Locking tuners

somms

Amongst the possibilities of getting the Mustang to stay more in tune are locking tuners. I was considering a set of Schaller locking tuners for a Mustang, but figured I'd first see if anyone had any experience with locking tuners on a Mustang. Are they a dramatic improvement for a guitar that seems to have endless tuning issues?

nirvana23freak

my mustang with stock tuners stays in tune for weeks(literally).

somms

Is it vintage, or one of the reissues? I guess my Mustang isn't too bad about staying in tune (maybe every couple of days it needs to be tuned), but just wondering if it couldnt be near perfect with some better tuners...

nirvana23freak

re issue. if it stays in tune for a few days you dont need to get new tuners. a few days is fine. are you too lazy to tune it for a minute before you play it?

somms

I do tune it, but I go a long time without playing it sometimes because I have so many other guitars. Don't get me wrong here, I wasn't suggesting it was a necessity, just thought it might be a nice upgrade to a guitar that tends to have more tuning problems than most.

nirvana23freak

oh, i really dont think it would effect it, unless yours goes out of tune when you play it, a lot. but even then i have no experience with locking tuners, so i cant tell you.

robertoriginal

the slot head tuners actually help out ALOT more than people give them credit for,

it prevents alot of string slippage, which is what sperzels and other locking tuners do 90% of the time.

the only real difference you would notice would be the gear ratio, and even tho it would not garentee that they would stay in tune for a long(er) time.

yoreel

I would like to know if your question about locking tuners makes any difference, we will only see that further down the line.

My input is, that every single guitar is different, I have a 65 that stays in tune wonderful, even when using the whammy for deep dive bombs (I know its not designed to do that - but it sounds good !), I have a 69/65 that stays in tune until you use the whammy & a 70's mustang that won't mstay in tune at all - whether locking tuners would make any difference, I would love to know ?

Lets face it - you will never get a mustang to stay in tune for ever, with that floating bridge, its a design fault - that we all love !

somms

I have never tried them on any guitar actually. First up will be my middle of the road stratocaster. We'll see if it stays in tune like anything (since it goes out of tune a fair amount too), and if all goes well I'm going to consider the Mustang (they appear to come equipped with the same tuning machines).

coldwaraudio

My mustang is my only guitar at the moment while im building my other guitar and im going to put the fender slot tuners on my new one too i love those things. Locking tuners are junk from my experience i had sperzels on a guitar and the locking mechanisms bent in them and they were pointless. My mustang never goes out of tune i also fixed the bridge issue by giving it a zero point so that i can slam on the whammy as much as i want and it still stays in tune also stretch those strings that helps. Theres some hints i guess and my opinion sorry its so lengthy.

SmutVendetta

coldwaraudio said: My mustang never goes out of tune i also fixed the bridge issue by giving it a zero point

zero point? How do ya do that?

RumorsOFsurF

Any tuning probs I've had have been from binding at the nut. IMO, locking tuners are overkill, and completely unnecessary. Most of them are ugly, too.

If your guitar won't stay in tune, make sure the bridge is centered in the thimbles and the strings are moving smoothly through the nut.

robertoriginal

here is something, i just got one of those vintage modified basses into the shop and the guys main complaint is that

i would drop it off and it would be set up and play like a dream for 2-3 days and then start buzzing and would not hold tune AT ALL!

(this is the third time its been in)

so last night im messing with it and i noticed that when i held it and played it was flat, but when i had it laying on the bench it was perfectly in tune.

then i noticed that it had a dreaded case of "cheap-neck-itus"

basically the soft maple fingerboard wasn't doing much for the truss rod.

i doubt thats the same thing that is going on with you(usually short scale necks are solid!)

but i figured i would throw that out there.

coldwaraudio

Yeah to set the zero point you take off the tremelo flip it over and the posts that hold on the floating part can be screwed in tight screw those in all the way it wont let u pull the tremelo back anymore (back means towards the strap pin on the butt of the guitar). It makes it so the strings return to the same place everytime you use the whammy other wise they end up in a different place everytime and thats what gives you tuning issues hope this helps.