Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Mr.Mow wrote:Actually I'm seeing the Hipshot Ultralites may almost be a drop in (1 small screw hole needed, looks like it would go right between the two bottom holes, so later reversal to original would be covered up), the post size is a little bigger, but only 1mm.. thats probably almost a press in..

Only catch is they look pretty modern..

You can get them with cloverleaf keys instead of the Y keys that I have on my July '73 4001. I did have to open the post holes a bit, but these are great tuners that I have on a lot of my basses.

Ok, I've come across these, I'm still waiting on hole dimensions, but I'm told the fit a 12mm hole and have a 9-10mm post.. if the hole spacing is 11mm and 32mm that makes the a direct drop in replacement.. ok, sure they are cheap chinese tuners.. but in an emergency I'm sure they work ok.. I mean, most of Gibson's hardware is made by Ping, truth be told you probably find a majority of Gotoh's stuff is too.

A cheap drop in solution would be mega..

well.. the ping tuners just arrived, i'm still at work though.. A quick measure shows these should just drop in with no new screw holes!!
They feel really smooth and tight, the internal mechanism appears to be brass, the ferrules are plastic strangely..

More news at.. well.. when I get home!

Where did you buy the Ping tuners from, Russel?
I may buy a set of those too.

Oh, and a belated welcome to the forum!

paul_yan wrote:Where did you buy the Ping tuners from, Russel?
I may buy a set of those too.

Oh, and a belated welcome to the forum!

Hi Paul, I just got them off an ebay seller 'Heboy29', heres the bummer... They fit.. almost perfectly.. the horizontal spacing of the holes is dead on, the shaft is correct, the ferrules are just a tad small for the post holes (no biggy), you CANNOT use the original Grover ferrules.. bummer..
But the vertical hole spacing.. its about 1/2-1mm too big.. it a-l-m-o-s-t fits.. looks like 2 small holes to be drilled.. But they will be covered by the new tuner.. and if the Grovers should ever go back on will be covered by them, the footprint is identical.

I'll post a pic up asap..

Oh.. the only other thing.. the tuner ears are a bit smaller than the originals.. they look kinda small and cute.

Thank you for the detailed description, Russel.

Small and cute ain't bad! A possible bonus is they'll weigh less and cause less head-dive.

It was me who said that wavy Grover replicas were better than the "exploding" real thing and to this day I stand by what I said. As John Hall has pointed out, not every set of Grover bass tuners ever made was sub-standard. IIRC it was only when production was shifted to outside the USA that things started going South hehe Cheers!

Hey Sérgio, how ya doin'? Spring greetings from across the oceans!

Ok, heres some pics.. I did have to plug the old holes in the end, the new holes were about 1/2 a mm off.. The ferrules are also just bit smaller, so it shows a slight tan line.. no big drama though..

I actually really like the look of em, very 70's!! They sell for about $28..

I have the same set on a 74, I really wish someone would make something a little closer to the original that was an actual fit...