There is a little more to machineheads/ tuners than you may think. A common repair comes about when the machine heads are too heavy for the headstock, typically snapping the guitar neck if the guitar suffers a fall or good knock. The resonance of the neck and sustain of the instrument is effected by any increase of weight to the headstock. Crowding occurs when tuning pegs are too close, making it difficult to tune, too widely spaced the headstock becomes elongated, common on 12 string guitars.
If your going to change your old tuners/ machineheads, it is wise to consider the following :
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | It is best not to increase the weight of the machineheads/ tuner. |
| 2 | Do not use cheap hardware, they tend to slip out of tune. Cheap hardware, typically the string holes are not chamfered causing the stings to snap. Basically they are false economy. |
| 3 | Check the ratio is correct, some machineheads are very coarse and other are fine, meaning you either turn a little or a lot to adjust the tension. |
| 4 | For many obvious reasons, mainly consistency and looks it's best to replace all machineheads and not just one or two at a time. If the tuners are from a quality instrument, replace them with what they came with, it will cost a little more, but consider the options, drilling holes into the headstock and the risk of suffering all the above issues. |
| 5 | Finally the tuners may not be the issue, if your instrument is going out of tune, check to see if the nut and saddle are correctly set up. |
| 6 | String slip is the most common reason instruments go out of tune. It might be your technique of stringing your instrument that needs some revision. |
Here is an example of the base plates being fitted, lining up the capstans and ferrules is an exact process. Some manufactures tend to drill over size holes, to avoid the screws breaking off during assembly, resulting in the screws will strip out the base plates become loose.
Locking machineheads do not lock your guitar in tune, they only lock the string in place. I am not convinced they do anything more than that.
They do however make it quicker to string a guitar, you don't have to wind the string around the post as you do for conventional machineheads, the string only needs a turn around the shaft and then through the eye of the shaft, the locking tuner does the rest.
The advantage of open head tuners, you are able to readily lubricate them, this makes for a noticeable difference especial on high tension strings. However they are suspectable to the dust and grime of the world. Enclosed tuners : The argument is they don't need lubricating.
It is best not to use oil as it migrates to other parts of the instrument, Grease is better but will migrate eventually. When you apply the grease do it sparingly. Vaseline is very good.
Studio hours : Mon - Fri 10.00 am - 5.30