Vintage V96 Reissued - Tuner issues

[keef71]

Hi...any help on this would be greatly appreciated. I have owned the above bass for about a year but the tuners although having an ok reputation? Wilkinson's are not great, they are sticky and jump. The web says they are WJBL200...and although my bass was bought brand new, they don't appear to be quite the same. Maybe there was a supply issue at the time of manufacturing? The upshot is that I'd like to change the tuners for a decent brand, Gotoh, Schaller, Grover? if possible. My problem is when I try to find the exact footprint/ screw hole combination that fits with my bass, I can't seem to find a match. The closest I have found according to the dimensions given, is the Grover 142. it looks a fairly close fit, however the dimensions of the narrow end screw holes for the 142 are 17mm, whereas mine measure 20mm. I don't have a problem filling or drilling new holes, but I don't want any previous holes visible with the new ones fitted. It's very difficult without having a 142 to try. Has anyone else had this issue and found a solution please?

[Sean]

Wilkinson hardware is generally good and stands up well against other brands. Schaller and Hipshot are higher quality and associated with more premium or high end spec instruments.

 

I've only had good experiences with Wilkinson hardware. Another brand that is gaining popularity and a decent reputation is Guyker. 

 

One thing to be aware of when swapping out this kind of tuner is the mass. If the V96 is light, putting heavy Schaller vintage-style tuners on that are heavier than the stock ones, could cause neck dive or at least a change in balance of the bass. 

 

Another consideration is that the OEM tuners aren't the same spec/quality as the aftermarket ones. That the WJBL200 tuners supplied from the factory aren't as good quality as the aftermarket. I've seen this before on various products. 

 

Sometimes it's impossible to change to another tuner without having holes. 

I'm doing one this afternoon and will post a pic. I'm putting the old screws back in the old holes...

 

...probably.

[keef71]

Good points made Sean thanks. I wouldn’t have considered that the quality might vary within the brand. The ones on my V96 are poor, I’m not overly fussy about tuners being Hipshot smooth, but they all vary in terms of smoothness. I took them to bits and cleaned them, then lightly lubed them all in the hope that that would help, but it never, they are just poorly made. I also discovered the Hipshot HB1 seems to be pretty similar but I don’t want to spend that much on new tuners. Guyker is a make I’m not familiar with, I will check them out thank you.

Nick dive is not something that has ever affected me. I’ve had 60 (approx) basses over 45 years and I’ve never experienced it luckily for me.