Installed new Grover Locking Tuners, adjusted the nut

[Uncle Thor's Hamer]

Today the new Grover locking tuners got installed and a little tweaking done to the nut. The strings were a little too high for my tastes at the nut, and the top of the nut needed a little shave. First the nut pics.

Before, you can see how deep the nut slots were from the top of the nut. The top needed to come down after deepening the slots. The distance from the bottom of the strings to the fretboard, at the nut, were from .054 for the high E string to .070 for the low E string. After filing, the bottoms were from .051 for the high E to .064 for the low E. When fretted between the second and third fret, the clearance over the first fret was from .013 to .028 before filing. After filing they are .001 to .022. Being my first attempt at filing, they were left a little bit higher than I might want, especially the lower strings. Similarly, the top of the nut could still use a bit more shaving down.

Before: (note the blue tape to protect the face of the headstock. Also note the 2 to 3 windings of the strings around the posts)

After:

Now for the tuners. The old tuners were the original art deco Grover Super Rotomatic, replaced with the full size Grover locking Rotomatic. They do indeed drop right in. The locking tuners have three tiny pricks sticking up from the underside. They dimple the wood right around the hole slightly and require a little care in screwing in the little screw and tightening the threaded sleeve. It isn't difficult at all, you just want to pay attention so you don't strip the threads in the wood for the little screw. On one picture you can see the three little pricks on the machine, and on another you can see the three little dimples in the wood.

The original tuner buttons stick further out from the headstock. The replacements seem a little closer than what is normal. The holes in the headstock are drilled further from the edge than on other guitars. The basic machine seems identical, it is the size of the button that seems different.

I usually have two or three windings of the string around the tuner post. I pull one fret of string slack and then wind the string onto the tuner. The locking tuners have lower posts and won't hold 2 turns. But they're not supposed to! It only takes about 1/4 fret of slack to get a half to a full turn of string on the post.

The tuning is quick, and it is stable. So far I like the mechanics of these tuners.

The new tuners before installation: Three pricks visible on the upside down tuner.

Naked headstock from the rear. You can see the three dimples around the hole on the bottom left hole.

After installation and new strings put on.

New styling from the front.

From the rear.

[Sam]

Great post Uncy Thor! I assume that you could use the stepped Super-Roto buttons with the new gears. You'd then be able to use a string winder without coming into contact with the side of the headstock. I'm seriously tempted to try these - still unsure if they're a match with the Schallers though. My Bigsby usage is on the rise, so additional stability would be a big plus.