Ultimate bridge, nut and tuner combinations for tuning?

PeachyDragon

Recently I looked at the Evertune bridge as mentioned in other
threads and I had issues with it... It's great for a guitar that doesn't go flat,
but as guitarists we still need to be able to play bends and vibrato without compromise;
and if the tuning peg slips it will still mess with bends and vibrato. For R4000
that's a bit lacking

Many people play Fenders that don't need tuning more than once a week or so.
So there have to be better solutions.
What do you guys think?
Solid one-piece bridge with a locking nut and locking tuning pegs?
The locking nut might be over-kill... and often causes problems if retro-fitted.

Gearhead

Locking nuts are to prevent the friction in the nut causing detuning with extreme whammy action. They are normally only used with floating bridges that can do extreme whammy action (unless you can do five stop bends...).
Locking tuners are there to prevent the string slipping through the peg, more of a luxury than necessity if you know how to string up properly. They are no use with a locking nut since the nut takes the tuners out of play.
Tuning stability in my opinion also has a lot to do with the finish of the guitar. A properly finished piece of wood (covered by lacquer on all sides) does not 'see' changes in the air humidity and therefore does not deform itself, leaving the tuning intact.

Tuning is also not so much of an issue that it warrants making concessions to the guitar's tone, so maybe you ought to make that the dominant factor when choosing components. Locking tuners are fine, but no one has ever commented that locking nuts make any guitar sound better.

AlanRatcliffe

For your Hamer? 3- a side headstock?

Gotoh locking tuners - top lock so you don't add any weight to an already neck heavy instrument (admittedly I'm guessing, based on the Hamers I've played before). In fact, you can improve it slightly too by going for pearloid or wooden keys, which are even lighter.

Graph Tech Trem nut (black Tusq) - sound good and the lowest friction of any nuts available. A properly cut unbleached bone nut will be a little better on the tone side at the expense of more friction.

Bridge - any decent fixed bridge will be stable. Two stud floating vibrato designs (non-locking) are the best balance between tone and tuning stability.

PeachyDragon

Thanks for the feedback.
I know that locking tuners and a locking nut cancel each other
in a way, but a locking nut isn't an infallible system.
Yes, it's usually used with a whammy but there are cases
where the string is slack behind the nut due to friction which
is problem A and problem B is that a low E string will sometimes
go sharp if hit hard due to many reasons such as vibration at the nut
and the string somehow changing tension at the nut groove. (That's what I was told anyhow)

A frictionless Nut would cancel the issue as Alan suggested.

PeachyDragon

And I would assume that tuning changes due to weather have more to do with the actual steel strings expanding and contracting rather than the guitar itself.

Bob-Dubery

PeachyDragon wrote: Yes, it's usually used with a whammy but there are cases
where the string is slack behind the nut due to friction which
is problem A and problem B is that a low E string will sometimes
go sharp if hit hard due to many reasons such as vibration at the nut
and the string somehow changing tension at the nut groove. (That's what I was told anyhow)

A frictionless Nut would cancel the issue as Alan suggested.

Cases where a string goes sharp after being played are generally something to do with the nut and too much friction in the nut. Sometimes it can be remedied by cleaning up and cleaning out the nut slots and making sure they are wide enough for the string gauge being used.

PeachyDragon wrote: And I would assume that tuning changes due to weather have more to do with the actual steel strings expanding and contracting rather than the guitar itself.

Well what do you think is more subsceptible to climate changes and especially changes in humidity - the wood or the metal?

PeachyDragon

X-rated Bob wrote: Well what do you think is more subsceptible to climate changes and especially changes in humidity - the wood or the metal?

Well, as a layman I think that a tin roof shows more obvious signs of conducting heat and expanding that a wooden panel does.
So even though I assume you are correct, to my mind which is uneducated in these matters my conclusion still seems
sound in a strange logical way. 0 for logical deduction. 1 for scientific research.

PeachyDragon

Okay, I pity the fool, meaning me. I'm confusing temperature effects with humidity effects.

Gearhead

? and you're confusing conductivity with expansion ?

singemonkey

I think your biggest issue is always going to be your nut. Get a graph-tech nut and have it cut by a skilled pro. That's half the trouble there.

Locking tuners are interesting. I'm very inconsistent in my string winding and hence get better tuning stability out of my locking tuner guitars. But it is clearly possible to get great stability out of normal tuners with the right winding technique. The main value of locking tuners is actually string changing convenience - to which they make a great difference.

But definitely the best bang-for-buck in tuning stability is the well-cut nut from in a low friction material.

AlanRatcliffe

I love locking tuners, they make string changes incredibly quick, tuning quick, easy and stable and neatens headstocks.

BTW, the Fender style "split" tuners are very nearly as good as locking tuners.