Upgrading Machineheads

Schnozz

I've decided to 'upgrade' the tuners on my precision bass, but I'm not sure what I need to measure.

The bridge is clearly a Gotoh 201B copy, which I'll be keeping hold of and switching to the real thing.

Does anyone know what I need to measure for the tuners? They work/balance fine again, so I'll be keeping them, but they don't look like anything I know...

https://i.imgur.com/nNGsX1z.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/kQx1AFs.jpg
Top x2 screws are 24mm apart and bottom x2 screws are 16mm and maybe 34mm between both sets. What should I be measuring? Whole bass is Korean with Alpha pots etc.

BillDL

The tuners on the Northwest Guitars website normally have line drawings with all the dimensions among the images for the products:
Right Handed Bass Tuners – Northwest Guitars
The string guide / tree has been positioned too far to the left looking at the headstock face, and additionally it might have too large a string spacing.  The strings are being pulled to the left.

fretmeister

If they work fine and the balance is fine, why are you changing them?

You normally have to take one off and measure the hole in the headstock. They look like many generic tuners which in turn are based on Fender ones. There's a good chance you'll run into imperial / metric conversions to get the right fit.

Personally, I'd swap for something very light - like Hipshot Ultralights or the Sandberg Lightweights and you could lower the bass weight by 1/4 to 1/3 of a pound. Very noticeable on a long gig.

ICBM

fretmeister said:

If they work fine and the balance is fine, why are you changing them?

It’s not as if you ever need to turn them on a bass, after the first week or so it takes the new strings to settle down.

Funkfingers

ICBM said:

fretmeister said:

If they work fine and the balance is fine, why are you changing them?

It’s not as if you ever need to turn them on a bass, after the first week or so it takes the new strings to settle down.

Bridgehouse isn't biting.

Schnozz

BillDL said:

The tuners on the Northwest Guitars website normally have line drawings with all the dimensions among the images for the products:
Right Handed Bass Tuners – Northwest Guitars
The string guide / tree has been positioned too far to the left looking at the headstock face, and additionally it might have too large a string spacing.  The strings are being pulled to the left.

Thank you - That's very helpful (again). The hole looks to be 18mm (14mm with bushing), so I'll need to double check before finding out which fit on the headstock. 

You're right - The string tree needed to be turned clockwise when I got the bass, as the 'troughs' underneath were off centre for some reason.

EDIT: I think this might even be them... https://northwestguitars.co.uk/products/4-x-bass-tuners-open-back-for-right-handed-fender-squier-jazz-precision-bass?variant=44714637590802

BillDL

In some instances the unbranded / "own brand" tuners sold on the Northwest Guitars website are quite clearly Wilkinson ones without the logo and off the same OEM production line, so they are good quality at a lower price.

GuitarAndy2

BillDL said:

In some instances the unbranded / "own brand" tuners sold on the Northwest Guitars website are quite clearly Wilkinson ones without the logo and off the same OEM production line, so they are good quality at a lower price.

I have a Korean Luna 'Paz Lenchantin' P-Bass, which was/is a subsidiary of Dean and that comes with Wilkinson tuners that look pretty much identical to those in the first post.

Winny_Pooh

If you're upgrading then get a set of hipshot lites or the lighter gotoh "gb250" (IIRC)

Schnozz

The tuners on the Dean look suspiciously similar to the Leo Quan Badass tuners that are made in Korea too... But they're £94.

I'd like to go with the US Hipshot Ultralites (less chance of needing to drill holes closer to eachother, but it looks like they're made for 17.4mm holes, as opposed to 18mm. Need to do something with the bushings or find something for 18mm.

fretmeister

Plumbers tape like everybody uses! 

stickyfiddle

Not much to add to all the above expect that I really like the Gotoh GBR640 ones I have on my P. Nice and light but look like vintage ones