Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Would like to add them to my 650D. Anyone else tried them or installation problems?

I have them on my 330, and they're great. I didn't put my own in though, it was professionally done. I highly recommend them.

The 650 should already have Schaller tuners. So should a 330. I am confused. Do you mean vintage-style?

No, I mean the locking kind.

My 330 had Klusons on it when I purchased it.

My 1984 325v59 JG has original Klusons on it, as does my 1981 460 BG, but my 1987 320 Silver has original Schaller M-6 Mini tuners.

The Schaller tuners in question are available from Stewart-MacDonald (Stew-Mac):

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Guitar,_solid_peghead/Schaller_Tuners.ssc

If I am reading the descriptions right there, the 'standard' M-6 has a different footprint from that of the M-6 Minis. I can't tell what footprint the locking type has.

I used Schaller locking tuners for a guitar that I built. These are full sized, that lock from the rear. They are smooth operating and stay in tune. The only draw back is that they are much heavier. The locking screw is thick and solid. I will consider Sperzels for my next project. I was swayed from using the Schaller mini's, that lock from the front, by the owner of my local guitar store. I don't remember the reason. I tried uploading a pic of them but even droping the file size to 26KB I had no luck, sorry. The last catalog I received from Stew Mac did have footprint dimensions of all their tuners. That should help to see if there is one that will directly replace the current tuners on your instrument.

Here is a link to the top locking tuner. This looks most like the footprint of what is on a Rick.
http://www.schaller-guitarparts.de/1112.htm

Here is the link to the ones that I used. These have a mounting screw.
http://www.schaller-guitarparts.de/1111.htm

The ones in the Stew Mac catalog are similar to the ones that I used except that they do not use a mounting screw. These tuners have a single pin mount. Stew Mac

Hope this helps, Ken

Locking tuners? On a Rickenbacker? Totally unnecessary mod, in my humble opinion. The stock Schallers on current Ricks are more than adequate. Tuning instability is rarely the fault of the tuners. It's usually the fault of the person installing the strings, a poorly cut or worn nut, wrong string guage for nut, or bridge saddle problems.

The 650 already has roller saddles. It should be really stable without the locking tuners.

I like them for the ease and speed of changing the strings. I would never put them on a vintage instrument. But if one of the locking tuners has the same mounting foot print as the stock ones, why not put them on a newer instrument for the advantages? You can always revert back to the originals as long as you don't discard them.