Locking tuners for a RainSong Shorty?

[ac]

I believe until there were issues replenishing his supply of locking tuners from one supplier, most, if not all of Emerald guitars came with them and I think some still do. They were standard on my X7.

[HeavyDuty]

I had several emails back and forth today with Scott from Domo. While I can order the same SG301 machines in a locking version, he suggested an upgrade to SGV510Z tuners.

Does anyone have experience with these? I'm a little concerned about weight increase, but Scott commented that the SGV510Z was a higher quality machine which may be worth it. They seem to be OEM on quite a few high end guitars.

[SteelPastor]

Originally Posted by HeavyDuty

I had several emails back and forth today with Scott from Domo. While I can order the same SG301 machines in a locking version, he suggested an upgrade to SGV510Z tuners.

Does anyone have experience with these? I'm a little concerned about weight increase, but Scott commented that the SGV510Z was a higher quality machine which may be worth it. They seem to be OEM on quite a few high end guitars.

Are these tuners a simple swap for the stock ones on the Shorty? Same holes and dimensions?

.

[jonfields45]

If you don't mind the extra weight and bulk, they are handy for quick string changes. I have found that putting the absolutely minimum wrap of string (leading to less than half a turn of string on the post at pitch) on a locking tuner, if you like to bend strings, can lead to premature string breakage at the tuning post where the string bends out of the post hole. I had an Emerald where there was not space for any more than that and I broke a few strings. I'm not sure there is any tuning stability advantage on a fixed bridge guitar.

[HeavyDuty]

Originally Posted by SteelPastor

Are these tuners a simple swap for the stock ones on the Shorty? Same holes and dimensions?

.

He says yes. I'm trying to find weights right now.

[dkoloff]

Originally Posted by HeavyDuty

I was told that deviation from the limited edition specs isn't possible. Besides, I'm probably one of maybe three people in the world that would consider putting locking tuners on an acoustic!

Actually Alistair at Emerald Guitars puts Sperzels on his guitars...they are nice on them and a bit faster for string change.

[mchalebk]

Originally Posted by dkoloff

Actually Alistair at Emerald Guitars puts Sperzels on his guitars...they are nice on them and a bit faster for string change.

Alistair used to use Sperzel locking tuners. He's using Grovers now.

[Egnurlaup]

Along the same lines, I have a RS WS3000 and would really like to add new lock tuners with high gear ratios to speed up string changes ( I am lazy, but it is a 12 string after all!).

How would I determine which size to buy? Looked on Guitar Parts site and quickly saw it was beyond my technical reach.

[HeavyDuty]

Originally Posted by Egnurlaup

Along the same lines, I have a RS WS3000 and would really like to add new lock tuners with high gear ratios to speed up string changes ( I am lazy, but it is a 12 string after all!).

How would I determine which size to buy? Looked on Guitar Parts site and quickly saw it was beyond my technical reach.

A major issue with tuner replacement is that the usual suspects only carry a very limited assortment of what's really available. The Gotoh catalog (linked above) is huge.

I would drop RainSong a line with your serial number to ask what tuners your WS has now. I was very surprised to see that Gotoh makes most of their tuners in different versions - standard post, height adjustable post, locking post, height adjustable locking post and I think one or two others. Once you know exactly what you have now Scott at Domo can steer you through the minefield.

Can you post a pic of the back of your headstock?

[HeavyDuty]

OK, I just found a Gotoh website that lists weights. The 18:1 SG301 (stock tuners on the RainSong) are 36.2g each, the 18:1 SGV510 are also 36.2g, and the 21:1 SGV510Z are 36.4g each. Same = same.

Last decision is gear ratio. 18:1 like the stock tuners or 21:1?

More info than you can shake a stick at: http://www.g-gotoh.com/international...=machine-heads

EDIT: I went ahead and ordered the 21:1.

[HeavyDuty]

In reading older posts about locking tuners while I was researching this project I see that there is often some confusion about what they do.

"Locking" in this context refers to how the string is fastened to the tuner, not about holding the guitar in tune. I think people expect a locking tuner does the same thing as a locking nut on a pointy dive-bomber electric - which isn't the case.

Here are three videos Gotoh put out showing how their locking tuners work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I60I...848&height=480
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzWvI...848&height=480
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxsii...848&height=480

Other brands work a little differently.

[Egnurlaup]

Thanks for the links and ideas. It turns out my RS has regular Gotohs (1:16 I think), so that's a good point. However it appears from the catalogue that 1:21 machines are not made for "6 on a side" headstock. I have contacted Woodinville and we'll see what they come back with.

[HeavyDuty]

Originally Posted by Egnurlaup

Thanks for the links and ideas. It turns out my RS has regular Gotohs (1:16 I think), so that's a good point. However it appears from the catalogue that 1:21 machines are not made for "6 on a side" headstock. I have contacted Woodinville and we'll see what they come back with.

2 sets of 3+3 = 6+6. Just sayin'...

[Egnurlaup]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

I think I'll just buy a power winder!

[HeavyDuty]

Doesn't really do the same thing.