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Best machine heads?


Owen
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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?

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I have two favourites:

 

The hipshot HB7 lollipops on my vintera & JMJ mustangs look great and work exactly as a tuner should.

 

20710LN_800x.jpg?v=1521860795

 

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.

 

GB640-XN.jpg

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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.

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On 20/12/2022 at 10:18, lidl e said:

Personally, im a big fan of the Schaller open backs with the chubby keys

 

20221122_161744.thumb.jpg.19a6c45e4e7b45ce5193063f91f27ab1.jpg

 

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.

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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.

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