why are my gibson tuners so bad

[Company Grip]

Another thing I would mention that I don’t think I’ve seen here yet is environment fluctuation. Temperature and humidity can have a startling affect on both the guitar and especially the strings if they aren’t strung appropriately. I don’t know where you reside, but here in Los Angeles, the temp is pretty consistent indoors, but if I leave a window open or something and it’s cool and the inside temperature drops to low 60s, my guitar definitely gets tuning fluctuation.

 

[Carrion]

First and foremost: old dead strings will not stay in tune. Rather than blame the tuning machines,
I'd replace the strings. It's a lot cheaper.

Second: Lube the nut slots when you've got the strings off.. Nut sauce is a good product,
but I like to use a home made mixture of powdered graphite and vaseline. I know, I know...
a graph tech nut isn't supposed to need lube, but it won't hurt anything to put a little in.
A tiny dot of my home made mixture (or nut sauce) on the end of a toothpick is all you need.
The stuff is good for any guitar, and I use it under the string tree on a Fender as well as
where the string comes out of the hole and bends over the bridge.

Third: install the new strings with the self locking method. Then play your guitar hard for about fifteen
minutes, that will stretch the strings. You should be ready to rock after these steps.

Fourth: I don't think your tuners are at fault, but many guitarists replace them for reasons of
their own. (I've done it too). But here's something no one has mentioned yet:
On an SG, the only important factor when it comes to tuners is the weight.
If you install heavy locking tuners or heavy Grover rotomatics, your guitar's headstock is
likely to head for the floor. Don't do this. Go online to the StewMac site, and look at the
tuners they have for sale. StewMac gives accurate measurements of all the products
they sell, including tuners. They also list the weight.

The ones to buy are the ones that weigh the same as the originals...
which means Klusion style tuners with plastic keys. Grover makes a good set: those are called
"Vintage Keystone" tuners. Check the weight on those, and write it down. Don't buy anything
heavier. Neck dive is very annoying, and it's also optional. Angus' SGs don't neck dive, because
he doesn't allow it. He's got the right tuners on his instruments, and he has no trouble.
He's got employees managing his instrument locker, and they likely install his strings with the
self locking method. Most pros do.
View attachment 55551
Tone Pros makes a good set too, as does someone using the
Kluson name. Any tuners Stew Mac sells will work fine, just like your originals.
...as long as they weigh the same.

Good luck with your issues. I suggest you get your new SG professionally set up
and get the intonation on your wrap over bridge set right for the strings you intend
to use.

old strings stay in tune forever .. they are max stretched .

 

[panacea]

I have quite a few Gibsons and the ones that have Kluson tuners all work fine. I do use a lube on the nut and bridge slots. The guitars with Grover’s also work well but I actually prefer the Klusons to keep the historic look.

 

[ebonySGguy]

I was lucky enough to receive my used SG with replaced Grover tuners from the previous owner.

 

[ebonySGguy]

old strings stay in tune forever .. they are max stretched .

What do you mean by old strings? Cause old, unchanged strings don't sound that good.

 

[Super fuzz]

Gibson tuners are trash. Get grover tuners.

How so? Have stock Gibson tuners in all mine and no problems at all.

 

[Super fuzz]

If you like the look of a certain brand of tuner, I can understand that, but don’t expect some huge performance change of your guitar by changing to “better” tuners. Even the cheapest tuners, functioning correctly, will do just fine.

 

[ebonySGguy]

If you like the look of a certain brand of tuner, I can understand that, but don’t expect some huge performance change of your guitar by changing to “better” tuners. Even the cheapest tuners, functioning correctly, will do just fine.

I didn't buy the guitar new, the previous owner put grovers on it. but while trying out SGs at the guitar store, I found that the stock tuners killed the g string in like 30 seconds.

 

[rshack]

It's not the tuners. Even cheap crappy tuners work fine, they just don't feel good when you use them.

To fix this problem, do 3 things:

1. It's unfortunately all too normal that Gibson's bind at the nut on the D and G strings. This is because of a couple things about Gibson's, which Gibson knows all about, so it's a crime that Gibson routinely ships guitars that need the nut slots tweaked. Fix that... youtube can show you how. You don't need special tools to do this, you can do it using old strings like a flexible saw to (1) clean up any trash in nut slots, (2) open the nut slots just a tad, and (3) make them feed the strings to the tuners at a better angle (downward and outward towards the tuners).

2. Be sure to stretch your strings... just give each one a couple of good tugs, then retune.

3. Be sure the strings are properly wrapped around the tuners so there's no slippage there.

With properly stretched-and-wrapped strings and a tweak to the nut, your tuning stability will be fine.

This is not something that new tuners will fix. Don't waste money on that... unless it's important to you that the tuners *feel* good to use.

p.s. If you don't wanna bother with tweaking the nuts slots, you can still solve the problem by always tuning UP to pitch, never DOWN to pitch. Doing it this way prevents any part of the string above the nut having a bit of slack that will soon translate into the string being out of tune. Better to fix the nut slots, but just always tuning UP to pitch works too. But if you don't fix the nut slots, you'll *always* have to do it that way. (You need to always stretch new strings and wrap them properly around the tuners, regardless of whether you fix the nut or not.)

 

[Super fuzz]

I didn't buy the guitar new, the previous owner put grovers on it. but while trying out SGs at the guitar store, I found that the stock tuners killed the g string in like 30 seconds.

How did it “kill” it?

 

[rshack]

i dont think its the nut because i have a graphtech one

It's not what the nut is made of... it's how it's cut.

The issue is the width and angle of the nut slots. (Plus, the slot needs to be clean of any nut-trash or rough spots left over from when it was cut.)

Because of the two angles that strings must deal with above the nut on Gibson's, it's more crucial (and slightly more tricky) to cut the nut slots properly to eliminate binding. Gibson is very hit-or-miss about doing this properly. When they don't get it right (like they haven't on 2 of my 5 Gibson's), it's usually the G string and/or D string that bind... because the angle from their nut slots over to their tuners is more extreme than it is for the other strings.

The angle at which Gibson headstock's are leaned back means there's a 2nd angle the strings must deal with... which can affect any string, not just the G and D strings. Fixing this means cutting the nut slots so that it slopes downward a bit towards the tuners... because that's the path the strings must take.

 

[rshack]

I have many Gibson's and Epiphones and there is nothing wrong with the tuners on any of them. They work smooth and all hold tune. Even after sitting for a while. There are many other issues that can cause your problem. Even possibly binding at the nut. Although all the Gibson's I have, have had perfectly cut factory nuts.

This is a problem that is pretty normal for Gibson's. Epi's don't have this problem nearly as often. This partly due to Epi headstocks not leaning back as far as Gibson headstocks do, and partly due to how much care is taken when cutting the nut.

Epi is just plain better at this than Gibson is... which is crazy... but it's true anyway ;-)

 

[rshack]

Gibson tuners are trash. Get grover tuners.

That's a silly thing to say. It's just plain wrong. There's nothing wrong with Gibson tuners. They work every bit as well as others.

Tuners in general work fine. Cheap crappy tuners work fine, they just feel cheap when you adjust them.... but they work fine.

 

[rshack]

I would suggest getting a great set of Grover 133 vintage deluxe

View attachment 55549

I would suggest not listening to this guy... he's trying to get you to spend a bunch of money on something that will not solve your problem... because your problem is NOT the tuners.

 

[ebonySGguy]

How did it “kill” it?

it went out of tune really fast

 

[rshack]

When I’ve had binding issues I take a loose string (the correct gauge for the corresponding slot) and coat it in a bit of nut sauce, and then run it through the nut slot about 10 times and that almost always remedies the issue. Nut sauce is also good for the saddle slots on the bridge. Of course some pencil graphite will also work, but it’s a bit messier usually. One tube of nut sauce lasts a long time.

I do something similar. The problems I've had with 2 Gibsons are the D and/or G striings. In each case, I take the next largest string (A string for the D slot, D string for the G slot) and use them like little flexible saws... I slide them back-and-forth in the slot to clean out the slot in case they've left rough spots in there, to widen the slot just a hair, and to angle the slot downward and outward just a tad.

You can do the same thing with nut files, but you don't need to buy nut files for this kind of issue.

 

[ebonySGguy]

I would suggest not listening to this guy... he's trying to get you to spend a bunch of money on something that will not solve your problem... because your problem is NOT the tuners.

kinda rude but they are quite expensive

 

[rshack]

it went out of tune really fast

Sounds like a classic case of a string binding. See if it happens after you tune UP to pitch, not DOWN to pitch. I'd be shocked if it still happened then...

 

[Go Nigel Go]

+1. Tuning UP to pitch is the way to go no matter what tuners you have, or what they cost.

 

[ScottB]

If you want to keep the original look of the Gibson-stamped Kluson tuners, try the Kluson Supreme 18:1 3+3. The part number to search is KTS-3-N. $50 - $60 depending upon your retailer of choice.
Kluson KTS-3