I've been playing the new kit bass as my main bass for most of a year now, and while it's been staying in tune really well all winter, it has a couple of issues. The pressed-in front hub piece on a couple of the tuners had worked loose, so they were pressed back with a bit of glue to hold them in. The action on the neck was a bit higher as well, so it needed a truss rod adjustment to bring it back. And, i wanted to correct the bit of neck dive the bass has - not terrible, but enough to get annoying.
I found a reasonable deal on some Gotoh Res-o-Lite tuners, and weight-wise they're a big improvement. Original Fender-style tuner on top, replacement on bottom. The full set is almost 8 ounces lighter than the original tuners.
The mounting is different too, instead of 4 screws on the back of the headstock, there's a single screw to locate the back. On the front instead of the pressed-in flange there's a nut that more positively clamps the spindle through the headstock.
Everything about the new tuner is smaller, most noticeably the handle and mounting plate, but also the spindle that mounts through the headstock. This isn't an issue for winding the string, but it's not a great fit in the original holes.
You can see the sloppy fit. The tuner would mount, but it wouldn't be very stable under tension. It's a large enough space that it needs more than just a couple of turns of tape. Luckily i have a metal lathe and aluminum bar, so in an hour or so i had 4 spacers made to fit the existing hole and spindle for the new tuner.
The inside is a slip fit over the tuner spindle nut and the outside a light press fit into the wood headstock. The length is about a mm short of the thickness of the wood, so the clamping action will be on the wood and not the spacer.
The tuner is a much better fit. The new tuner uses a beveled washer under the nut flats, so the top of the hole will never be seen after installation.
I used a smear of light oil inside the spacer and on the nut threads to make sure the nut would turn easily and hopefully avoid corrosion for any future maintenance.
The back of the tuners has a convenient flat that lets you easily align the tuners with a straightedge. I'm not doing anything about the unused holes for now.
I was a little worried that the new tuner handles would look too small, given how large the originals are, but i think it looks fine. They are smaller, but i think not too small, just not traditional. The new tuners are very smooth, easy to turn, and the overall balance is much improved. It feels balanced, neither top nor bottom heavy, just neutral and comfortable. The lighter weight overall will be nice too.
The completed bass, ready for more practice.
