will changing the string nut and tuners on my bass affect it negatively?

[UnderDogbassist]

i just bought a g&l l2000, it's in black, and what i wanted to do was instead of doing about and selling and buying a bass i no longer see fit, whether soundwise or lookswise, i figured "hey lets make this one even more sexier and save several hundred" so i was thinking, i would order some black hipshot tuners, and a black string tree, and then have a local luthiery put them in, since i'm pretty sure i would break the bass if i tried oding it myself, plus if those parts are capable of being taken out/put in, then its the luthier. i was just wondering, will it change the playability of my bass any, i'm just wondering cuz i don't want them changed and play the bass and it sounds like complete crap. another question is

where can i order a black string tree online, and if you guys did something similar to me, where'd you get it. i want one that can fit a USA L2000, i don't want to order one and find out i wasted money ordering one that doesnt fit lool.

edit: i also have the link to the tuners that i was going to get, i was wondering if these would do, and if theyh would cause any neck dive compared to the factory ones. neck dives have become a big pet peeve, ever since i sold my thunderbird.
http://store.hipshotproducts.com/car...ct_detail&p=93

[XylemBassGuitar]

Hey UnderDog,

I don't know about the string tree, but I would definitely recommend the Hipshot Ultralite tuners (by the way, the link you posted gives me a 404 not found message). They are lighter than the vast majority of tuners available and they are very high quality. If you are replacing stock parts on your G&L the Ultralites will definitely be an improvement. Lighter tuners also means less neck dive.

[basscraiger]

I just ordered one today, coincidentally. StewMac are excellent to deal with. This is my 3rd or 4th time ordering from them.

Link for string tree:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Hardware..._Retainer.html

Good luck with the upgrades. I'm doing similar ones to a Black and Maple Tribute L2000.

[basscraiger]

Actually, I've been wondering about the Hipshot Ultralites. The ones I see look like they only have a single mounting screw hole compared to the four on stock tuners. Am I looking at the wrong ones?

[dmusic148]

Originally Posted by basscraiger

Actually, I've been wondering about the Hipshot Ultralites. The ones I see look like they only have a single mounting screw hole compared to the four on stock tuners. Am I looking at the wrong ones?

All Ultralights are like that.

[Metal Mitch]

If you're gonna change from chrome to black you should do a complete "blackout". It just looks funny and kind of half finished when some hardware is chrome and some black.

A complete blackout would also include the bridge, knobs, switches, strap buttons, and jackplate. Looks great on red or sunburst, not so great on a black bass.

And btw, the string tree is not the string nut

[darkstorm]

Unless they make the neck lighter or heavier tuners wont affect anything. No tone change, playability change would only apply to wether or not the tuners added to neck dive or decreased it. The latter can help playability swince you no longer have to put any effort into keeping the bass from headstock diving.

Changeing nut can affect playability if its cur better then the stock one. This mainly in my expereince applies when the replacement nuts slots are better cut depth wise for each string to allow for better lower action. Some will also say that bone and brass nuts give best sound. However the nuts affects on sound is allmost entirely only go to apply to open (non fretted) note for each string.

Id choose the ultralight in black myself. Light weight benefits less neck dive and theyre very nice qaulity. I think black bridge and control knobs and chrome tuners look ok. But black tuners and chrome bridge a little odd. However you could of course replace the bridge with black one to match tuners later on if desired. All black hardware does look good on any bass imo.