Machine head advice, please

[dclaassen]

My Peavey Dynabass 5 is lovely, but suffers from neck dive. I’d like to put some lightweight tuners on it, but also don’t want to spend more than necessary. Tuners are 4+1 and black. I could probably get away with only replacing the 4. Any thoughts? 

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I found some pics of the tuners on your bass (I think the 5 uses the same tuners as the 4 string version)

 

 

Hipshot HB6 ultralites would probably be a good choice, but check the dimensions of the existing tuners & the holes they fit in to ensure that they'd fit.

 

The US-made ultralites are reversable so buying five would enable you to reverse one, but there is also the cheaper 'licensed version' which is not reversable.

 

https://allparts.uk.com/products/hipshot-hb6-ultralite-bass-machine-heads?variant=54942187880831

 

[dclaassen]

Thanks! I’m tempted to replace the 4 inline tuners first to see if that fixes the problem 

[BlueMoon]

Gotoh GB 528 Res-o-lite tuners also may be suitable. They have a similar footprint to the existing tuners shown in the pic above. Res-o-lite tuners are some of the lightest on the market.

[Gazz]

If you want exact ones the Grover Titan is exactly the same tuner, just has Grover on it.... 

[velvetkevorkian]

Might be worth taking one off and weighing it to see what the potential gain might be. I replaced some generic Ibanez tuners with US Ultralites and it only saved about 15g a tuner, but those ones pictured look like they might be lighter?

[dclaassen]

10 minutes ago, velvetkevorkian said:

Might be worth taking one off and weighing it to see what the potential gain might be. I replaced some generic Ibanez tuners with US Ultralites and it only saved about 15g a tuner, but those ones pictured look like they might be lighter?

Good idea!

[lemmywinks]

56 minutes ago, velvetkevorkian said:

Might be worth taking one off and weighing it to see what the potential gain might be. I replaced some generic Ibanez tuners with US Ultralites and it only saved about 15g a tuner, but those ones pictured look like they might be lighter?

 

 

100%, the existing ones don't look particularly bulky or heavy. On a lightweight bass 75g weight saving on the headstock might make enough difference though. Guyker do some open gear tuners they are 69g and work out at about £40 for a 5 string set, probably cheaper on AliExpress.

 

 

Either way it would be a shame to lose those lovely stock tuning keys, Schaller M4 Light or BM Light might be a more suitable replacement if you don't want the visual downgrade of generic looking flat Y keys.