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What exactly is "duralumin" (Gotoh Res-o-lite)?
- Thread starter BK Bass
- Start date
Duralumin - Wikipedia
quite likely only the base plate is duralumin -probably 2024. it's cheap and pretty common. machines awful, (very gummy) but does have its merits in scientific applications and electrical work.
quite likely only the base plate is duralumin -probably 2024. it's cheap and pretty common. machines awful, (very gummy) but does have its merits in scientific applications and electrical work.
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It's a soft aluminum alloy, used mostly for casting. The housings of most tuners are die-cast, that is, they are made by forcing molten aluminum into a steel mold or die. The casting process forms most of the shape of the part, but then it gets a few machining operations like reaming holes, etc. The material of the tuner housing is aluminum, but it's a soft fairly brittle aluminum alloy.
The housings of some of the higher quality, more expensive tuners are billet machined. They start with bar stock of higher grade aluminum and use a CNC mill to machine it all to shape. The finished part is much stronger.
The housings of some of the higher quality, more expensive tuners are billet machined. They start with bar stock of higher grade aluminum and use a CNC mill to machine it all to shape. The finished part is much stronger.
The res-o-lites have plastic buttons to reduce the weight. Never seen any in person but I believe it is good quality plastic and feels solid.
The Res O Lite vintage Fender type tuners are about 5 oz lighter in weight. They are my favorite tuner. Gotoh also makes a carbon fiber-ish vintage tuner as well as others.
NEW - GOTOH CBT-01 CARBON-O-LITE 4 In-Line Bass Tuners for Fender® - BLACK | eBay
NEW - GOTOH CBT-01 CARBON-O-LITE 4 In-Line Bass Tuners for Fender® - BLACK | eBay
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from the horse's mouth:
RES-O-LITE Series アーカイブ - G-GOTOH
notice only that the GB350 has a plated plastic knob and it seems to share the 510 hole pattern. the others with the elephant ear keys do not, and seem to have a fender type screw hole pattern.
RES-O-LITE Series アーカイブ - G-GOTOH
notice only that the GB350 has a plated plastic knob and it seems to share the 510 hole pattern. the others with the elephant ear keys do not, and seem to have a fender type screw hole pattern.
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Thanks for the replies, very helpful.
These would be replacing a set of the 70s style Fender tuners with the top of the plate wider than the bottom. Will the bottom two screw holes line up, and will the plate of the Gotoh cover the unused holes at the top? Furthermore, is there enough space between the top holes of each that I can safely drill for the new ones, or do I need to dowel the old holes?
These would be replacing a set of the 70s style Fender tuners with the top of the plate wider than the bottom. Will the bottom two screw holes line up, and will the plate of the Gotoh cover the unused holes at the top? Furthermore, is there enough space between the top holes of each that I can safely drill for the new ones, or do I need to dowel the old holes?
Those give me performance road bike vibes.
Come to think of it, bassists and cyclists have much in common here...
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I replaced the 70s Pure Vintage tuners on my Tony Franklin with GBR640 Res-O-Lites.
I would suggest filling all the holes and redrilling them. It is worth the time to position them properly and straight.
It's so close, it's tempting, but I would fill and drill to get them perfect.
Wow, no kidding! Aren't these hole patterns directly determined by Fender tuner designs? Yeesh FMIC.
Edit: Also, thanks for going through the trouble to do that, quite helpful!
Boy I wish they made these in silver carbon.
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No problem - already tuned back up, lol.
Luckily they were drop-in on my AVRI neck.
I think your Tony Franklin has 70's style tuners but the GBR640 are 50's-60's style tuners so the holes won't match up so you'll have to drill new holes as shown. I'm sure you saw this but there is a Gotoh 70's replacement tuner available, but not in the Resolite version:
FB30 - G-GOTOH
Your only option in the Resolite version is the 50's-60's style GB640 and GBR640. I think they're worth it. I've replaced the stock 50's-60's style tuners on all of my Fenders to the GBR640.
