Changing the tuners on a Warwick bass

[SaimoN]

Hello all! Did anyone of you replace your tuners with some other brand? I'm not really satisfied with the stock ones, both in my Thumb and Corvette... But Schaller tuners in my 2005 Spector Euro are rock solid! So I'd like to go with them mayby. Has anyone tried Schaller M4 90 (Light) tuners? What are your opinions? I've read that Hipshot Ultralite are recommended, but unfortunatelly they are out of my price range... Will those Schallers fit into Warwick bass?

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[Silvia Bluejay]

I think Warwick tuners are in fact made by Schaller anyway. I have recently replaced the chrome hardware on my Corvette with black hardware, and found that buying new Warwick tuners from Thomann was way cheaper than buying from Schaller, and the Warwick ones are good and hold the tuning perfectly. What's wrong with the ones you'd like to replace?

I am talking about normal weight tuners here. I looked up the Schaller ultralightweight solution, and they are horrendously expensive. Before I decided to go for the normal weight Warwick ones, I had a word with the guys at Tonetech, who suggested that a cheaper solution, if I wanted lightweight tuners, might be to use Gotohs. Quite apart from the fact that I didn't like the look, I also noticed that they were almost as expensive as the Schallers, and the actual weight saving isn't as huge as one would hope for the price.

These were suggested by Bill Quinn of Tonetech: https://g-gotoh.com/international/product/gb350.html

Their weight, including bushing, is 40g each.

If you are interested, do get in touch with Tonetech, who should be able to offer a better deal than buying direct. (I am not connected to the company, I simply met Bill at the London Bass Guitar Show, had a few long chats, and he definitely seems to know what he's talking about!)

[Andyjr1515]

Hi

I've used the Schaller M4 90 tuners on my last couple of builds and will probably use them for my future builds. 

They look good, they operate smoothly at a pleasingly high gear ratio for accurate tuning and they are noticeably lighter than 'standard' tuners.  They claim 40% lighter but I don't know what they are comparing against.  I do know that they are 44g each because I've just weighed one.

I prefer them to Hipshot because the gearing is sealed and they are a decent price against Hipshots more outrageous costs.

The bush is 14mm so if the holes in your bass are also 14mm (can't remember what Warwick are) , you won't need to drill out or pack out but it is very rare that the positioning screw at the back is in the same position for any replcements of anything.  If I'm right, it is nevertheless an easy job but you will need to drill a pilot hole in the back to avoid the possibility of snapping one of the small screws.

Not tried them, but it is worth looking at Axesrus who sell a licensed ultralite copy of the Hipshot at less than half the price.  Anyone tried them?  I have to say I've always been pleasantly surprised with the quality of the Axesrus own stuff - their new lightweight 6 string electric tuners are lovely....

[Andyjr1515]

In terms of supply, I get my Schaller M4's from Touchstone Tonewoods. The 2r2l sets are on back order at the moment but are between £52 and £56 a set - less than half the cost of the Hipshots.

[deepbass5]

 bought my replacements through Thomann quite cheap so worth checking out.

[intime-nick]

I’ve replaced the Warwick tuners on both my German made Corvette and Streamer Jazzman.  One from both basses have failed over the past couple of years (one stripped a gear, the other had a post shear off with no obvious misuse)

replaced both sets with Gotoh versions - they are so much better built  / smoother than the Warwick originals and are a direct replacement and perfect fit  

the origjnal Schaller-made tuners are great, the later Warwick versions of them are pretty cheaply made by comparison  

Edited December 22, 2018 by intime-nick

[Delberthot]

I got a set of licenced Ultralites for my Rickenbacker here and they were £64 delivered. You just tell the seller the configuration that you want

I've had licenced ones on my Sterling for the past few years and I didn't feel the need to spend double the amount for the USA ones as these ones are really good.

They are more of a satin finish than shiny chrome though

Edited December 27, 2018 by Delberthot