I *do* like these on the vintage sixties basses who sport them. I think they would look too small on a Fender, though, just like the factory tuners on a Gretsch 5440LSB look too small.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Those GIANT Fender tuning keys!
- Thread starter Ekulati
- Start date
I *do* like these on the vintage sixties basses who sport them. I think they would look too small on a Fender, though, just like the factory tuners on a Gretsch 5440LSB look too small.
The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round...
Sorry, it's early.
Don’t we have enough people complaining about Fender dead spots as it is?Well, the obvious next step is to reduce the size of the headstock, tooI like ernie ball guitars' 4+2 headstocks, I imagine a 3 + 1 headstock that's guitar sized would still suit fender basses.
A lot of it seems to be caused by shape itself, which, if removed, would also remove the need for excess weight. Even headless guitars can have dead spots, but they are much further up the neck. Avoiding dead spots consistently and entirely seems to be an impossible task because all efforts to remove dead spots merely shift them, luckily, sometimes outside of playable tones.
It's likely that one of the reasons fender basses do have dead spots is that huge headstock and a lot of weight in first place, though. I've had many guitars, and the only ones having dead spots were those huge ass fender headstock basses. Even a very good SX copy that still had a huge ass musicman lawsuit headstock didn't have a dead spot. Putting fat finger doesn't remove the dead spot, it merely shifts it, and as I said, sometimes you're lucky and it's not just another fret, but a dead spot that doesn't belong to any of the frequencies of the notes you can play.
IMO Leo changed the Fender headstock on the MM specifically because of the dead spot. He did exactly what it needed - compacted it.
I mostly play my Fenders with flats, old flats. I like my my dead spots and big headstock and tuners. Oddly enough the Tele headstock Bullet has no dead spots.
I invite anybody at home to do the experiment...sand down your big headstock and see if the dead spots go away.
(This is a joke, please don’t try this)
I invite anybody at home to do the experiment...sand down your big headstock and see if the dead spots go away.
(This is a joke, please don’t try this)
Correct. But let's not forget that Fender could be more than P-Bass and J-Bass (especially in respect to the tuners). Besides the "Lyte" and MIM 5-string (thanks to wesonbass and his left foot) we also had the Musicmaster, the Zone Bass, the Prophecy and the MB-4 and MB-5 (Japan). Those had smaller tuners on the different headstocks ...
I think the Performer had a different headstock but the regular big tuners.
Attachments
-
Fender-Precision-Bass-Lyte-Made-in-Japan-with-_1.jpg -
P-Bass Lyte IMG_0115.JPG -
P-Bass Lyte Headstock.jpg -
big%20fender%20p%20bass%20lyteDSCN9014.jpg -
Fender_MiM_Jazz_Bass_5_String_Headstock.jpg -
My 1971 Fender Musicmaster Bass-03.jpg -
My 1971 Fender Musicmaster Bass-02.jpg -
fender-deluxe-zone-bass-54275.jpg -
fender-deluxe-zone-bass-v-55883.jpg -
Fender Prophecy headstock a1.jpg -
Fender Heartfield Prophecy II Bass.jpg -
fender_mb5_japon.jpg -
fender-mb-4.jpg
The only correct and original shape is the "Y" shape. It was discovered by a hardy bunch patrolling the cold waters of the Atlantic. Any deviation from this is a genetic anomaly.
This is the original size tuna. Leo had to scale them back because even his headstocks were too small.
This is the original size tuna. Leo had to scale them back because even his headstocks were too small.
Warmoth neck, I picked it up in their clearance section at a good priceThis was a Fender headstock. I modified it because I wanted to reduce some weight on my Fenderbird and just wanted to give it a different look.
View attachment 3141368
Fixed all the problems! No neckdive, big headstock or big tuners! But now I don't know what to call it. It's not a fenderbird now since it doesn't have a Fender headstock!?!
BnB
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,600
- 222,011
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,600
- 222,011
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
As a long-time obsessor of bass tuners - I agree completely about this aesthetic detail. (the devil, as always - is in the details) For me 'the notch" (on the stem) will not live on any of my basses. I go one step further and ultimately prefer a fluted paddle over a flanged paddle. The 70's Fender (Geddy Lee style) big plate, fluted clover and the late 80's Fender large fluted clovers with small plate (below) and those reflected on classic pops (below) are what I'm referring to - the paddle gracefully flutes into the stem w/o flanges on either side. I also prefer straight string posts/barrels (both smaller and larger) compared to fluted ones for reasons both aesthetic and functional.
late 80's Fender small plate-large fluted clovers
As for smaller clovers - these high quality Gotoh MIK tuners are on my favorites list. (avoid the MIC clones - cheap, poor quality casting)
Gotoh sculpted paddle tuners - another fave. Gotoh makes great product.
love the 80's Ibanez 'heart' paddle tuners (especially adapted for the Hipshot Drop-D)
...and Sperzils rock where you need small footprint/light weight and high quality.
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,600
- 222,011
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
The '85 Fender Performer had a decidedly different hs shape with flat-clover Schaller tuners.
You've convinced me to go with Gotoh GB707 machines to replace the sticky clovers pictured here. I was hung up on lightweight for a while, but put off by the plastic on the GB350s, but then decided I didn't get this bass (the one in my profile picture) with practicality as my foremost concern and that neck dive wasn't really much of an issue with this one (I've had a Thunderbird). The GB707s can't be that heavy, and they'll go nicely with the Gotoh 201 bridge I swapped in. Thanks, fellow Californian!
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,600
- 222,011
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
You can't go wrong with Gotoh
Indeed, those would be my go-toh tuners whenever building a guitar from scratch.
Large tuners makes them easy to find in the dark when you're playing a gig!After starting with a Fender back in the 80s, then switching for years to other basses (Carvin, Yamaha, Hofner), then grabbing another Fender a couple years ago, I finally figured out what feels weird to me: it's the giant tuning keys.
Likely of course these are a carry over, when Leo first did his thing, from the double bass, which the P etc. was designed as an alternative.
But they just seem, to me anyway, so...I dunno... unnecessarily big!
YMMV. Just commenting. No response required.
Actually, they are not large tuners...everyone else's tuners are small!
Needless to say, I do not share your discomfort with the Fender tuners. That might have something to do with the fact that I've been playing a Jazz bass since 1966. My first one was a 1965 Jazz. By the way, the tuners on '65 Jazz bass turned backwards as all of them did at the time...heaven help you if you ever pick up one of those. It's liable to give you apoplexy.
never gave it much thought, I like them big because it's easier to tweak the tune just that half-a-thousandth of an inch to get the phase just right between strings.
For those who want tuning precision, there's a much better solution than huge ass tuner heads.
HIGHER GEAR RATIO
HIGHER GEAR RATIO
