Lewis

[Simon Barden]

I find the kit tuners to generally be OK, and a lot better than tuners that often came on budget guitars 20 or more years ago. They have a decent gear ratio (normally 15:1) and are generally well made.

Things to check are:

1) How evenly they turn. Give each one enough turns so the tuning post makes a full rotation. The force required to turn the tuner button should remain the same throughout the rotation, not hard at some points and almost no resistance at others.

2) Tuning peg tightness. First check that between the tuner button and the tuner body there’s a metal washer and a plastic one. I have seen tuners where the plastic washer is missing; either because it wasn’t added during assembly or because it’s split under pressure and fallen off.

The tuner button is held on to the tuner button shaft by a screw. You should be able to adjust the screw so each tuner button has the same resistance to turning. You don’t want it so loose it vibrates, but not so tight that it’s really hard to turn the button. It’s the plastic washer that’s being compressed between the button and the body of the tuner. If it’s missing the tuner has minimal resistance to turning and it will feel very loose and be much easier to accidentally catch and knock out of tune when tuning adjacent strings.

If those two things are OK, then the tuners will perform well. If not, then you can repair 2) by replacing with washers from another set of similar tuners if you have a spare set from another build as they seem to be a universal size.

You can live with some unevenness for 1), but I know I’d be looking to replace them.

So after those basic checks it comes down to whether you want to fit new tuners, either because you want a tuner that better gear ratio (some guitar ones have 18:1 ratios or more, which means it’s easier to adjust the tuning when almost at pitch), or offers extra functionality (like a locking tuner), or you want a tuner thats either vintage looking or closer to those fitted on the original.

The guitar kits all come with 10mm diameter tuner holes, suitable for ‘modern’ tuners with a screw-down from the top fixing nut and an anti-rotation screw on the rear of the headstock. To fit more vintage-style tuners with push-in bushings that are fixed in place by screws on the rear of the headstock, you’ll need to make sure the tuners come with 10mm adapter bushings, as the vintage bushings generally require an 8.8mm hole. Also make sure the bushings have the right internal hole diameter, as some vintage tuners have 6mm posts, some 6.25mm.

For six-in-line Fender-style headstocks it’s not worth thinking about fitting vintage-style split-post tuners unless you are prepared to plug and re-drill the tuner holes as the kit hole spacing isn’t correct for them and the holes invariably aren’t in a straight line.

If going fit a more authentic look, Gretsch have used different style tuners over the years and on different models. Some were Grovers with stepped buttons or a modified ‘butter bean’ button, and sometimes open-geared tuners. Gretsch sell tuners, but Wilkinson also do Gretsch-style tuners at a lower price and you’ll undoubtedly find some cheaper still on AliExpress. Just keep in mind the tuner hole diameter and the possible need for adapter bushings.