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How often have you had to replace tuners?
- Thread starter chaosMK
- Start date
Have you ever noticed how, every single time you say that to yourself, your bass falls over? They should make it a law of physics
Unfortunately it's the weak spot on a Cirrus. Really the only real weak spot on an otherwise great bass. It's really too bad they didn't go with actual Gotohs.
The only one I[ve ever changed was on my '73 J that I bought at a garag4e sale for 75 bucks in 1978. It had a broken tuner and the local music store had an identical used one for 5. so i swapped it.
Have bought a couple of used basses with bent or inoperable tuners and usually replaced with lighter tuners which I've also done on a few neck divers. I did have one bass that I replaced some big, heavy tuners with Hipshot Ultralites and when I did the bass developed dead spots. To confirm I put the heavy tuners back on and they went away. I'm assuming this means basses need a certain amount of headstock mass to avoid dead spots whether its with the tuners or not. If I replace heavy tuners now, I'm always sensitive to what the downstream effect may be.
Since I build or modify all my Basses all of them. Lately I’ve been using Gotoh Japan Vintage flatplate. Recently I have used Vintage RW Fender and Grover Vintage. All very good my next buy will be Gotoh Reso lites.
Once. On a used bass I bought that had a broken tuner. Otherwise never. I’ve had a couple basses for over 20 years.
Twice. The “clover” on the post of USA G&L tuners have become loose, rattled, and also buzzed. It’s due to the vintage pin design used to hold the two pieces together. Schaller makes the tuners for G&L and I replaced them with the Schaller branded tuners without the pin. (Welded?) I swapped out the straight Shaller tuning post with G&L tapered aluminium from the original stock tuner. It was a direct replacement. Big improvement! CAUTiON! Since that time Schaller seems to have done a minor redesign and the tapered aluminium G&L string posts will no longer fit on the Schaller branded tuners. You will have to use the heavier straight Schaller tuning post.
This was a few years ago, and I don’t know if G&L is still using this outdated design.
This was a few years ago, and I don’t know if G&L is still using this outdated design.
I have never had to replace a tuner on any of my bass guitars, ever. I have an original '74 Jazz and the tuners, while patina'd, still work fine. I will say that I had to replace 3 tuners on a brand new Gibson Les Paul I got as the internal gears were cracked/binding. Only time I ever "had" to replace tuners. Go figure, a Gibson.
Replaced the OG tuners on a used ebay find, just because(grover titans), replaced the titans a couple of weeks later because they were too heavy, not as precise as I thought they would be, and the post on the low e seemed too short, or the groove on the post wasnt deep enough, the wind on E string kept slipping up,causing the string to pop out of the nut slot! Returned & replaced with Hipshot ultralites, those worked beautifully!and light too! Just want to add the grovers were kind of clumsy, overly clunky& heavy
I have modded & upgraded many tuners,but those titans were the only ones returned because of disappointment.
or operational difficulties!
I've had to replace tuners on a used German warwick bass I bought a few years ago. It came that way when I bought it - seller didn't let on that one tuner didn't hold it's tuning properly... loser. So who knows why it died.
Another bass I bought used was a project bass with one tuner that didn't work any more (no friction, peg just spun freely). That was a korean kramer/spector - very old bass, had been abused and was a project. So no surprises there, but I knew about that when I bought it.
In regular use of basses I have bought that had all working tuners, I have never had to replace a tuner. Same with electric guitars and all other non-beginner instruments, I think, that I've owned.
The only possible other situation is with very cheap classical guitar and mandolin style tuners (they are the same kind of design) really seem to be cruddy, always have been, still are, often. So I've had to replace those, but that kind of doesn't count imho. We're talking really old and/or really really cheaply made stuff.
One of my mandolins really does need new tuners, but they still work so meh. And beginner classical style guitars have this problem often - the plastic (fake MoP) head comes off, or sometimes the metal is really badly made. But that's way way different from a proper working tuner for bass (or electric guitar) wearing out with use.
Another bass I bought used was a project bass with one tuner that didn't work any more (no friction, peg just spun freely). That was a korean kramer/spector - very old bass, had been abused and was a project. So no surprises there, but I knew about that when I bought it.
In regular use of basses I have bought that had all working tuners, I have never had to replace a tuner. Same with electric guitars and all other non-beginner instruments, I think, that I've owned.
The only possible other situation is with very cheap classical guitar and mandolin style tuners (they are the same kind of design) really seem to be cruddy, always have been, still are, often. So I've had to replace those, but that kind of doesn't count imho. We're talking really old and/or really really cheaply made stuff.
One of my mandolins really does need new tuners, but they still work so meh. And beginner classical style guitars have this problem often - the plastic (fake MoP) head comes off, or sometimes the metal is really badly made. But that's way way different from a proper working tuner for bass (or electric guitar) wearing out with use.
That, sir, is extremely interesting. I mean, we've all heard of that stuff, but to have personally experienced it yourself, and proven it scientifically by replacing the originals again, really is the sort of evidence that is missing often in forums.
Thanks for that! I suppose though that it could maybe go the other way too... like going headless, if it was just weight/mass related as it seems from your experience, changes dead spots also - whether increasing them on same location, decreasing them on same location, or moving them around. I know USA steinbergers (non-wood) had zero dead spots (personal experience). I had wooden licensed knock offs also but now, unfortunately, I couldn't tell ya if they had dead spots... been far too long.
Cheers
I currently have 18 basses and 39 6 strings and have literally changed tuners on one .
It was an Epiphone Les Paul, Jr. that had those bottom of the barrel crap tuners. I lubed the nut with graphite, made sure strings were stretched-it would not hold tune for 10 minutes.
Put on a set of Grover Rotomatics (my fav for Gibson style guitars) and problem solved. Put in a Joe Barden twin tone humbucker, coil tap, Schaller strap locks and more have more in it than it’s worth but it’s a cool little guitar that plays and sounds great.
On the other hand if I were to spec a build I would probably go with Hipshot, Gotoh, Schaller, or Grover.
Many of my instruments have these and were on when purchased. No issue with any. Furthermore no issue with stock MIM Fender tuners either.
It was an Epiphone Les Paul, Jr. that had those bottom of the barrel crap tuners. I lubed the nut with graphite, made sure strings were stretched-it would not hold tune for 10 minutes.
Put on a set of Grover Rotomatics (my fav for Gibson style guitars) and problem solved. Put in a Joe Barden twin tone humbucker, coil tap, Schaller strap locks and more have more in it than it’s worth but it’s a cool little guitar that plays and sounds great.
On the other hand if I were to spec a build I would probably go with Hipshot, Gotoh, Schaller, or Grover.
Many of my instruments have these and were on when purchased. No issue with any. Furthermore no issue with stock MIM Fender tuners either.
50+ years of playing, hauling, wear and tear = never changed a tuner for any other reason than to add a Drop D tuner.
