20 Best Tuners For Strat (2022 Updated)

I bought these to put on a 2013 Gibson LPJ to upgrade the stock Kluson style tuners. These are indeed a great upgrade! Much, much, much smoother than the factory tuners and a higher gear ratio. Also, they are not much heavier than the originals (I got the “open gear” variety).

I didn’t weigh them to say this, but the headstock does not droop or neck-dive, probably lighter than comparable Grover locking tuners. The included UMPs made installation a breeze, no holes to drill, just drop them in, tighten them up, and restring the guitar! Locking tuners make stringing the guitar so much easier, no string winder needed.

My only problem is the shape of the buttons, strictly based on the way they look, non-traditional, no effect on how they work. So I bought a set of buttons shaped like the Grover buttons, “problem” solved.

I cannot recommend these highly enough over the stock Gibson tuners! I’m going to get more sets for my favorite guitars, they are that good.

I can recommend actual hipshot griplock tuners. Im not sure these were genuine. They were in a different shaped box, smaller than the ones Ive gotten before. The screws are junk. I predrilled like I always do and two broke off before I even got close to tight.

Ive literally put hundreds of tuners on guitars so its not like Im just going to randomly forget how tiny those screws are. They were substandard which is the second thing about these which makes them suspect.

Tuners seemed ok on cursory look. Like I said, genuine hipshot griplock tuners are the bees knees.

Everything is in a nice easy to install package. Con: The tuners do not line up correctly with the headstock on a Single Cut Santana Egyptian Gold PRS. To make them fit better is to fill the tuner holes, drill new tuner holes at different distances to the edge of the headstock so the amount of tuner buttons are at the proper height.

Then all you’d have to do is refinish the exact matching paint, get Carlos’s signature replaced along with all the other writing and you be all set! Nope I’ll live with the slight misalignment, enjoy the smooth tuning, and the locks.

Then concentrate on playing. Willie D.

I have always preferred slotted tuning machines. There are no string ends sticking out to prick your fingers on and they have the cleanest look. I am glad Fender makes them available. I have installed them on all my Fender and Music Man Guitars.

I had to buy both left and right sets of six to work on a Music Man 4+2 head but I much refer these to the cross drilled posts on modern guitars. I wish they made 3+3 sets so I could put slotted machines on my Gibsons.

I first saw them on Fender guitars. Clarence Leo Fender was an amazing designer. Fifty years of owning guitars and basses have make me increasingly aware of his design genius. My favourite Gibson is my Blueshawk.

It is heavily Fender with a 25 1/2″ scale and string through body. Only things missing are a bolt on neck and tuning keys all on top. I wish I had slotted post tuning machines on all my instruments.

Hipshot tuners are quality made. They operate smoothly. But the best part is the weight. They way about 1/3 less than Grovers. I have a guitar that has “neck drop”. A symptom of poor design where the guitar is off balance and heavier towards the neck and headstock.

I saw on forums people recommend Hipshot tuners to reduce the headstock weight. I got the open back tuners on eBay and plastic keys directly from hipshot and reduced the weight a total of 100g. Really improved the neck drop.

They look good and perform excellent.

I upgraded my Squire Affinity Telecaster from its original tuning machines to HIPSHOT locking staggered tuners. Since my pickguard was black I chose black tuners. These tuners installed absolutely easily with no drilling due to the included UMP universal mounting kit.

After installation, I put the strings in and tested them. Very smooth and consistent ratio. After 24 hours I tested the tuning and all 6 strings remained in tune! Yes, I would buy them again.

First, let me say I committed to buy Made In USA. I was very pleased with Hipshot tuners in the past because they’re beautifully made and reasonably priced. These are no exception. Plus they came with the UMP (Universal Mounting Plate) which eliminates the need to drill new holes in your headstock.

Moreover, the buttons are replaceable if you ever want a new look but don’t want to spring for a whole new set of tuners. Unfortunately, Hipshot’s website is woefully short on info/details about their tuners.

So I wasn’t sure these would fit with no trouble, and my fears were later confirmed. For example, what’s the difference between their standard and “vintage” tuners? What is the length of the post from back of headstock to the post string hole? When researching replacement tuners for my Gretsch G6121-1959 Chet Atkins reissue, Hipshot’s website was useless except as to get a general idea of the look and styles of their products.

On the other hand, Schaller’s site has LOTS of technical details about their products. Hipshot’s has none, and they should fix this. So I bought these tuners on a leap of faith that they’d fit with minimal trouble, just like the last set.

Instead, I had to enlarge my tuner holes to 10mm (had to buy a reamer). Then the cumulative thickness of the UMP plates, headstock, washer and nut was too thick for the string hole to clear the ferrule nut to cleanly insert a string, especially on the bass side.

One of the middle tuners (on a 3+3 headstock) wasn’t quite long enough for the threaded nut to grab the tuner post at all. Consequently, I had to uninstall those already in place, remove the UMP plates and mount the tuners in the more traditional way – with screws which meant I added 6 more holes to the back of my beautiful guitar’s headstock – not too happy about that.

Now that they’re installed these locking tuners work as they should and look like OEM. However, DELETE 2 STARS for 1) crappy website having no technical data on their tuners; 2) UMP system that didn’t work as advertised and required 6 new holes to be drilled; 3) need to buy a reamer to enlarge my holes to accommodate the Hipshots.

An excellent tuner, and the ability to see the tuning state of all six strings *simultaneoulsly* is truly impressive and will be a time saver at gigs. Tuning a single string with a more detailed display with finer resolution is also available, and you don’t even have to press a button to change modes – it just works.

I think that a tuner with a large and true stroboscopic display is still the best for ultimate ease-of-use and accuracy, but with these you don’t get the poly tuning ability. It’s a trade off and I’m happy that I made the right decision to go with the Polytune.

Bought the Polytune 3 to replace the Polytune 2 on my board because I wanted the buffer without having to use a separate buffer pedal. First thing I noticed out of the box was that the Polytune 3’s screen is only 60-70% as bright as the Polytune 2.

Returned it and got a replacement; same thing. I spoke to TC Electronic and they confirmed that this is indeed a design change in the Polytune 3 because some people were complaining that the 2 was too bright (wow, I guess a lot of complaining people don’t do outdoor gigs).

Go figure. At all levels of the built in light sensor, the 3 is dimmer than the 2, including outside full brightness. Boo. This is a deal breaker for me as the Polytune 2’s screen & brightness were perfect.

The new one is too dim and hard to see from eye level, and other LED’s on my board are actually brighter than the Polytune 3’s display, which is distracting. So so disappointing as this could have been perfect.

Such a puzzling decision on the part of TC Electronic. A much better solution would have been to make the brightness switchable between two modes if that really was an issue. I mean really: who wants a dimmer, harder to see screen? Especially outside in sunlight.

They took one of the industry standard tuners and upgraded it with a switchable buffer, but downgraded it because the screen is dim. Going back to my Polytune 2 with separate buffer pedal.

Great rock solid tuner for my banjos. Excellent easy to read display that even references the nearest note if you are really far off the mark. Nice subtle tuning visuals without being just crazy like another widely used tuner I could mention.

Just solid for instruments like banjos that tuners seem to have a difficult time with. Also worked great with my mandolin. Only wish it had a swivel, but it is easy enough to get it onto my various headstocks at various angles to really need that.

I?m ditching my Snarks, even though they are cheap as dirt by comparison.

I purchased these for my 2005 Gibson Les Paul Standard for several reasons. First, these are configured just like the OEM Klusons on my LP, so no drilling or routing was required. The vintage look of my instrument, which I like, remains unchanged.

Second, the OEM Klusons are 12:1, these are19:1 making fine, precise tuning possible; a great upgrade. Lastly, they are locking tuners, a technology I have come to appreciate having experienced them on a Tom Anderson Strat I own.

String changes are now very simple and quick. A few words of advice (I learned the hard way) – if your LP is configured like a vintage instrument, you will likely need the non-collared tuners. I initially purchased the collared tuners and was momentarily frustrated that what was promised to not require drilling, could only be fitted with it.

I contacted Kluson and learned what I needed. The exchange with the Arkansas Musicworks was simple and soon I was making music again.

These tuners drop right into vintage spec Gibsons as they should. Their turn ratio is finer than the originals and they have the convenience of locking. The colour of the pegs is more or less accurate.

The only difference is screws can be seen on the end of the pegs, whereas not with the original pegs. I guess that means they’re screwed on instead of glued. It’s not a downside, just a difference. I much prefer these tuners.

Class!.

Excellent tuners. Look great and function perfectly. Installation was tricky because the holes in my 2001 American Standard Telecaster neck are slightly larger. I was able to use electrical tape to snug them in – but it is not a great solution.

So if you are planning to use these tuners in a neck drilled for some other type of tuner beware of this potential problem.

So I own a few different Snark Tuners and they have always been my top choice. But ironically, I read a few reviews on other sites that had the same issue I had. This “rechargable” edition is very wonky.

It literally takes a few seconds to CORRECTLY read the tune. It instantly turns on and instantly gives you a reading, but it’s almost always an incorrect reading. Only after about 20-30 seconds of being on, will it accurately read each string.

Then, I found, in the instruction manual, it reads to allow it 30 seconds after powering it on to get an accurate battery reading! That’s just insane. This is not applicable for a live show situation.

30 seconds of waiting for anything in front of an audience, is a lifetime. But if it takes 30 seconds to get an accurate reading of the battery, then obviously it’s still processing information, which makes sense that the tuner is not ready to go immediately.

As far as Snarks other battery operated tuners, they have always been superior, but this one is just not meant for live application.

******BUYER BEWARE****** I read a lot of reviews before selecting the Super Snark product. Most were good but some reviews mentioned the product not staying on the instrument securely and breaking where the stem meets the ball joint.

Not even a month or two later of very careful and light use, it has done exactly what others have experienced. Contacted the seller and explained what happened only to be told they would not offer a refund or replacement stating they have a 45 day policy (the Snark Company has a 12 month limited warranty).

The seller assumed that the device was broken because of user error but hadn’t asked for any pictures or proof before making this assumption. I highly suggested you look elsewhere for a better return policy and take note that of you buy from this seller and this happens, you will be out of luck.

You’re better off buying one that is a stand alone that doesn’t attach to the instrument you are playing.

These are good tuners that replace Klusons with the screw-in bushing (not the press-fit). They are much lighter, and work smoothly. I like the extra small buttons because they turn more precisely than large buttons, for me, anyway.

Also, they are much lighter than the original tuners, so the headstock will be lighter, too- if you have an SG it helps a lot.

The first thing I noticed is these are solid tuners. They are a great option for replacing headstocks bored for today’s larger 13/32 bushing diameter, as that’s the spec on the 135 tuners. So you don’t need conversion bushings if you want vintage style tuners-they are drop in replacements (you will need to drill new mounting screw holes on the back of the head stock in most cases).

They are maybe not as sensitive to adjustments as the rotomatics and others with an 18:1 ratio. Nonetheless, provided all else is set up properly they will certainly allow precise tuning as necessary and they stay in tune.

These were just the ticket for my SG and I could not be happier with the results.

I always buy relatively inexpensive guitars, and they always come with horrible, terrible tuners (lots of you know which ones Im talking about). So I decided to look for name brand tuners like Grovers (Gotohs are great too).

These are solid, well made and keep tune wonderfully, with no dead spots in the gearing. They also look awesome! Highly recommended.