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.

[neepheid]

14 hours ago, Gazz said:

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

 

They're not the same - the Grover Titan uses two locating/mounting screws.  Those are Schaller M4S (or copies thereof), and they use locating pins built into the baseplate on the underside which are not visible from the front.  Hey, you said "exact"...