Sperzels or Ultralights?

[Phil Mastro]

Hi Everybody,

After not posting on Talkbass for about 3 years, I'm making a comback. Long story short, I'm trying to decide whether I should get Sperzel tuners or Hipshot Ultralights for a bass of mine.

The bass in question has a neck made by Jerome Little of Little guitar works (a torzal neck!), and a body made by yours truly. I've got a few pics here:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/philmastro/LittleTorzal#
I hope you can see the pics.

So what do you guys think? I've never heard of anyone using the Sperzels, but they look pretty cool. Are they new? How much do they weigh? Does anyone here likes tacos?

Well you can ignore that last question, but any info is welcome.

Thanks,
Phil Mastro

[dblbass]

I'd go with the hipshots. They work great, look great and hipshot is a great company. Great enough for yah?! Sperzels are ok if you get a good batch, but I've gotten many that don't work once you get the bass up to pitch. Something inside slips and the string goes out of tune.

[tjclem]

The only set of sperzels I got worked great they are lighter than the hipshots and tacos rock... That's all Iv'e got to say about that.....t

[XylemBassGuitar]

I love Ultralites...used many, many sets of them and never had a problem.

I've only worked with one set of Sperzels and they were lockers. I really liked that they didn't require those tiny screws you find on the back of tuners (they use a little metal peg that's part of the tuner's back instead). The locking mechanisms didn't work that well. I ended up looping the strings over themselves to keep them from slipping, but, once I had done that, the Sperzels kept their tune just as well as any tuner I have ever used.

[Stone Age]

a pic of the tuners on that bass would help make the call. Ultralights have a set screw like most tuners and may fit exactly in the same holes as the existing tuners. The sperzels are likely a smaller diameter and require a second counter bore for the pin that keeps them from rotating instead of a set screw...just harder to install.

I prefer sealed tuners so I use Sperzels.

[rythman6969]

I have one bass with Sperzels and one with Ultralites. Both work great and both look cool. The Sperzels come in red and lime green though, (last I checked) so that makes them cooler. kidding. The Sperzels did come with a barrel nut that had bad threading and wouldn't go on. But the people at Sperzel were very cool and sent it right out immediately. no issues with the Hipshot.

[Bass-Adrenaline]

I love ultralites but the sperzels are pretty nice as well. The thing is sperzels have a smaller shaft and fit a smaller size hole (7/16) than most other tuners (9/16 seems to be most popular). That being said, if your headstock is already drilled for certain tuners with larger shafts they wont fit by themselves. IMO thats one of the reaons you dont see them used a lot as upgraded parts or see them a lot in general really. Probably the coolest thing about them is they come in a ton of colors and you can have them custom ordered as well.

http://www.tkinstruments.com/id94.htm

[Phil Mastro]

So in the end I'll go with the Hipshots, seeing as the holes for the small screws are already drilled. I didn't feel like drilling extra holes in the headstock for the Sperzels, and I wasn't too sure the hole diameter was the correct one. Maybe I'll try sperzels for the next build.

Thanks everybody!

[__HM__]

Originally Posted by Bass-Adrenaline

have a smaller shaft and fit a smaller size hole

Lol.

[__HM__]

Oh, and Hipshots FTW.

[pilotjones]

I've got gotoh 350s on order. They are really ridiculously light. It'll be a while though before they're on a working bass so I can review them.