Off-Kilter wrote: Hey guys - would like to find out what machine heads i can use for my lp without drilling new holes for e`m. I dropped my guitar and it landed on the machine heads bending a few of em.... i don`t know much bout machine heads but i want good ones that will ensure my guitar stays in tune, especially the g string.Read something on the gibson website bout grovers, but i currently have grovers on the guitar - don`t know the model of them but would like better ones than the stock.Any suggestions aswell where to buy them from?

If they're Grovers then they're good quality already. And you should be able to get another set of Grovers that will just drop into the existing holes.

You can't go wrong with Grovers! If you want to replace your tuners on the LP, replace with Grovers again!

Thanx for the reply - i quite like these ones the grover vintage http://www.guitarsplususa.com/images/machines/4135N-lg.jpg but it has 2 holes and the current ones on my guitar has 1 hole, would it be a train smash it i only used ones screw instead of 2? And what is a good price for a set of vintage grovers R400??

If the guitar does have grovers already, you might really want to think about the guitar's nut. My SG has a vibrato tailpiece. Now the Gibson type tuners are not ideal for this, but the real reason this guitar goes out of tune a lot is the nut. I can hear these little *pling*s sometime as the strings suddenly come loose in the nut and move a fraction of a centimetre.

Especially if it's one string in particular, you might want to check that out. Can the string move easily through the nut? If not, it might need to be recut, or you might just need to put some pencil "lead" (graphite) shavings in there to provide a bit of lubrication.

It would be a shame to spend a bunch on tuners if it's the nut that's the problem. So I'd exclude it first.

singemonkey wrote: Especially if it's one string in particular, you might want to check that out. Can the string move easily through the nut? If not, it might need to be recut, or you might just need to put some pencil "lead" (graphite) shavings in there to provide a bit of lubrication.

It would be a shame to spend a bunch on tuners if it's the nut that's the problem. So I'd exclude it first.

Absoloodely. Though I note that in this particular instance the machine heads are damaged anyway and need replacement, but as you say tuners are not the entire solution to tuning problems.

Off-kilter, click here for details of some recent surgery on one of my guitars that was having tuning problems.

Off-Kilter wrote: Thanx for the reply - i quite like these ones the grover vintage http://www.guitarsplususa.com/images/machines/4135N-lg.jpg but it has 2 holes and the current ones on my guitar has 1 hole, would it be a train smash it i only used ones screw instead of 2? And what is a good price for a set of vintage grovers R400??

I'd expect to pay more than that for a set of good, new machine heads - Gotoh, Schaller, Grover etc. I bought a set of Schallers in the UK recently and paid 60 pounds (and the guy had got the price wrong but, being a decent sort, stuck to the price that he had already quoted me).

Check out
www.elderly.com
or
www.stewmac.com

X-rated Bob wrote: Absoloodely. Though I note that in this particular instance the machine heads are damaged anyway and need replacement, but as you say tuners are not the entire solution to tuning problems.

Off-kilter, click here for details of some recent surgery on one of my guitars that was having tuning problems.

Must. Read. Posts. More. Carefully!

Thanx, ya i ca heard that ping sound u describe just with my g string - but the machine heads do need replacement but will def check the nut aswell. Thanx for the link checkin it now

Hey. My Les Paul's been out of action for ages since I damaged a tuner, and the various replacements had one problem or another to stop them working straight away. Well, I've figured that out finally, but I've now decided (after years of thinking about it) to put a Bigsby arm on the guitar.



Carl Perkins doing Blue Suede Shoes with his Bigsby'd P-90 Goldtop ?

For this I'm going to want to put serious attention into the tuning since I need to replace the tuners anyway. I've decided to get these:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Guitar,_solid_peghead_tuners/Grover_Tuners/Grover_Full-size_Locking_Tuning_Machines.html

They're high ratio (18:1), so they ain't moving, and they "grab" the string instead of you winding it on; so there's no chance of any movement/slippage on the capstan. My Yamaha has Sperzel locking tuners, and they're solid as a rock. These ones are not much more expensive than standard Grovers.

But I'm also going to get the Bigsby professionally installed (the guitar's too precious to me to experiment) and I'll get them to check the nut and the bridge at the same time to make sure that I have no problems with tuning.

Off-Kilter wrote: Hey guys - would like to find out what machine heads i can use for my lp without drilling new holes for e`m. I dropped my guitar and it landed on the machine heads bending a few of em.... i don`t know much bout machine heads but i want good ones that will ensure my guitar stays in tune, especially the g string.Read something on the gibson website bout grovers, but i currently have grovers on the guitar - don`t know the model of them but would like better ones than the stock.Any suggestions aswell where to buy them from?

What's the deal with G strings always being so notoriously hard to keep in tune anyways?
Any pearls of wisdom???

Put a wound G on. ? That'll solve most tuning/intonation issues with the G, because that's what most guitars were originally designed for.

grover rotomatics.... u'll never want to put on anything else again

I saw sets of Gibson branded Grovers at Music Connection in Jo'burg today. Gold finished with mock ivory buttons. R595 a set. That seems like a pretty good deal.