Owen Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 I have always thought that a machine head was a machine head. My ACG has some Hipshot Ultra Lite jobbies on it. Wow, it looks like a machine head is not just a machine head. The mechanical action is massively pleasing and the tuning accuracy is fabulous. What should I have on my shopping list? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 Gotoh nickel lollipops are my faves by a long way, Hipshot are good however Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted December 16, 2022 Author Share Posted December 16, 2022 The gearing, or whatever, on the Hipshots is just lovely. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 I have two favourites: The hipshot HB7 lollipops on my vintera & JMJ mustangs look great and work exactly as a tuner should. The Gotoh res-o-lite GB640s sets I put on my Thunderbird vintage pros not only look great and work perfectly, they are also ultra light and are the only ones I know of in this vintage 50s/60s style that turn the same way as the tuners on all of my other basses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jono Bolton Posted December 19, 2022 Share Posted December 19, 2022 On 16/12/2022 at 19:58, Beedster said: Gotoh nickel lollipops are my faves by a long way, Hipshot are good however Gotoh is my go-to whenever I'm looking for new tuners (no pun intended) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted December 20, 2022 Share Posted December 20, 2022 Gotoh, Graphtec, Hipshot and Schaller all make machine heads worth considering. Which you chose will depend on features are important to you. Gotoh used to be the most versatile because they offered a service where you could assemble a set of machine heads from all the various options they had. This unfortunately no longer appears to be available, so you have to make do with the preset options instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lidl e Posted December 20, 2022 Share Posted December 20, 2022 Personally, im a big fan of the Schaller open backs with the chubby keys 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueMoon Posted December 20, 2022 Share Posted December 20, 2022 Gotoh for me. Hipshot also very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted December 22, 2022 Share Posted December 22, 2022 On 20/12/2022 at 10:18, lidl e said: Personally, im a big fan of the Schaller open backs with the chubby keys Yes, I do enjoy me some M4S action. The Grover Titans are similar but less elegant because they use visible mounting screws instead of built in pins on the underside. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted December 22, 2022 Share Posted December 22, 2022 Hipshot Ultralites for me too. My Sandbergs have their new super light tuners too - like for like (Clover keys) they are actually lighter than the Hipshots. They are available to buy to be fitted to other basses. Y key Hipshots are still the lightest of all though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted December 22, 2022 Author Share Posted December 22, 2022 It is the Y key Hipshots which I have. Super light is lovely, obv, but the accuracy is a beautiful thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted December 22, 2022 Share Posted December 22, 2022 Hipshot ultralights here too. A large number of my basses have the Gotoh lightweight tuners, but one of them I replaced with ultralights as I needed the very slight reduction in weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3below Posted December 22, 2022 Share Posted December 22, 2022 Hipshot ultralights are my favourite. Having experienced both USA and licenced versions on various basses I am highly impressed with the licenced ones. A standout bargain are these : https://retrovibe.co.uk/product/premium-quality-bass-tuning-machine-heads-201-retrovibe-tuners-2l2r-4l-4r/ . I used a set on a bass build, really smooth tuning feel and at 59g each are not heavy weights. For comparison a Schaller M4 light is 52g. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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