...fast and effective...i have rarely had to tune the guitar since i bought it.

Just thought I'd give you an update. I put the Grover Vintage tuners on the SG and it is more stable now. Not 100%. If I let it sit on the wall for more than 3 days it will be slightly out of tune when I pick it up. It is definitely better than it was with the Kluson tuners, but still not 100%. Some of this may have to do with the change in whether and that fact that the guitar is hanging on a wall in my finished basement (an outside wall - but it is drywalled with insulation, but the concrete on the other side is an outside wall). I wonder if that mught have something to do with it?

Ok... well I'm relatively happy with the Grovers, but I will also bring it to the attention of my luthier the next time I get it set up (been 2 years).

the locking tuners on my am dlx strat are amazing...and easy to restring...simply pull the string to length and screw down the lock on the back of the head stock...no need for winding and no slippage...fast and effective...i have rarely had to tune the guitar since i bought it.

I think I agree with both sides of the issue. Now about locking tuners: I have an Epiphone/Gibson G400 (62 SG Reissue- cherry red). I love the body and neck, feels just like my first electric guitar a real 62 SG. I want to upgrade the hardware and TUNERS are a main item.

I want high quality tuners and LOCKING tuners are what I have in mind. Can anyone recommend preferred locking tuners for an SG?

Other upgrades will be the bridge and the pickups/switch/pots but those will come later, however if anyone has a link to a web page or site dealing with SG style upgrades, I would appreciate it.

Oh yeah, on edit: I think this will be my favorite electric guitar for playing bottleneck slide, so I want to upgrade the hardware etc. to make a top notch guitar. I love the neck and the cut-aways, and even the existing humbuckers sound pretty good, so bottleneck blues/slide is my intended use as far as upgrades.

Thanks,
phangeaux

Well, I've used Grover 3x3 locking tuners on an archtop guitar and they worked well. They don't fit the Kluson holes 100%, but they worked fairly well.

Just an update - I picked up the SG after about 9 days of not playing it and only the D string was slightly off (half a turn). The other 5 strings were literally perfectly in tune!!!

If you can go 3 days without tuning your guitar when you play it every days thats really good actually, Just with changes in wheather and humidity and the alignment of Mars guitars go out of tune because well... wood isint case hardened steel hehe.

Tuners are often blamed for problems with strings staying in tune. They very rarely are truly to blame. (Even the cheapest, crummiest ones.) It's almost impossible for a worm gear drive to be turned by torque on the driven member with the spur gear on it. (The post.) They're not going to slip.

I have a problem with My Epi/Gibson G400 to and I just think the tuners leave a little to be desired. There are probably a number of things that could acount for this phenomenon. We shouldn't discount the placebo effect of new and better tuners though! I am am going to replace the ones on my G400 with locking tuners, because I like the guitar so much, and I don't like the tuners.

By the way Ricochet, my Continental Tricone is AWESOME, it will stay in tune for a year, I'm sure. This is because it is built so rigidly AND because of the slotted headstock with the large horizontal tuner shafts holding better (more surface area in the wind). ALSO there is more of a string break angle in a slotted headstock. Now that implies by my reasoning that a worn nut could contribute to tuning problems given the varying tensions on strings while playing, given a low break angle at the nut on alot of electric guitars.

Another possibility is slight movement of the neck relative to the body due to variances in temperatures and relative humidity and moisture content of the wood,....

I don't know for sure, but new locking tuners are in order for my G400 because I just don't like the cheap ones that are on it, and I REALLY LIKE the guitar- It is going to get a full dressup eventually.

Another thought: It occured to me that tuning posts seem slippery and it is possible that any kind of dirt or oil from the ambient atmosphere could make them more slippery as well as the extra polishing they get just from use (simply my speculation) but next time I change strings I am going to clean and scuff the posts with some course steel wool and maybe that will help. Cheaper and easier than buying new tuners.

I don't know why, but I've had good guitars with Schallers, Klusons, and Grovers and the Grovers seem to work out the best for me, stability wise and ease of use, I think it has to do with the operator more than the machine, the Klusons were the most difficult to tune but probabily because they were old and worn out, the Schallers were geared just a little too low and I have a hard time getting them in pitch correctly, the Grovers are just about right but I think it's just because I have more experience with them, most of the good guitars (and some of the not-so-great ones) seem to come with them as stock. One of the first things in personalizing a guitar to fit me is putting a set of Grovers on it, I think this is more a case of psychology than actually improving the instrument, they just are comfortable to me and familiar to use and I don't think that a lot of people give enough importance to this issue. I'm not advocating doing this to a vintage axe or to an important historical piece, but nothing that I have will ever fit into either of these catagories. I have replaced tuners on some guitars that DO fit into these catagories, but only with proper research and exact repros and I always return the old parts with the guitar to the owners, (I do this for all my customers regardless of the instrument!) Just something to think about!

By the way Ricochet, my Continental Tricone is AWESOME, it will stay in tune for a year, I'm sure. My Johnson tricone will stay in tune for months. I've never let it go for a year. I'm talking about being in tune with itself; as the temperature changes the overall pitch of the guitar will drift up and down, but it sounds fine playing alone.

Come to think of it, the strings on it now have been on it for 10 months and have been played a lot. I'll change 'em one of these days. Still sound OK, though.