There’s nothing more frustrating than a guitar that won’t stay in tune.
Therefore, are locking tuners a certain performance upgrade over traditional tuners? Perhaps, to reduce or even remove tuning issues altogether.
With that said, there are many key things you need to know before installing a set.
In this post, I will walk you through the pros and cons of locking tuners. Helping you decide whether they are worth upgrading from standard tuners.
Sounds good? Let’s do it…
Are Locking Tuners Worth It?
Locking tuners are worth it to prevent strings from slipping at the tunning peg during string bends, improving your guitar’s tuning stability. They are more beneficial for Lighter gauged strings. However, they do not lock the tunning into place like a ‘Floyd-Rose’ tremolo system.
What Are Locking Tuners
Although they appear very similar to conventional tuners. The difference is that locking tuners contain a lock mechanism inside the eye of the tuning post that ‘clamps’ the string into position when re-stringing.
The locking clamp gives the strings additional grip and stability to accurately hold their pitch.
How Locking Tuners Work
When changing strings with traditional tuners, you essentially pass the string through the tuning post’s eye then make multiple string wraps until it gains tension.
In comparison, with locking tuners, you pass the string through the eyelet and then ‘lock’ the string into position with the clamp that sits inside the eye of the tuning post. Then you proceed with multiple wraps of windings until the string gains tension.
What’s the point of the clamp system? The clamp mechanism essentially ‘anchors’ the string to the tuning post more securely than traditional tuners.
The clamp’s function prevents the string from ‘slipping’ during string bends or heavy vibrato, which can knock the tuning pitch out by a few cents.
The clamping mechanism allows the string to hold its position more securely, preventing it from slipping that in turn, improves the guitar’s tuning performance at the guitar’s headstock.
Pro 1 – Can Improve Tuning Performance
Who doesn’t want better tuning performance? The clamp mechanism within locking tuners is designed to anchor the strings more securely to the tuning post than traditional tuners.
If you didn’t know, strings tend to lose tension and grip around the tuning post during aggressive string bending or vibrato (especially the G string.); also known as string slippage.
Therefore, locking tuners increase the tension and grip around the string windings, thus improving tuning accuracy and stability, resulting in a more playable, fun, and studio-worthy guitar.
Therefore, locking tuners are useful if you like to play ‘aggressively’ or ’emotionally’ with heavy bends and vibrato. This means that locking tuners can be a worthy and useful addition to your guitar, especially without a floating tremolo system.
Keep in mind that the tuning pegs are one piece of the puzzle for a guitar’s ability to stay in tune. The other pieces include the nut, bridge, and even the quality of the string themselves.
Therefore, if the nut, bridge, and strings are not causing the tunning issues, then locking tuners are another element to sharpen the tunning performance of your guitar.
Pro 2 – Make Re-Stringing Easier and Quicker
Depending on who you ask, changing strings is like Marmite.
You either love it, or you hate it. A guitar bonding exercise? Or a mundane task?
Locking tuners aid quicker and easier string changes allowing more time for better things…like playing guitar.
With locking tuners, the task is much simpler. All you do is feed the string through the hole, clamp the string, wind a few wraps to pitch, cut off the excess string, and away you go.
Whereas, with traditional tuners, your strings need to be wrapped around the tuning peg with a string clamping method so that the string will clamp onto itself to secure it to the peg to prevent string slippage.
From personal experience, changing strings with traditional tuners is fiddly and takes a while to get right. This can result in you stabbing yourself with the sharp end a few times in the process.
A fast string change may not be super important when at home, but it is a different story when a string breaks mid-set during an important gig.
Hence, another reason locking tuners can benefit you is quick string changes when you need them most.
Pro 3 – Easy to Install
The great thing about Locking tuners is that they can be installed in nearly all guitars (including acoustics.)
They are designed to effortlessly slot into most headstock drill holes.
This removes the need to make any unnecessary drilling modifications. Installation can take as little as 5 minutes. Easy work!
First, you need to locate the locking tuners with your guitar’s corresponding headstock design.
Knowing Your Headstock Tuners Configuation
How to Install
Installation is as easy as reaching for your nearest Phillips screwdriver removing the current tuners and dropping in the new ones. Next, all you do is fasten them in, clamp the string, re-string, and you’re ready to go.
Keep in mind that some tuners come with a metal bracket plate, depending on the manufacturer. The bracket is installed first, then the tuners screw over the top. This offers more support for the machine heads.
You can choose to buy a set with or without a metal bracket. Depending on where the holes are drilled on your headstock, the tuners can fit several headstock configurations without the metal bracket.
Pro 4 – An Affordable Upgrade
The ballpark figure for a reliable set of locking tuners (depending on the brand) ranges from $30-$130. This I’m sure you can agree is a very affordable upgrade.
The investment potentially boosts your guitar’s performance playability and shortens string changing times. Locking tuners are a viable upgrade for getting the best from any affordable guitar.
Expensive gear will not sound good combined with a guitar that won’t hold its tuning, right?
Popular Locking Tuner Brands
What About Cheap Unbranded Sets?
The super-affordable option is the unbranded sets knocking around on Amazon and eBay for about $10-$30.
However, I would not be tempted. After reading online and video reviews, a high percentage are manufactured and shipped with defects. To be safe, I would choose the reputable brands I have mentioned above.
Best Locking Tuners for Les Paul guitars
Best Locking Tuners for Stratocaster guitars
Con 1 – Do Not Solve Tuning Issues
Although the name implies ‘locking tuners.’ They do not ‘lock’ the tuning into place, similar to a Floyd-Rose tremolo system that you find on most Superstrat-style ‘metal guitars.’
As previously stated, their purpose is to ‘clamp’ the string into place, preventing ‘string slippage’ to increase grip and prevent the strings from going out of tune at the tuning peg.
Remember that the tuning peg alone is not the main factor hinging on your guitar’s overall ability to stay in tune.
You have to view the tuning peg as one slice of the pie that combines with the rest of the guitar’s setup, impacting the overall tuning stability. These other slices that make up the rest of the pie include the nut, bridge, saddle, headstock angle, etc.
For example, if string slippage is the main culprit, your strings go out of pitch so regularly. Then locking tuners will be beneficial if your guitars, nut, saddle, bridge, and other components are set up correctly.
For example, if you have a guitar with locking tuners installed but include a badly worn nut or a bridge with bad string contact, then locking tuners will not make much difference until the other issues are addressed.
Therefore, locking tuners are not always the ‘complete answer’ for solving your guitar’s tuning issues.
Remember, they are only ‘one piece of the puzzle’ as there’s a lot more going on that comprises your guitar’s overall tuning stability discussed above.
Even with locking tuners installed, your strings will go out of tune at times. It happens, it’s normal, and that is just how it goes.
However, players sometimes forget to read the small print, being surprised why their guitar has slipped out of pitch, even with a brand new set of locking tuners at the helm.
Con 2 – Unnecessary and Overkill
Some players argue the case that locking tuners are somewhat “lazy’ and not ‘necessary’ when you know how to re-string a guitar correctly.
The way to do this is by perfecting a wrapping method that includes a few wraps that cause the string to clamp onto itself, making it lock, preventing it from slipping.
There are plenty of re-stringing wrapping methods. The method I use is the same as the video below.
How to Re-string Correctly without Locking Tuners (Video)
Knowing how to re-string so that the windings apply a ‘natural lock’ creates the same function just without the fancy locking tuners.
Their argument is that if you can clamp the string down by wrapping it correctly, why do you need locking tuners?
When you think about it, locking tuners are a new technology, hitting the market back in the 1980s. Before locking tuners came along, a whole generation of guitarists could record and play live just fine without them.
It is just as easy to stick with standard tuners by simply knowing how to re-string the guitar correctly, saving yourself some hard-earned money in the process.
Although we live in the modern world, are they really that revolutionary and necessary on every guitar?
However, purists will say that the more things going on, the more likely things are to go wrong. Less is more!
Con 3 – Adds Weight to the Headstock
If you didn’t know already, compared to standard tuning pegs, locking tuners add a fractional amount of weight to the headstock.
Although it’s not a huge deal-breaker, however, if you are already fighting a ‘neck-heavy’ and unbalanced guitar with the dreaded ‘neck dive,’ then adding locking tuners is something to be wary of.
Guitars that are heavy at the neck and have a deviated center of balance, and usual guitars that are “offset’ to the side are the candidates for the infamous ‘neck dive.’
What is Neck Dive? Simply, ‘neck dive’ is when standing using a strap you release the neck with your fretting hand the headstock wants to head the floor (Common with the Gibson/Epiphone SG.)
Although locking tuners will not add a small amount of weight, they will make the headstock slightly heavier than standard tuners.
A small tip is to purchase locking tuners with the ‘open head’ design saving a smidgen more weight than the ‘closed head’ tuners.
Some players insist that the extra weight from locking tuners adds more chunks to the tone.
I’m not totally convinced about this, but you can be the judge if you get a set installed and come to your own conclusion.
Con 4 – Some Guitars Require Modifications
If tempted to purchase locking tuners, always remember to do your research! Ensure that the tuners you buy are made for that specific guitar brand and headstock design.
The main point is to check the locking tuners hole ‘dimensions’ against your current guitar’s drill hole measurements.
If you buy a set that does not fit, you either send them back and order the correct ones or the riskier option of drilling custom holes to fit snugly.
Depending on your woodwork and craftsmanship skills, I would rather choose option A.
You will have no problem with the traditional Gibson, Epiphone, Fender, Ibanez, Gretch guitars, etc., being the most widely manufactured guitars in the world.
However, If you have a custom guitar that includes a crazy headstock and tuning peg configuration, you may have to drill holes to install a set.
Always read the small print and the tuner’s specifications as you could be caught out unexpectedly.
For example, official Fender locking tuners will only fit an American and Mexican-made Stratocaster and Telecaster. This means Locking tuners will not fit the drill holes of most imported Strats and Teles.
The problem is that locking tuners do not come as standard with most manufactured guitars. This is to keep manufacturing costs down and allow the player to add if they need them as an aftermarket upgrade.
Do Locking Tuners Improve Tone?
As mentioned, locking tuners add a little extra weight to the guitar, which does bring up the question of tonal improvements.
When it comes to electric guitars, I believe the extra weight does not add any noticeable improvements in sustain and resonance to most electric guitars (in my opinion.)
Although some players disagree and say, they have noticed a slight improvement. In my experience, I have not noticed any tonal improvements when it comes to my electric guitars.
The reason is that the fractional amount of weight is not enough to make any drastic tonal improvements.
With acoustic guitars, players have stated that they get a slight boost in resonance and sustain.
Perhaps because the extra weight adds more volume and a ‘platform’ for the vibrations to travel through the wood and the body cavity.
This point does have merit because acoustic guitars are more susceptible to tonal changes when it comes to an acoustic guitar’s density. Whether these changes are drastic and worth mentioning is up for debate.
The added weight (although slight) does not have enough weight to improve the tone. A good recommendation would be to install a set and experiment whether you notice a tonal difference.
Can You Install locking Tuners on Acoustic Guitars?
Locking tuners can be installed on nearly all acoustics with the standard ‘solid headstock’ design.
Installing locking tuners to your favorite acoustic can certainly upgrade your guitar’s tuning accuracy, improving overall playability. The other benefits are that you can re-string the guitar faster and remove the need to wrap the strings correctly.
The only downside, however, is the additional weight. Locking tuners can add to the headstock compared to standard tuners.
This results in a guitar that may be more noticeably ‘top-heavy,’ considering the body of an acoustic weighs far less than a solid body electric, meaning an electric guitar can counterbalance the weight better than an acoustic.
If you like to play standing, you may notice a slight difference in balance when playing for long periods. However, players overlook this as the benefits of better tunning accuracy outweigh the added weight’s drawbacks.
Acoustics with the ‘slotted headstock’ (mostly classical guitars) cannot be upgraded. Unfortunately, it removes the ability to clamp the string onto itself.
However, nylon strings usually hold their tension well, and string bending is not the usual technique for flamenco and classical playing. This removes the requirement for locking tuners compared to steel-string guitars.