Are Wilkinson parts overrated?

[Rayman]

Following on from a thread about knockoff strings…. I now turn my attention to these atrocious “Wilkinson” tuners. Bought as part of my Squier Frank Bello Jazz (which has been a nightmare throughout the work), I thought Wilkinsons would be a good addition….. I was wrong. These tuners are horrendously bad. Clunky, grindy and just plain pants.

 

If these are genuine Wilkinsons, then they’re very poor indeed…. however….. could they be knockoffs? They came from a reputable source on EBay, so I suspect they’re genuine. If so…. they’re the last Wilkinson parts I ever buy.

 

Junk.

[Rayman]

[Dan Dare]

Did you adjust and (lightly) lubricate them or just bolt them on? Are they an overly tight fit in the ferrules? That can cause tuners to be stiff. In my experience, Wilkinson are decent value budget parts, but as always, you get what you pay for. As a matter of interest, I bought some Gotohs for my MIM P bass. They needed a bit of tweaking before they were good. Nowt wrong with that. They're fine now.

[Rayman]

I did lube them yes, and no the ferrules are good. They just feel cheap. But yes you’re right, you get what you pay for 

[neepheid]

I dunno about those particular ones but I fit these ones on my Epi LP, I'm pretty happy with them.  Are they Hipshots?  No.  But they turn reasonably smoothly though, no play in them, adjustable tension.  Miles better than say, the dreck Epiphone fitted to the Embassy I had a while back.

 

Edited May 24, 2023 by neepheid

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I put a set of wilkos on my recently acquired classic vibe mustang bass where they are a definite improvement over the tuners that came on the bass.

[TheGreek]

I have a set of machine heads ready to go on a bass.

 

I've got a PJ pickup set on a bitza...I'm more than happy with them. AFAIC all their gear I've tried has been great vfm. 

[Doctor J]

I always considered Wilkinson parts to be on the extreme budget side of boutique, it never would have thought of them as highly rated in the first place, to be honest.

[nilorius]

I know nothing about Wilkinson tuners, just knew some guy few years ago who bought them, as i remember, he put them on Squire P, and was very angry about how they work.

[Rayman]

Maybe I was just unlucky. I realise they’re only a couple of steps above budget, but I expect them to feel pretty good, compared to the Squier ones, but maybe just not last that well? I dunno…. personally I’m disappointed with them.

[Waddo Soqable]

5 hours ago, Doctor J said:

I always considered Wilkinson parts to be on the extreme budget side of boutique, it never would have thought of them as highly rated in the first place, to be honest.

Me too, I think of Wilkinson stuff as cheapish ebay fare, certainly nothing to big up! 

[Ed_S]

I've used a few of their BBOT (WBBC) bridges with the brass saddles, a set of their F style (WJBL) tuners, their 'm-series' (WOPB) and their 'premium' (WPB) P pickups. No complaints with any of those bits as yet.

[TheGreek]

So what are the supposed problems with Wilkinson parts?

[Waddo Soqable]

3 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

So what are the supposed problems with Wilkinson parts?

Not problem as such, just that they're (or the stuff I've seen is) very mass produced cheapo parts, quite adequate for a budget build  project, but certainly nothing to say "ooh Wilkinson" about 😁

[Rayman]

38 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

So what are the supposed problems with Wilkinson parts?

I felt like I was supposed to be upgrading the stock Squier tuners, but I felt the opposite. Even lubed, the Wilks felt cheap and clunky.

[Damnthatlazlo]

It’s an intersting topic. Can’t speak for Wilkinson but I went for a set of Guyker with it basically being the same idea. 
 

After years of minimal interaction with bass I got into it again and realised a lot of my issues were my ‘98 MIM Jazz was a lot of the issue. Bridge was goosed with the G, ferrel kept moving with tuners, action, those pickups. 
in 00’s I wouldn’t think of DIY. Now I was thinking it can’t get worse. 
 

so went for Guyker. Heavier, noticeably less quality than the highway 1s, not quite the straight swap I hoped. But once on, and it’s my first time doing such things so I could have done it better.) I really like them. How long they last is another issue. But they helped me get on board with that bass again

[dmccombe7]

Handy to know as i'm looking to replace the bridge and tuners on my vintera P bass. E tuner is very grindy and tight when fully tuned. Others are OK. I was looking to put a drop D tuner on too. With regards the bridge i'm finding the saddles are dropping when i play for extended periods. I've put some loctite on the saddle screws at moment until i replace the bridge.

Think i'll avoid Wilkinson by sounds of this thread.

Dave

[kodiakblair]

So far.

Wilkinson BBOT bridges, fitted them for myself and others; no problems / decent bit of kit. Wilkinson swivel 2 saddle bridge, bloody marvellous bit of kit 🙂

 

Tuners. Mini Gotoh type, 7 years on the 5 string, again no problems. Careful thought needed for the vintage type, mounting plate is big; tight fit on a 51 P-bass peghead but 5 years hassle free service.

 

Pickups. No complaints regarding the alnico 5 jazz singles. 51 style single was a fantastic pickup, Duncan SCPB-1 but with more output; always keep an eye out for them in the for sale ads.

 

 

Far as 'overrated' goes, I've bits and pieces from brand name folks that's definitely overrated and overpriced but the Wilkinson IMO is decent enough gear which serves it's intended purpose.

[3below]

1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

Handy to know as i'm looking to replace the bridge and tuners on my vintera P bass. E tuner is very grindy and tight when fully tuned. Others are OK. I was looking to put a drop D tuner on too. With regards the bridge i'm finding the saddles are dropping when i play for extended periods. I've put some loctite on the saddle screws at moment until i replace the bridge.

Think i'll avoid Wilkinson by sounds of this thread.

Dave

I have had no problems with the BBOT bridges.  The set of Hipshot lookalikes I have fitted were OK.  As far as machines go I am very partial to Hipshots, they just seem so nice.

[Kiwi]

For a while in the eighties, Wilkinson were pretty much the number one OEM hardware supplier to US manufacturers like Valley Arts and some in the UK like Patrick Eggle who Wilkinson worked for.

 

I have a few of their unicorn rare VS100CV convertible guitar trems from that time. A fabulous design which is perhaps only let down by the aluminium base plate and soft fulcrum edges.  I did have a Wilkinson bass bridge but the saddles moved about too much due to a lack of locating grooves in the saddle.

 

Where I am online retail apps for musical kit are flooded with Wilkinson parts at pretty much wholesale prices.  Not surprising if those product lines are made here. 

 

So yeah, mixed results in my limited experience.

[spencer.b]

Not overrated by me,I thought they were budget?

[Dan Dare]

13 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

Handy to know as i'm looking to replace the bridge and tuners on my vintera P bass. E tuner is very grindy and tight when fully tuned. Others are OK. I was looking to put a drop D tuner on too. With regards the bridge i'm finding the saddles are dropping when i play for extended periods. I've put some loctite on the saddle screws at moment until i replace the bridge.

Think i'll avoid Wilkinson by sounds of this thread.

Dave

 

Difficult to look past Gotoh imho for a P or J bass. They do a very nice BBOT style bridge - Gotoh 203 - in a decent gauge of chromed brass that is less than £30 if you don't want something chunky. 

[Chienmortbb]

22 hours ago, neepheid said:

I dunno about those particular ones but I fit these ones on my Epi LP, I'm pretty happy with them.  Are they Hipshots?  No.  But they turn reasonably smoothly though, no play in them, adjustable tension.  Miles better than say, the dreck Epiphone fitted to the Embassy I had a while back.

 

I have the Hipshot Ultralite versions of those on my Sire M2. I also have a set of Wilkinson for another project. Apart from the weight, I coukd not choose between the two.

[Rayman]

Seems like hit and miss then? I took delivery of some silicone lube today, gave the tuners a good seeing to.... but they're still horrible to use. My old Sunn Mustangs still have the original open gear tuners, which feel luxurious in comparison.

 

I realize that Wilkinson are budget parts, of course, but as one can see above, a lot of people rate them, and would look to them as decent for upgrading cheap tuners. In my case at least, I disagree, they are cheap, so not worth the effort.

[la bam]

I think they're a good basic product. I think they're suffering a bit as lots of people are using the term 'upgrading with.....' and with 'superb Wilkinson etc etc'.

 

They're good. They do a job. But they're not a significant upgrade compared to other brands renowned for being an upgrade.