Best locking tuners for my Jazzmaster AV 65 headstock

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SurferMax
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Best locking tuners for my Jazzmaster AV 65 headstock

Post by SurferMax » Tue Jun 12, 2018 12:26 pm

Hello there,

I want to put locking tuners on my Jazzmaster AV 65 headstock (currently, the stock tuners/bushings are in-place), but I'm not sure about which ones are better, and also the specs needed.

I read about Hipshot's and Gotoh's but there are some things I get lost with. First, what kind of tuners should I get to avoid drilling extra holes and replacing bushings? What is the headstock holes size on my Jazzmaster AV 65 headstock (25/64" (10mm), or 21/64" (8.5mm))? What is the difference between staggered and non-staggered?

Many thanks everybody!

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Re: Best locking tuners for my Jazzmaster AV 65 headstock

Post by SurferMax » Tue Jun 12, 2018 12:53 pm


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Larry Mal
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Re: Best locking tuners for my Jazzmaster AV 65 headstock

Post by Larry Mal » Tue Jun 12, 2018 1:13 pm

The 10mm are the modern spec ream (like for the American Standard type guitars) and the 8.5mm will be the vintage ream, which is what you have. If you see that configuration with the 8.5mm then you are probably in the right place. They are also sometimes called "vintage Kluson type" tuners.

And, those Gotoh tuners are absolutely excellent, I tend to prefer the Kluson Revolution locking tuners:

http://www.kluson.com/revolution.html

Bear in mind that they make two kinds of those, a collared and a "no collar" kind. You'll need the "no collar" (which is just a straight shaft).
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Re: Best locking tuners for my Jazzmaster AV 65 headstock

Post by Larry Mal » Tue Jun 12, 2018 1:16 pm

This would be the Klusons I'm referring to, their website doesn't seem to list them anymore:

https://reverb.com/item/6428389-kluson- ... e-shipping
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Re: Best locking tuners for my Jazzmaster AV 65 headstock

Post by SurferMax » Tue Jun 12, 2018 1:56 pm

Thanks so much! Those Kluson Revolution tuners look amazing. I just got a set!

Thank you

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Re: Best locking tuners for my Jazzmaster AV 65 headstock

Post by Larry Mal » Tue Jun 12, 2018 3:57 pm

You are welcome... you're going to love them, I have them on my AVRI Jazzmaster, my MIJ Jazzmaster, my Lead 2, my Gibson J-35, I could go on... the Kluson Revolution locking tuners are just the best.

Let us know how you get on with them and welcome to the forum.
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Re: Best locking tuners for my Jazzmaster AV 65 headstock

Post by cmd2kx » Tue Jun 12, 2018 11:02 pm

This is helpful, thank you. Do you find that the tuning stability is increased with locking tuners ?

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Re: Best locking tuners for my Jazzmaster AV 65 headstock

Post by Larry Mal » Wed Jun 13, 2018 3:44 am

You know, it would be hard to say, I guess.

On my Gibsons, I always change out the tuners for locking tuners in conjunction with putting in a new locking bridge and fixed posts. The tuning does improve there, but that might be because of the other changes.

With my Fenders, the tuning is what I would call very good with the fixed bridge guitars, and with the Jazzmasters and such it's acceptable. I put on Mastery bridges and such there also.

But no, I've never found a tremolo unit that returns perfectly to pitch no matter what it is or how expensive it is, Mastery vibrato, Bigsby units, the G&L dual fulcrum, none of that stuff ever returns perfectly to pitch. I see people all the time on guitar forums talking about how their guitars return perfectly to where it had been and I wonder but don't care much what I might be doing wrong, or if they just aren't very concerned with accuracy or something. Mine are always slightly out of tune by five, maybe ten cents, I don't know.

I don't use whammy bars a lot, though, and basically don't care.

I put locking tuners on my acoustics, and there is no added tuning benefit there.

Basically, I put locking tuners on every guitar I have, not because I think it will add a lot of tuning stability but just because they tend to be the very best possible tuners available, and also because I seem to have some kind of dyslexic type thing about me where tying things drives me nuts and I hate stringing guitars otherwise a lot. I eliminate frustration in my life where I can.

So, TL;DR, I would say that if you are having problems with tuning stability then locking tuners are probably not the solution to any problem but they might help a bit if for no other reason than they are great tuners.
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Re: Best locking tuners for my Jazzmaster AV 65 headstock

Post by cmd2kx » Wed Jun 13, 2018 10:32 am

My most tuning stable tremolo guitar was a Fender American Strat with locking tuners, and a Callahan bridge using 5 springs at staggered length (after much research, trial and error). I have a strat with a Floyd Rose now that is less tuning stable (maybe it needs to be set up better).

Thank you for the input - I am curious how locking tuners work in conjunction with the Jazzmaster Tremolo- it is not a common setup.

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Re: Best locking tuners for my Jazzmaster AV 65 headstock

Post by SurferMax » Thu Jun 14, 2018 9:49 am

I own a Fender Tele Partscaster. The body comes from an American Special (in beautiful Lake Placid Blue), and the neck comes from a Tele Standard (with a gorgeous Olympic White headstock). I put on some Schaller locking tuners and I must say, it's by far the most tune stable guitar I have ever owned. Also, its the one that produces the loudest and most beautiful sound when unplugged. However, you must consider that first, the strings pass through the body, and second, it doesn't have a whammy bar. I also own a Gibson LP Standard with Grover locking tuners. It's very stable, but not as much as my Tele.

I have never put locking tuners on any guitar I have owned that comes with a whammy bar. However, IMHO, by far the best addition/replacement ever for keeping a Jaguar or a Jazzmaster in tune is the Masterybridge. Not only that. You simply forget about the buzz that produce the stock bridges, and also from having strings jumping all over the bridge. Mustang bridges are in between, not as good as a MB, but way better that the original crap. Actually, I would never own one a Jazzmaster or Jaguar without a Masterybridge. I'm wondering if the Mastery vibrato worth the money....

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Re: Best locking tuners for my Jazzmaster AV 65 headstock

Post by SurferMax » Thu Jun 14, 2018 9:51 am

Larry Mal wrote:
Tue Jun 12, 2018 3:57 pm
You are welcome... you're going to love them, I have them on my AVRI Jazzmaster, my MIJ Jazzmaster, my Lead 2, my Gibson J-35, I could go on... the Kluson Revolution locking tuners are just the best.

Let us know how you get on with them and welcome to the forum.
Thanks! I'll let you know!

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