The Steel Guitar Forum

Is anybody using locking tuners on their pedal steels?
After several years of stringing only keyless guitars it seems stupid to put up with the hassle of slippage etc on a guitar with normal keys... I think I`d only need them for the plain strings though....
My guitar has Sperzels, something that could be just dropped in would be ideal.
Any ideas,

Thanks,

Olli

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... ing+tuners

Recent thread here. Maybe there's some helpful info there.

Thanks Jerry, I`ll contact Sperzel !

That's a very good question - why don't steels have locking tuners on them? I think the reason is "because that's the way it's always been done." But, locking tuners are the way to go. I have them on all my 6-string guitars and would've bought them eons ago if I'd known how much time & hassle they save. I checked with my steel manufacturer & they said locking tuners would not fit, but I may attempt it somehow anyway. Good topic.

Yes, I have a set of Grover roto locks on my old Beck and on a project guitar I'm working on and they are great so far. 18:1 ratio is nice and the locking part makes changing strings nearly painless. I don't know why any current builders aren't using lockers of some make as standard issue already.As far as fit ,they are perfectly able to fit any head that takes a standard ,full size Grover Rotomatic. Only diff I found is the tuning post on the lockers is .01" shorter so imo that's relatively negligable

I put a set of locking Sperzels on a S-10 Excel several years ago. Everytime I pushed the pedals, the 3rd string broke. After about 3 broken 3rd strings, I took them off and put the original tuners back on.

I have them on my Emmons SKH SD-10, and despite the limited space available (tuners are closer together than on most guitars), have no problem turning the locking wheels. Would not hesitate to install them on most any guitar.

Jack Wilson wrote:I put a set of locking Sperzels on a S-10 Excel several years ago. Everytime I pushed the pedals, the 3rd string broke. After about 3 broken 3rd strings, I took them off and put the original tuners back on.

I found if u dress the edges of the string hole in the post,to remove any sharp edges and smooth it nicely, it eliminated the string breakage prob

My Lock tuning keyed American Strat is a joke. It takes 10 times as long to tune and I haven't found it to be any better than a good set of plain tuning keys.

"It takes 10 times as long to tune "

I don't see how that is even possible, Bo! I have Sperzels on a few of my six stringers, and it takes far less than half the time to put on a string. Stick the string thru the post, turn the locking wheel, and tune up to pitch, one wind, stretch the string (I use my old Fender string-stretcher) re-tune, and you're done. And, it stays in tune much mo better.

Stormy,
I agree. There must have been a burr or a sharp edge,,,,maybe doing an extra wind or two would have helped. But,,,, I have always used them on my B/G bender guitars, because of the vastly improved tuning stability, and I've never had a string break at the post. Never! And I go nutz with those benders!

I find that with somewhere around 6 winds on plain strings (down to around 4 on wounds under .040), slippage is a nonissue on my Zum.
Live Steels on E9 and SIT on C6, and I've only had to tune 3 strings in the last 4 weeks of playing it every Sunday (and casing it for the drive back home) and keeping it in the garage while I'm gone.
That said, the locking Sperzels look good

Am I talking about the same thing . Picture below
Surely you're not implying you can tune up, lock and not have to tune for days
Let me tell you how it goes with me.
I unlock it tune the string and then relock it and it's sharp so I unlock it tune it flat and lock it and it's a little flat or a little sharp so I unlock it and try the whole process over again and again till when I lock it it's in tune. After you do this on 6 strings 10 times as long tuning is being optimistic.
Then with bending some strings, beating on it and temp change I have to go through this process again to get in back in tune. Thank God I have other guitars and I can leave that baby home where it belongs.

Actually, I left a sentence out: I meant on a stock Zum, I don't have a slipping problem.
I play every Sunday: when I check my tuning, only one or two strings out of twenty need adjusting. The guitar is rock solid.
The locking tuners look good just from the simplicity point, I don't think it'd improve on what Bruce used in late 1990

Now I`m confused...
I thought the locking tuners just lock the string in place and you can still tune the guitar like a normal tuner ??

Yes, Olli. But many think detuning is due to string slippage

No problem with slippage once the string is settled. I just want string changing to be as fast and reliable as on a keyless.
What Bo describes sounds more like a locking nut which has to be unlocked to use the tuners...
With locking tuners you don`t have to unlock anything until you change strings, right??

Olli, I never got straight answers as to locking tuners on steel. I put regular Sperzels on my BenRom steels which in fact was what Roger at Sperzel recommended. I find it very fast to change/install strings using my trusty old sidewinder.

From reading the Sperzel website, your understanding of how they work is right.
I'm with Bent, regular tuners ain't that time consuming.

I`m spoiled by six years of keyless. And that is way faster....

hehe yep got it Olli. You're just a spoiled brat
Seriously though..changing strings the regular way on steel can be a challenge since normally one has to make sure that the string doesn't slip out of its anchoring on the changer end while you are trying to line up things at the keyhead end. I partly eliminated this problem by drilling a hole thru the changer finger and sticking the string thru - and forget that end til it's time to center the string on the finger after semi-tightening the tuner.

So far, this seems to work fine - no abnormal string breaking etc.

Hope Ben will read this and chime in...I think he changed one string since getting the guitar in May.

Bo! What kind of tuners are those? With Sperzels, you don't have to unlock it to tune. Put in the string, lock it and tune. You don't ever unlock it again, except when you go to put on a new string. And yes, I stay in tune for a long time! Using the string stretcher eliminates the "settling in " time completely. The only time I have to touch up the tuning is due to the string wearing out, or for atmospheric and heat issues. Same on my Kline. If I have to tune the 3rd or 4th string more than twice in a 5 hour gig, I know it's time for a new string!

Don't feel bad Bo. It's not your falt they never mentioned that in Guitar for Dummies.

BWAAAAAA! Yo Bo, befo yo tunes!