Hipshot Vintage 6 Inline Staggered Closed 8.5mm Tuners with Grip-Lock & Universal Mounting for Guitars

golfer dave: quality product

United States on Nov 18, 2023

wakkajawakka: Easy to install. No screws or holes. And they are in there tight. No slipping. The locking mechanism isn’t as smooth as fender but it’s pretty dagone good. They hold their tune quite well as they are pretty tight. And at around 10 bucks a tuner, great deal.

United States on Nov 13, 2023

Michael E. DingasMichael E. Dingas: Tuners arrived quickly. Order on Jun 26, arrived Jun28. Good news. Tuners look great with a blemish-free chrome finish.

This was the staggered set, size is clearly etched into the body of each tuner. You get 2 21mm, 2 20mm and 2 19mm tuner heads. I marked the box (see photo) so as to not get confused during installation.

My guitar is a 60's Kapa Continental. The ad doesn't list the dimensions of each tuner. So I really had no way of knowing if the staggered design would fit my headstock (approximately 16mm). Of course, the shorter tuners proved to be a problem. When installed, the string hole is slightly below the top of the shaft nuts (nut and washer are about 4.5mm thick). The Univeral Mounting Plate (UMP) is thin but still reduces the necessary clearance some. Removing the washer allows just enough room to insert the string (see photo). I'll probably try to replace the 19mm tuners with a longer shaft design.

installation required reaming out the holes in the headstock. I ordered the 8.5mm tuners and Kapa holes were 8mm. So I ordered a reamer (local big box stores don't carry the needed reamer) which arrived several days later. Resizing the holes went well...

United States on Jul 02, 2023

Steve O'NealSteve O'Neal: I bought a Squier AffinityStrat with the express intent of modifying it into a “Partscaster.” The tuners that came on the guitar were junk. The Hipshot tuners (8.5 mm, staggered) were very easy to install - it took maybe 5 minutes, and because I an about to install new pickups, I didn’t bother replacing the strings, but simply kept and trimmed the old ones (I’ll replace them when I install the new pickups and pickguard). The locks seem to be quite effective, and the guitar tuned easily, and tuning seems to be more stable than with the old tuners. I might have to reset the intonation….not sure yet, but overall, this is a worthwhile change. I’d recommend it. One caution- when you install the back plates, they’ll look like they won’t align with the holes in the neck. In fact, they will, but you have to make sure they’re aligned so that the tabs contact the tuners per the instructions, or the tuners themselves will rotate when you tighten the nuts. It’s just something to be aware of before you start installing them. The back plates cover the indexing holes for the old tuners, so it looks good. The only drawback is a cosmetic one. You no longer need the string...

United States on May 01, 2022

Rebecca GrantRebecca Grant: I have a 15 year old Chinese made Squier Bullet Strat that had the typical problem staying in tune with the cheap tuning machines and floating tremolo. I have recently gotten back into electric guitars and was happy enough with the Squier, except for the inability to stay in tune for more than a few minutes. I have heard a lot of great things about the Hipshot locking tuners and decided to give these a shot, it's not like they could be any worse than what's already on there. I pulled one of my tuners and measured it to be about 8mm, so I ordered these staggered 8.5 vintage machines. I also ordered a cheap reaming tool to easily open up the holes.

Installation was a breeze, took a few minutes to slowly enlarge the mounting holes and they have a nice snug fit. I was worried that the mounting plate wasn't going to work and thought I would have to widen the outside holes a little with a file, but it turned out to fit perfectly. Comparing the old tuners to the Hipshots was a night and day experience. The Squier's rattled around and had a ton of play and just felt like garbage. These, on the other hand, were solid and have very little play.

After restringing the guitar, I...

United States on Jul 07, 2021