Gear Ratio the Same, Still Worth Replacing?

I have an Urge I as well. Mine holds tune perfectly with the stock tuners, and I have no trouble getting it in tune, so the is no reason to upgrade the ones on my bass.

I have seen GB7 and GB-7 style tuners grind up the little plastic washer separating the key from the bass. The still work just fine after that, but they feel like they grind a little when you turn them. If I had that problem, I might replace them, but otherwise I would not.

 

Part of the "performance" of the Hipshots is that they weigh a bunch less. so I'd argue that most of the time, yes, the Hipshots will perform better.

 

No. Any halfway decent tuner will be stable. If you are having tuning drift issues, I advise you to look elsewhere.

 

Or it could be a Snark issue. I kept having trouble with Snark(s) so i bought a Korg clip on for bass. Problem solved. I should mention i had the same Snark problem on all my MIM and MIA j basses, but the Snark worked fine on an Ibanez Jet King.

 

Bridge anchor points, bridge saddles, nut slots, witness points.

 

The cheap Squier classic vibe tuners (which are actually quite nice) I have on my two classic vibes work as stable as my Hipshots.
Because all the things Turnaround mentioned are address on my basses. They are lower ratio but my Hipshots Do NOT make hitting pitch any easier IME. That target is so fine that the extra 3 or 4:1 ratio of the Hipshots doesn't really help me hit the target, but geez they’re nicely made.

Any fairly good tuner will be stable if you address the points above and ALWAYS tune UP to pitch, never back down if you overshoot.