Has anyone put locking tuning pegs on their guitar?

rushfan

rushfan

Power User
I have a stock Epiphine SG Pro, and it goes out of tune while playing a bit. Could it be the tuning pegs? Should I replace them with locking ones?
 
Most likely the strings are binding in the nut, or possibly the bridge. Stock tuners are pretty good these days, I'd be surprised if they were at fault. Put a little graphite in the nut slots and/or on the bridge (you can just use some fine pencil lead and rub it in the slots), and if that still doesn't fix it, then you probably want to get the bridge and nut looked at to make sure they don't have any burrs that could be catching the strings.

And, as always, make sure you're stretching new strings properly after putting them on.
 
afaik, locking tuners are not necessarily better for tuning stability than a good set of non-locking tuners. The locking aspect is related to being able to quickly change strings (no need to wind / unwind many times). Anyway, on my SG which tends to bind at the nut (due to the string re-direction inherent in Gibson design imo), I use nut sauce as well as a string butler which, between the two of those, solves the issue.
 
sprint said:
afaik, locking tuners are not necessarily better for tuning stability than a good set of non-locking tuners. The locking aspect is related to being able to quickly change strings (no need to wind / unwind many times). Anyway, on my SG which tends to bind at the nut (due to the string re-direction inherent in Gibson design imo), I use nut sauce as well as a string butler which, between the two of those, solves the issue.
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Quick string changes is certainly a perk, but pretty sure the main function is eliminating winds around the post eliminates string slippage resulting in greater tuning stability. Of course, if you properly wind your strings on a non-locking tuner this shouldn't be an issue.
 
Morphine said:
Quick string changes is certainly a perk, but pretty sure the main function is eliminating winds around the post eliminates string slippage resulting in greater tuning stability. Of course, if you properly wind your strings on a non-locking tuner this shouldn't be an issue.
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This... Removing the option for string slippage.
 
Agree with all of the above.

However, check the difference in weight between tuners and think about the balance of your guitar. I had one, relatively light I guess, guitar feel pretty wonky with the added weight. Half a dozen others were fine.
 
rushfan said:
I have a stock Epiphine SG Pro, and it goes out of tune while playing a bit. Could it be the tuning pegs? Should I replace them with locking ones?
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How old are the strings?

Get one of these:
Stretcha Amazon product ASIN B0085545YO
If you've put on heavier gauge strings than before, the nut may be pinching. You may need a guitar tech to widen the slots.

Ditto on pencil lead in nut slots.

Wind the strings well. Check out:



Check your intonation.
 
I put drop-in vintage locking on my PRS McCarty 594... I was not going to be doing any drilling on a beautiful guitar

I put locking tuners on Mex Strat, and they just went in the same holes also. I do like the reduction in string slack and seem to have better tuning stability more consistently. Quicker to string up also.

Again, try to find drop-ins, reduces the variables on the string angle, and if you have trees, etc. If not use some Nut Juice and string them up properly with regular tuners, work good also if they are high quality. I get those sleeves for the trems before I discovered Wilkinson locking saddles.
 
I vote against using a string stretcher. I just bought one and used it on my last string change. Sure, it makes the job faster, but I broke a B string pretty soon after using it, (I don't break strings until they've been on the guitar so long they start having overtones) and I was careful to not go crazy with the tool. But worse than that, the broken string had all these 'bumps' along its length, caused by the stretcher. I'm going back to using my fingers.
 
TSJMajesty said:
I vote against using a string stretcher. I just bought one and used it on my last string change. Sure, it makes the job faster, but I broke a B string pretty soon after using it, (I don't break strings until they've been on the guitar so long they start having overtones) and I was careful to not go crazy with the tool. But worse than that, the broken string had all these 'bumps' along its length, caused by the stretcher. I'm going back to using my fingers.
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Where did it break? You may have overdone it?

I never have "bumps" and the device was recommended by a very reputable tech for a touring virtuoso. He swears by it.
 
fractalz said:
Where did it break?
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It was somewhere in the middle.
fractalz said:
You may have overdone it?
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Maybe so, but think about it: The surface area of the part of the tool that mates with the string is quite small, so unless you're only pulling on it very gently, it's gonna stress the string at every point along its length where you make contact with the string. So imo, if you're gonna 'baby' it, so as to not stress the string at various points, may as well use your fingers.
fractalz said:
I never have "bumps" and the device was recommended by a very reputable tech for a touring virtuoso. He swears by it.
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I'm not sure about simply taking the recommendation of a pro tech, when it comes to what they do with strings, because all they have to do is get what, 20 minutes of use out of a new set of strings, due to guitar changes during a show, and the fact they put new strings on after each show?

Even if it's longer, say every 3 shows, that's still not nearly as much time spent on the guitar as I want my strings to last. My point being, what they're doing I don't think truly translates to how most of the average players deal with strings on a guitar.

But you know, YMMV and all that. Maybe I was too hard on it. But looking at the tool, compared to using my fingers, the pressure on the string is spread out over a much larger portion of each string, when I use my hand.
 
TSJMajesty said:
It was somewhere in the middle.

Maybe so, but think about it: The surface area of the part of the tool that mates with the string is quite small, so unless you're only pulling on it very gently, it's gonna stress the string at every point along its length where you make contact with the string. So imo, if you're gonna 'baby' it, so as to not stress the string at various points, may as well use your fingers.

I'm not sure about simply taking the recommendation of a pro tech, when it comes to what they do with strings, because all they have to do is get what, 20 minutes of use out of a new set of strings, due to guitar changes during a show, and the fact they put new strings on after each show?

Even if it's longer, say every 3 shows, that's still not nearly as much time spent on the guitar as I want my strings to last. My point being, what they're doing I don't think truly translates to how most of the average players deal with strings on a guitar.

But you know, YMMV and all that. Maybe I was too hard on it. But looking at the tool, compared to using my fingers, the pressure on the string is spread out over a much larger portion of each string, when I use my hand.
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Which one are you using? I use this one:

Stretcha https://a.co/d/3yNqU9J

I still don't get the "bumps" comment. The one above has two pressure points (one up, one down) so there isn't really a single pinch point.

For sure the use-case I saw was one string set per night, but I've had good experience with this for a few years now.

The source was Thomas Nordegg, Steve Vai's tech at a Vai academy. He shows his process here (about 19 min in)

 
fractalz said:
Which one are you using? I use this one:

Stretcha https://a.co/d/3yNqU9J

I still don't get the "bumps" comment. The one above has two pressure points (one up, one down) so there isn't really a single pinch point.

For sure the use-case I saw was one string set per night, but I've had good experience with this for a few years now.

The source was Thomas Nordegg, Steve Vai's tech at a Vai academy. He shows his process here (about 19 min in)

Click to expand...

Thomas does some pretty odd things that don't help. The string stretcher wears out pretty quick and IS a cause for kinks in the string if you are not careful . Useless POS actually and you can do a far better job with your fingers.
 
Locking tuners are nice to save time and string up easily but if you put your strings on properly there is no tuning issues caused by normal tuners. Make sure you always tune UP to pitch then even the worst backlash garbage tuners will stay in tune perfectly . Your problem is either the way you put the strings on or the nut.
 
I want locking tuners for restringing.

Apparently gotoh sd90 locking tuners arent a direct drop in on a lea paul?
 
Budda said:
I want locking tuners for restringing.

Apparently gotoh sd90 locking tuners arent a direct drop in on a lea paul?
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They are if you have vintage style bushings, if not the conversion bushing looks excellent you would hardly tell. Massively better than any other brand version.
 
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