Locking tuners....allow multiple tunings?

[Multani]

Hey, merry christmas everyone. Hope santa brought you plenty of amps, guitars, pedals, picks, leads, tuners, fast fret (if youre into that) and what not!

Oh k, so my fixed bridge guitar slips outta tune when i go for big bends and pinch harmonics. It's ok for now but if i am going to start playing live again, its not going to cut it.

So i am pretty much settled on the planet waves 6 in-line auto-trim heads. The only thing i need to know (and this would apply to all locking tuners, not just the planet waves) is if i will be able to tune to multiple tunings... might sound like a lamens question but i have NEVER used locking tuners before so i cant really....know? I move constantly between d-standard and drop-C so its only the one string. Will locking tuners accomodate this?

Cheers,

Andy.

[WezV]

locking tuners only lock the string in the post.   you pull the string through the post so there is no slack, tighten the locking mechanism and tune as normal


locking tuners do not lock the guitar in tune - but they do help tuning stability by removing all the string wraps from the tuner post

[FELINEGUITARS]

Sperzel do a drop tuner called the D thing
Works quite well once you get used to it
The only thing to watch for is when using really thick strings - the head may need a minor adjustment to get fat starings through the hole

http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/tuners_sperzeldthing.htm

[Matt77]

What sort of guitar is it?
Unless the tuners are really cheap, it's more likely to be the nut that causes tuning issues

[noodleplugerine]

You can turn locking tuners just like any other tuner. You can deffo change tuning with them. The only thing that makes them different to normal tuners, is that the string is held in place, instead of being wound in place, if that makes sense.

I recommend Sperzels.

[Multani]

cheers guys. Good to know... The guitar in question is a washburn x50 pro. Current tuners are Grover tuners, 1:18 gearing. Seem to be of OK standard. The nut is a teflon. Its an aftermarket one i had cut especially.

Most of the time it slips out of tune is when i do big bends on low frets. I dont think its the nut, its just me giving the tuners more abuse than they are wanting!

Hopefully a set of locking tuners will remedy this. Im going to order the planet waves ones, as they dont require any drilling out of me!

Thanks again.

[m0jo]

What you should make sure though is that you have enough windings to get back to the tuning you need.

Ie. if you have half a wind (because that's the essence of locking tuners) in E tuning you probably wouldn't make it from an E to a C, although D->C shouldn't be a problem. :)

I too recommend sperzels, although schallers are nice too! (the sperzel's knobs are a bit too funky for me).

[Nolly]

(the sperzel's knobs are a bit too funky for me).

Aha, but Sperzel have a several different button designs: http://www.sperzel.com/Models_Colors.asp
Plus, the open back models are very very cool..