Locking tuners - how are your experiences?

[Chakalawaka]

the GOTOH SD90-SL MG are nice locking tuners because they don't kill the vintage vibe of your guitar with the thumb wheel, put personally I really love my sperzels on my Ibanez PS120!

 

[michae1jon]

Love the Sperzels!
My Ibanez has been sporting them for many years as well.
Some here have mentioned having to "try to screw down a knurled knob with your fingers (that adds a bunch of weight)", but the extra exertion and ounce and a half of added weight haven't bothered me one bit.

 

[keys88]

Half of my electrics have them, but that's just because they came with them. My LP, Strat, and Supro all have standard tuners and they work great so I don't feel the need to change them. Well, one of the tuners on the Supro is bent, lol. But it's an old Sahara from the 60's and the tuners are original so I don't want to swap them.

 

[80smetalhead]

I like both the Kluson and Grover locking tuners although I agree that the knob mechanism is a royal pain in the A. There has to be a better way.

Can’t stand Sperzel’s though. They came on a 2000 Parker Fly Classic I acquired and they felt cheap to me...plus the locking wheel was the worst I’ve ever used. Hard to turn, hurt my hand and never felt secure enough.

Otherwise I’m a big fan of locking tuners as I have them on all my gigging guitars and on a few others that go in and out of ny rotation. Love the quick changes, And I feel that combined with a good set up, Plek and a well cut bone nut and it contributes to staying in tune. Never regretted using them.

 

[DigitalTone]

I'm the one guy in the world that doesn't really like locking tuners.

No, no you're not haha.

 

[DigitalTone]

My Epiphone comes with Grover locking tuners. Great string change experience.

I have the Grover minilockers on my Epi 1960, and I hate em. But, I see their purpose and why some people would like them I guess, just not for me.

 

[waxout]

I like them for quick string changes and I prefer as little string wound around the post as possible.

 

[CB91710]

I like them, but I prefer the type with the thumb wheel on the back.
I don't want one that requires a separate tool like the Tronical tuners (even if a coin will work).
My G&L S500 came with Sperzels.
I've upgraded my Corona Strat, Flying-V, and SG... have the parts to upgrade the tuners and bridge on my '19 LP Standard.

But I do like to keep the "vibe" of the original, so my Tele and Strat Partscasters have tuners that fit the neck style... Kluson or Fender "F".
If/when I pick up a 50's Standard P90 Gold Top, it will retain the Klusons.

I really don't mind the weight. I was worried about neck dive on my SG, but it's fine... no dive at all. My Epiphone SG is terrible and even without tuners installed, it'll pull a ZZ-Top spin if you let go of it.
I thought more mass on the headstock was a good thing for "The Tonez"<tm>

 

[Mr Insane]

I bought a locking set because the original tuners on my LP wore out.

The higher gear ratio lets me tune more accurately.
But a locking set won't fix the issues of a poor set up or improperly cut nut.

 

[cowsgomoo]

I can take or leave them - had an SG with locking Grovers. They were fine. regular Grovers are fine too

 

[John Vasco]

Came as standard on my 2009 '08 Standard.

All they do is hold the string inside the post.

Useful for slightly faster string changes, that's all.

 

[Brek]

I tried them, yup, string changes quicker, and when I’m in a fiddling with it frame of mind that would be useful, but I hated the look, so took them of, fitted some 1965 grovers with a 12/1 ratio instead on the lemon top.lol. Put standard ones back on the R0.

 

[CB91710]

I tried them, yup, string changes quicker, and when I’m in a fiddling with it frame of mind that would be useful, but I hated the look, so took them of, fitted some 1965 grovers with a 12/1 ratio instead on the lemon top.lol. Put standard ones back on the R0.

And really handy on Fenders (or any bolt-on) because you can pull the neck and/or pickguard without unwinding the strings.
I've done it with a capo to keep them from flying off of the posts, but half the time I've ended up replacing the strings anyways because they unwrap just enough to cause slippage issues later.

 

[NotScott]

They came standard on my PRS Santana and they definitely help keep that trem in tune without a locking nut.

I bought a set of the Fender/Schallers for one of my Teles that had stock tuners and always was a bear to keep in tune throughout a show. The lockers solved the tuning issues and make string changes easier.

The next set I get will be for my Charvel Model 6. It uses a Floyd bridge with a Kahler behind-the-nut string lock. The Kahler lock sucks so I plan on ditching it and replacing the stock Grovers with locking tuners.

 

[CB91710]

They came standard on my PRS Santana and they definitely help keep that trem in tune without a locking nut.

I bought a set of the Fender/Schallers for one of my Teles that had stock tuners and always was a bear to keep in tune throughout a show. The lockers solved the tuning issues and make string changes easier.

The next set I get will be for my Charvel Model 6. It uses a Floyd bridge with a Kahler behind-the-nut string lock. The Kahler lock sucks so I plan on ditching it and replacing the stock Grovers with locking tuners.

I had the Kahler system on my Hondo... ya, hated it.
The bridge was awesome... I really preferred it to the Floyd, but that lock was horrible.

 

[integra evan]

Love locking tuners. A couple guitars of mine have them. Necessary? Nope, but nice to have.

 

[Imperial]

My Classic and Standard came with the locking Grovers, and I have a Strat that has the Fender branded ones. All have the locking wheel design and work great. I prefer locking tuners but wouldn’t replace stock non-locking tuners unless they were broken or something.

 

[CB91710]

Love locking tuners. A couple guitars of mine have them. Necessary? Nope, but nice to have.

Exactly.
I went 15 years without them and another 15 with them on only 1 guitar.
But I like them for string changing convenience.

 

[jcohen339]

I love my Fender locking F tuners. The ratio is smoooth.

 

[rogue3]

Love them on my tele's.

I have those gotoh vintage nickel lookalike locking tuners on a mexican roadworn tele, which preserves the vintage look.A little fiddly at first,but,once you get used to them,they are fine.I can see they might be too fiddly in a live gig/broken string situation.I've never gone there,however.
I had upgraded the bridge plate as well with a nickel dish with individual saddles.On that guitar, everything works together for a great sounding telecaster.perfect.The extra mass of the new bridge plate gives this tele a growl it didn't have before.

I have the stock oem Fender locking wheel tuners on a couple deluxe tele's. very nice.

I *perceive* better tuning stability on my tele's with the locking tuners...or is it quick settling of the string when it is locked in? no matter,i like the stable tuning.

I feel absolutely no need to change to locking tuners on my Les Pauls.The stock Klusons, and Grovers have worked fine for me once the string settles in.Just a little more work > proper neat winds on the post, loop and bend the string back on the first wind so it is *pinched* against the post.
In the past,if i was changing strings for a gig with my Les Paul(always new strings for gig's), pencil graphite for the nut,and a tiny drop of sewing machine oil for each bridge saddle ,then stretch them in,play it for 10 minutes,solid,stable,good to go.