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"...

[Gazz]

6 hours ago, neepheid said:

 

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"...

Lol, apart from the 2 pins v 2 screws, they are the same, I have both, 4 on my T40, and 4 Grovers on my Jazz, drilling 2 tiny holes is no big deal is it?,,, 😎 🙂 🙂 😁 

[neepheid]

53 minutes ago, Gazz said:

Lol, apart from the 2 pins v 2 screws, they are the same, I have both, 4 on my T40, and 4 Grovers on my Jazz, drilling 2 tiny holes is no big deal is it?,,, 😎 🙂 🙂 😁 

 

Like I said, you said "exactly the same" - just keeping you honest, bud

 

[Gazz]

1 hour ago, neepheid said:

 

Like I said, you said "exactly the same" - just keeping you honest, bud

 

I know mate, 😁 I have noticed while messing with tuners, there is only a few different ones. The Schaller on the T40, are basically Grover, the Leo Quan, are nothing special, I have a set and there's no difference to STD tuners, it's all a con. Just because they have a 'name' on them.... 😎 

[Silky999]

What about some Retrovibe Ultralites? They look a very similar shape and I have use them on a build and was I impressed with the quality. I think they only come in chrome so that might be the only issue? Made in South Korea and cheaper than Licensed Hipshots.

 

https://retrovibe.co.uk/product/retrovibe-ultralite-bass-tuning-machine-heads-clover-leaf-or-lollipop-only-224g-per-set/

[The fasting showman]

I'd have a look at Schaller BM lites, from memory the locating pins may well be similar to the originals. Less woodworking hopefully!

[Gazz]

13 hours ago, The fasting showman said:

I'd have a look at Schaller BM lites, from memory the locating pins may well be similar to the originals. Less woodworking hopefully!

I'm looking at a 2 x 2,set for my latest project, never seen one in the, flesh, are they half plastic? Can't tell from the pics... 😕 

[neepheid]

3 minutes ago, Gazz said:

I'm looking at a 2 x 2,set for my latest project, never seen one in the, flesh, are they half plastic? Can't tell from the pics... 😕 

 

According to Thomann - "Made of carbon and refined aluminium"

[The fasting showman]

52 minutes ago, Gazz said:

I'm looking at a 2 x 2,set for my latest project, never seen one in the, flesh, are they half plastic? Can't tell from the pics... 😕 

Yep, like a Delrin type of plastic 

[kodiakblair]

On 16/02/2026 at 09:51, lemmywinks said:

Either way it would be a shame to lose those lovely stock tuning keys,

Those keys are on there for a reason.

 

Dead spots are nothing new. Instrument designers like Jim DeCola, currently headman at Gibson/former headman with Fender/designer of DynaBass for Peavey, are well acquainted with them and how to tweak them.

 

It's simple physics, peghead mass. You take a bundle of loaded necks, with overly thick pegheads,  stick some piezos on them, hit them with frequencies and record the results. Pegheads get gradually thinned by a sander to arrive at the average thickness causing least offense.

 

Neck dive is caused by a poorly balanced bass. What device do we use to suspend our basses from ?

 

It's not the tuning pegs so beats me why folk ignore the obvious. Buy another strap and adjust the bloody thing.

[The fasting showman]

4 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

Those keys are on there for a reason.

 

Dead spots are nothing new. Instrument designers like Jim DeCola, currently headman at Gibson/former headman with Fender/designer of DynaBass for Peavey, are well acquainted with them and how to tweak them.

 

It's simple physics, peghead mass. You take a bundle of loaded necks, with overly thick pegheads,  stick some piezos on them, hit them with frequencies and record the results. Pegheads get gradually thinned by a sander to arrive at the average thickness causing least offense.

 

Neck dive is caused by a poorly balanced bass. What device do we use to suspend our basses from ?

 

It's not the tuning pegs so beats me why folk ignore the obvious. Buy another strap and adjust the bloody thing.

There's a lot in what you say, I put some Resolite tuners on an old Fender and it really thinned out the sound, a lot of low mids disappeared. 

I suppose it could help some basses but in my case the old tuners went straight back on.