Ultralite vs licensed

[AlexDelores]

I’m looking at getting some Hipshot Ultralite 3/8 2 x 2 tuners for my Gretsch and I’ve noticed that they sell a set for £140 ish and then also a ‘licensed’ set for half the price.
 

They look exactly the same other than ones made in USA and one in SKorea. 
 

Any reason anyone can mention to not bother getting the cheaper ones? 
 

I’m happy to spend the difference if there’s a huge difference in quality, but equally, I’m wondering if the difference will be noticeable at all… So thought I’d ask the question here before buying and see if anyone has experience… 

 

TIA

Alex 

[neepheid]

The licenced ones are slightly heavier than the USA ones.  The main difference is that the licenced ones are not reversible, unlike the USA ones.  So if you're confident you won't ever need this feature, then crack on and save some money (and still lots of grams off your headstock) and go for the licenced tuners, they're still top notch.

[fretmeister]

They're both very good - I get the USA ones as I like to be able to reverse them if needed, and because of the small additional weight saving.

But I wouldn't bother getting the USA if a bass already had the Korean ones on it.

 

I do wish the string posts were slightly tapered to force the string to the bottom, but I can't have everything.

 

BTW - the Y key ones are a little lighter than the clovers, with the lollipop in the middle. I believe the Y keys are the lightest tuner ever, but for clovers the Sandberg lightweight tuner is a little lighter. The Sandbergs are a real pain to get in the UK though as their online shop currently won't ship out of the EU.

[AlexDelores]

Thank you kindly. I assume by reversing them you mean if I ever wanted to put them on a 4 in line headstock? 
 

Sorry for the naivety, other than adjusting a truss rod, this is the most DIY I’ve ever done to a bass 😅

[neepheid]

Just now, AlexDelores said:

Thank you kindly. I assume by reversing them you mean if I ever wanted to put them on a 4 in line headstock? 
 

Sorry for the naivety, other than adjusting a truss rod, this is the most DIY I’ve ever done to a bass 😅

 

Yes, changing them from left handed to right handed and vice versa.

[AlexDelores]

Brill, thank you 🙏 I’ll go for the licensed then as I’m sure they’ll be a hell of a step up from the stock Chinese ones on it at the moment. 

[Chienmortbb]

I have a set of USA ones and to be honest, they are not a patch on the Gotoh Res-O-Lites.

[AlexDelores]

That’s good to know, I’ll take a look! I’m going to be putting a Gotoh B201B4 bridge on it anyway so not set on Hipshot.

[neepheid]

On 31/01/2025 at 19:53, Chienmortbb said:

I have a set of USA ones and to be honest, they are not a patch on the Gotoh Res-O-Lites.

 

Depends which ones you're talking about.  The GB350 (GB707 sized) Res-o-Lite have plastic buttons and I ain't touching that with a barge pole - I don't care how smooth they turn and how light they are.  That's Lotus levels of "add lightness" for me.

[michael2003x]

I have the long shaft Gotoh resolites (GB640s) on my Thunderbird, superb quality and look insane. I like the torque adjustment as well , nice touch