Changing machine heads--Any advice?

[Wee Davy]

This weekend I'm changing the tuners on my Hummingbird Pro from Grover 102s to Grover 135s.

Simply for aesthetic reasons by the way.

I've never done a tuner change before, any advice?

 

[62burst]

-Put a capo on the fretboard before loosening strings.

-A little tape on the drill bit as a depth gauge for the 2nd screw hole.

-Be sober.

 

 

Looks like a nice tuner, gotta love the tulips (esp. the slightly greenish ones). Enjoy.

[zombywoof]

Personally I have never been a fan of the tulip tuners and stick with the little white buttons.

 

I swap out tuners on a regular basis often because the pre-War junkers I tend to love can come with either busted up and needing to be replaced tuners or have some very nice Kluson or Sta-Tite tuners I want to put on something else that has had the originals replaced with some 1960s crappy offshore made ones.

 

Never thought of the capo thing though which is a great idea. Much obliged.

[bobouz]

The best tuner swap is one that's totally reversible,

if for any reason you end up not preferring the new tuners.

[onewilyfool]

-Put a capo on the fretboard before loosening strings.

-A little tape on the drill bit as a depth gauge for the 2nd screw hole.

-Be sober.

 

 

Looks like a nice tuner, gotta love the tulips (esp. the slightly greenish ones). Enjoy.

"Be Sober"….lol

[nodehopper]

"Be Sober"….lol

 

Yah....good advice ...here is what happened the other nite...I was HAMMERED and decided to put on some new strings...

 

[62burst]

Ha. Good one. Some people will do anything to get good string break angle ; ).

[larryp58]

Waverly

[capmaster]

Yah....good advice ...here is what happened the other nite...I was HAMMERED and decided to put on some new strings...

 

[lol]

[capmaster]

This weekend I'm changing the tuners on my Hummingbird Pro from Grover 102s to Grover 135s.

Simply for aesthetic reasons by the way.

I've never done a tuner change before, any advice?

 

I never changed anything on a headstock when changing tuners and never will. I always went with drop-ins.

[BigKahune]

.

I've done perfect swaps - the capo trick is good for this.

 

I've also gone through resizing the post hole bigger. For this job I like to remove all the strings. When using a drill, be very careful of splintering the wood on the side the drill bit comes through on. I like to lay the guitar so I can hold the back of the headstock against a scrap piece of wood to prevent splintering the back of the headstock.

 

 

 

@Nodehopper - - Whoa! . In this case I think. "HAMMERED" .would be the proper usage. . B)

 

 

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[Wee Davy]

Thanks everyone for your help.

The trick with the capo and definitely the advice about staying sober really helped.

I wasn't in the slightest bothered by drilling a second hole. I shan't be going back to the original Grovers.

The 135s were a straight replacement otherwise and the whole job only took around half an hour.

 

http://imageshack.com/a/img673/6492/UREXro.jpg

[BigKahune]

.

Backside looks great.

 

 

.

[62burst]

Ahh... that's better. Now you can reward yourself with a nice beverage, put those heavy Rotomatics into a plastic bag, heft that bag, & have a smile at the weight you just took off of the headstock. Oh, and it looks good, too. Well done.

[Wee Davy]

Ahh... that's better. Now you can reward yourself with a nice beverage, put those heavy Rotomatics into a plastic bag, heft that bag, & have a smile at the weight you just took off of the headstock. Oh, and it looks good, too. Well done.

Thanks. They're going on ebay tomorrow.

[Slinky1]

Man! I love those green tuners!

[Scootch]

Yah....good advice ...here is what happened the other nite...I was HAMMERED and decided to put on some new strings...

 

 

Hey, you batted .333. Not bad.

[j45nick]

Hey, you batted .333. Not bad.

 

 

How do you figure that? I've Nodehopper at 0 for 6.

[nodehopper]

That picture is from frets.com page in the string changing section. It's a picture that has always cracked me up. They say it was really brought in like that by a customer.

 

Definitely a total fail.

[BigKahune]

 

Hey, you batted .333. Not bad.

 

How do you figure that? I've Nodehopper at 0 for 6.

 

The two E aren't wound correctly, but at least they're in the correct nut slots -> 2/6 = .333 . IMHO, acceptable given the HAMMERED condition. . B)

 

 

.

[j45nick]

The two E aren't wound correctly, but at least they're in the correct nut slots -> 2/6 = .333 . IMHO, acceptable given the HAMMERED condition. . B)

 

 

.

 

 

You're being pretty generous, I think.

 

I believe Nodehopper was having a wee bit of fun with us.......

[uh66]

Thanks everyone for your help.

The trick with the capo and definitely the advice about staying sober really helped.

I wasn't in the slightest bothered by drilling a second hole. I shan't be going back to the original Grovers.

The 135s were a straight replacement otherwise and the whole job only took around half an hour.

 

Hi Everyone here,

- my first post, after years of lurking and learning...

 

Wee Davy,

 

I also own a Hummingbird Pro (2013). I love its sound, size, feel, neck and appearance very much. But I wanted to swap the tuners for optical reasons from Day 1.

 

So, how does your guitar sound after the swap? Do you notice a change in tone or volume?

 

 

I tried Schaller Nickel Vintage white button - very nice quality. I had these on my guitar for some months (without drilling the second holes). They worked as smooth as the Grovers. I loved their look, but the guitar considerably lost volume, bass, and sparkle. I changed strings, had a setup, but it just wasn´t the guitar I was in love with, so one day I put the heavy Grovers back on - bingo, sound back!! I started to suspect that the weight of the tuners (about 290g) contributes to the sound.

 

Now I just ordered Kluson Tulips M33VC along with reduction bushings - great classic HB look, little washers (bushings), nice button colour, easy swap!

I would love to keep those, but I´ll see how they affect tone. Maybe I´ll put some weight on the back of the headstock.

 

kind regards,

Uwe, germany

[bobouz]

I changed strings, had a setup, but it just wasn´t the guitar I was in love with, so one day I put the heavy Grovers back on - bingo, sound back!! I started to suspect that the weight of the tuners (about 290g) contributes to the sound.

I have also suspected that a somewhat neck heavy instrument is a good thing - even going so far in the past as to insert a fishing weight into the truss rod cavity of a guitar or two. Can't specifically recall sonic differences, but my armchair belief is that some instruments can benefit from the extra weight.

[Wee Davy]

Hi Everyone here,

- my first post, after years of lurking and learning...

 

Wee Davy,

 

I also own a Hummingbird Pro (2013). I love its sound, size, feel, neck and appearance very much. But I wanted to swap the tuners for optical reasons from Day 1.

 

So, how does your guitar sound after the swap? Do you notice a change in tone or volume?

 

 

I tried Schaller Nickel Vintage white button - very nice quality. I had these on my guitar for some months (without drilling the second holes). They worked as smooth as the Grovers. I loved their look, but the guitar considerably lost volume, bass, and sparkle. I changed strings, had a setup, but it just wasn´t the guitar I was in love with, so one day I put the heavy Grovers back on - bingo, sound back!! I started to suspect that the weight of the tuners (about 290g) contributes to the sound.

 

Now I just ordered Kluson Tulips M33VC along with reduction bushings - great classic HB look, little washers (bushings), nice button colour, easy swap!

I would love to keep those, but I´ll see how they affect tone. Maybe I´ll put some weight on the back of the headstock.

 

kind regards,

Uwe, germany

 

Maybe it's because my ears are old and my hearing isn't what it was in my teens but I haven't noticed any difference in tone at all.

I just prefer the look. I've never been a fan of the Rotomatic design.

[BigKahune]

... I changed strings, had a setup, but it just wasn´t the guitar I was in love with, so one day I put the heavy Grovers back on - bingo, sound back!! ...

 

Welcome.

 

An interesting observation about extra weight. Although I always thought a heavier neck was better for sound/tone, I never thought about the weight of the tuners affecting the sound/tone.

 

 

@Bobouz - Fishing weights in the truss cavity - yet another interesting method to tweak the sound/tone, albeit a bit on the Rube Goldberg side of things. . B)

 

 

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