Do Lightweight Tuners affect your overall tone???

jokerjkny · #1 03-06-2002, 11:31 AM

hey all,

i'm still in the midst of building my little jazz bass buddy, and have finally narrowed everything down to the tuners.

I wanna go hipshot, but want to go with the newer lighter weight hipshots, rather than the vintage styled american classic. would going with a lighter tuner affect tone??? will i lose sustain cause of the lighter tuners??

JMX · #2 03-06-2002, 11:43 AM

No. It's only important that the tuners work correctly.

bertbassplayer · #3 03-06-2002, 12:42 PM

Actually the weight can have some effect. More weight adds more sustain, if weight didn't have any effect they woulden't have that clamp sustain thing that you attaches to your headstock. Now will it have a lot of effect, probobly not, but it will have some.

RAM · #4 03-06-2002, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bertbassplayer
Actually the weight can have some effect. More weight adds more sustain, if weight didn't have any effect they woulden't have that clamp sustain thing that you attaches to your headstock. Now will it have a lot of effect, probobly not, but it will have some.

I haven't heard of this product. Where can I find one?

I have heard of a clamp, however, that you clamp on your headstock that SUPPOSEDLY helps shift the resonant frequency of your bass' neck to help eliminate the presence of dead spots.

I don't think you'll notice a difference in tone with different tuners. If heavier tuners made a difference, why are Hipshot Ultra-Lites so hot with top luthiers?

bertbassplayer · #5 03-06-2002, 02:34 PM

I dunno where it can be found... I've just heard of it. One reason they are popular with luthiers are because they allow better balencing of the bass. Also the lack of metal also allow the tonal properties of the wood to sound through better.

The Mock Turtle Regulator · #6 03-06-2002, 03:16 PM

actually, I think that lighter tuners are BETTER re. deadspots, as lighter tuners raises the resonant frequency,and shifts the deadspot up the neck towards the bridge- and they become less noticeable as the neck is stiffer there due to the shorter length between fretted note and bridge.

if the neck is reasonably rigid, lightweight tuners won't cause a deterioration in tone.
I've got Hipshot Ultralite tuners on my Warmoth P bass, and the sustain is much better and there's only a slight deadspot at C#, compared with my Fender P Plus, which has very heavy Schaller cast tuners, and has deadspots at A# on the D string

, and at A# and B on the G string

.

FalsehoodBass · #7 03-06-2002, 03:47 PM

the "clamp" is called the "fat finger". BP had a little paragraph about it once, they said it works. I also think i remember seeing them in Musician's Friend, but i've never tried or used one.

I thought that the only reason you'd want lightweight tuners in the first place would be to eliminiate neck-dive. Do you think your bass will be neck-heavy?

jokerjkny · #8 03-06-2002, 05:16 PM

Thanks guys!

i love coming home and finding all the reply messages in my inbox!

well, i do have a feeling that the bass might be neck heavy cause i asked Tommy over at USA custom for a light swamp ash body, and honestly, i'd rather have the weight shifted closer to the body than it be neck heavy. the neck i got from warmoth is average, so i dunno, i'm just being safe.

thanks for your help all.

The Mock Turtle Regulator · #9 03-06-2002, 07:37 PM

Warmoth necks tend to be heavy due to the steel reinforcement bars, so I'd go with lightweight tuners for balance- the neck is rigid enough with the steel reinforcement- lots of sustain.

old_skool · #10 03-06-2002, 09:48 PM

You can get the 'finger @ Musicians Friend or I could just give you the finger?

eli · #11 03-09-2002, 06:03 PM

There was also a product some years ago called a "Fathead" -- a brass plate the shape of your peghead -- that served the same purpose. I imagine it was less popular because installing it required removing all of the tuners, placing it against the back of the peghead, and reinstalling everything on top of it to hold it in place.

I suppose that a well-built neck should not have the dead-spot problems that "regular" (read: Fender-style) single-trussrod necks have. I'm guessing that the Warmoth neck should fill the bill -- they spent quite some time developing their reinforcing bars.

My advice would be to go with the lightweight tuners.