Suggestions- locking tuners for Ibanez

mucksavage

Hi all
  I have an Ibanez FR2620, its a hardtail with the standard Ibanez headstock. I decided recently for a bit of fun to upgrade to locking tuners. Now, the guitar is fitted with Gotoh SG381's, so I thought no problem, I'll just buy the locking version....no need to drill out anything and no mess on the back of the headstock So I spent £65 plus £10 post on the Sg381 MG-T's, only to discover the string posts are too short grrr. Cost me £10 to send back and then Axesrus decided to only give me a partial refund with no explanation despite all packaging etc intact, WTF? Thats for another day though.  
  So, i dig a little deeper and turns out they come with 3 different length string posts (again, no mention of this on Axesrus)...but heres the kicker - none of them are as long as the standard (22mm)! Even if i buy a set of the extra long ones they have a staggered length, some of which will likely also be too short! See for yourselves...let me know if I'm interpreting it wrong;
https://g-gotoh.com/product/sg381/?lang=en

Anyways, I'm now down £30 and the afforementioned "fun" has been sucked out of this little upgrade lol.  looks like Ill have to go with another brand...can anyone with experience of Ibanez suggest what my best (least messy) options are for changing from Gotoh? I dont want anything that requires a smaller hole through the headstock...

Thanks!

Funkfingers

Locking ‘heads are unnecessary for your guitar. Just tie the strings around the posts such that the wraps trap themselves firmly against the post. (There are several variations on how to do this.)

mucksavage

Hiya
 Ah I know they aren't a must have, its more for easy string changes...I cant really afford a new guitar at the moment so making a few mods to this one (pickups etc).

normula1

There's another version of Gotoh tuners with the lock on the top of the post. I'll measure them tomorrow.

Funkfingers

Probably, the Magnum Lock type. Those sometimes have adjustable post height. That way, it is possible to attain the correct break angle over the nut, avoiding having strings binding in the slots.

mucksavage

Hi guys
  its the magnum lock heads that have the problem...if you look at the link i sent, at the bottom of the page it shows the lengths of the different types.  The ones with adjustable string post height are called hapm, but when you buy a set the 1st 2 posts have a different spec to the other 4 lol

mucksavage

...The problem being those 2 are too short for the Ibanez

normula1

Totally forgot to measure the alternate type. On my guitar with a 14mm thick headstock, the centre of the string hole is just shy of 6mm above the surface. They're not staggered so I use a graphite string tree.

Whistler

Schaller is another manufacturer that makes parts that I have seen on Ibanez electric guitars.

timmypix

Hipshots?

mucksavage

Thanks for the replies guys, have been offline.Will research and let you know what I end up with!

SteveRobinson

I have a customer who has had me put the Planet Waves Auto-trim tuners on his guitars. They work realy well with the benefit of no sharp string ends. The only downside is you can't refit strings.

https://www.daddario.com/products/accessories/guitar-hardware/auto-trim-tuning-machines/auto-trim-tuning-machines-6-in-line/