Are Grover locking tuners any good?

[littleredguitars2]

i want to put some locking tuners on my new les paul. it has non-locking grovers on it currently and i'd like to avoid adjusting the hole size. so i assume all grovers are the same hole size. i'm just curious if anyone has experience with them and what they think.

thanks

[JaycoxGuitars]

http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/necks/tunerholes.aspx

No experience with Grover locking tuners but according to Warmoth a Grover is a Grover.  I've used both Sperzel and Planet Waves locking tuners, and the Sperzels, while more expensive, are definitely better.

[littleredguitars2]

Yeah I really don't want to spend the extra money on bringing them to my guitar tech though since they are a different size.  People recommend them a lot though

[Philly Q]

I prefer Gotohs, and they do make a tuner which will directly replace Grovers (without having to drill new screw holes).  Quite hard to get hold of the right ones though, especially in gold.

To fit Planet Waves or Sperzels you'd have to enlarge the holes for the tuners to 10mm (or 25/64" or whatever it is), all the way through the headstock.  I wouldn't do it!

The locking Grovers are OK though, and not much heavier than the non-locking ones.

[Dave Sloven]

I replaced non-locking Grovers with auto-locking Grovers in my Explorer.

I like them, but I think you should be aware that the posts tend to be a bit taller than the normal ones, and this can be an aesthetic issue if that worries you.  They apparently work fine in Les Pauls though.

There are some reviews of them on the Stew Mac site

[littleredguitars2]

yeah the stew mac reviews seemed favorable. i'd probably get the ones that have the turning mechanism on the back instead of the auto ones.

[Lucas]

When I was replacing my standard Grovers with locking Sperzels Trim-Lock in my Dean, I didn`t have to enlarge any holes or anything like that. They fitted perfectly straight away. Just check it.

Never used locking Grovers, but I can tell you that Sperzels are superb. I`ve been using them for well over a year now and they`re great. You can get them on ebay for about 50-60$. Even that shipping cost to the UK raised the price up slightly, it was still worth it. As far as I remember you live in the US so it`ll be even cheaper for you.

[littleredguitars2]

from what i've heard, sperzels have an alignment peg underneath the main tuning peg that i'd have to drill for.

[Dave Sloven]

Grover -> Grover is a direct replacement unless you are using the 'vintage replacement' (tulip style) Grovers, which are a Gibson fitment.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Guitar,_solid_peghead_tuners/Grover_Tuners/Grover_Deluxe_Keystones.html

[littleredguitars2]

these are the ones i have now

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Guitar,_solid_peghead_tuners/Grover_Tuners/Grover_Rotomatic_Keystone_Tuners.html?actn=100101&xst=3&xsr=46

but it says its 10mm and the ones i'm lookin at are 10mm so i should be okay

[Dave Sloven]

Are you looking at these?

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Guitar,_solid_peghead_tuners/Grover_Tuners/Grover_Roto-Grip_Full-size_Locking_Guitar_Machines.html

The auto lockers are like 200 thou taller.

[littleredguitars2]

yeah. do you think the auto locking tuners would be the safer bet?

[littleredguitars2]

looks like the ones i have installed are pretty much in between the 2 for length

[Dave Sloven]

I have the auto-locking sort, and they are simple to use.  Doesn't sound like your guitar is 'vintage correct' at the headstock anyway so I don't see the issue with replacing your existing Grovers with either type.

[JJretroTONEGOD]

personally I think grovers especially the gold ones, just look and feel right on a gibson LP, although I also love sperzel I think that grovers are a good weight for a heavier guitar wheras sperzel can be good for shedding weight, just something to bear in mind.... you want the neck and headstock to feel balanced in relation to the body weight, an overly light headstock can make it feel weird from experience.

Ben.