Locking guitar tuners

[kitekrazy1]

On 10/5/2025 at 3:15 AM, Xoo said:

The SE isn't that high end (funnily enough, I much prefer how it plays to a high end PRS I tried!).  I do think my knotting may be sub-optimal in some cases, but I don't think it's awful on all the strings!

I have a much older SE with a wide fat.  The 1st generation I guess they call it.

I do suck a changing strings.  

[Xoo]

12 hours ago, Amberwolf said:

Has your environment changed?   If humidity / temperature changes are more extreme or more frequent than before the problem began, it could cause issues if they happen long enough or extreme enough, if the wood isn't sealed against them well enough.   A long time ago I had a crappy old acoustic nylon string that used to be my younger sister's, and it held a tune ok, when we were kids in north texas farm country in  a little pink house with a swamp cooler.  After we moved to the desert here, it started to change and had problems, and after a few years it was impossible to tune, you'd start on one string and by the time you got the last one done it had lost the tune on the first one, and no amount of working with it would tune it.   Not like we knew anything about guitars, or how ot store or use htem, etc., so it could probably have been prevented, but....

The environment hasn't changed, but it's not in an ideal environment (if that makes sense - it's been this way for years).  So that may be a factor.

Also what might be a factor is my inability to actually look closely - I can "remember" restringing and it being OK, but when I looked at the G string last night (no sniggers at the back, please), it's truly awfully wound.  So that's probably my problem.  Don't I feel stupid?

Seriously, I appreciate the replies here and I've learned a lot (including the luthier's knot, which I'd actually been doing by chance, just not very well!).

[mettelus]

3 hours ago, Xoo said:

I can "remember" restringing and it being OK, but when I looked at the G string last night (no sniggers at the back, please), it's truly awfully wound.

The unwound strings in particular (the ones you say are de-tuning) have less friction to each other on the post wraps, so I have always wrapped at least 4 turns on those strings. The purpose of the kink in the "luthier's knot" is to provide additional friction against the string being unwound (from slippage) on the post. Even when changing strings I loosen them just enough so I can "unwrap" them fully by pulling vertically at the post, then a slight tug will unbend that kink and pull it out with ease. The more wraps, the more friction... BB King was notorious for wrapping the entire string on posts.  It is the same principle with ropes, especially things like rappelling... without a wrap of rope behind you to add friction, there is no way on earth you can control your body weight with one hand for five minutes with any degree of control. Even ascending ropes, a wrap is commonly used on one leg so you can pinch the rope on top of that foot with the free foot with very little force to rest your arms (even people with little upper body strength can do this method). People zooming up a rope with just upper body strength like the Man in Black at the Cliffs of Insanity is not common at all, but no one messes with the Man in Black (it's inconceivable)!!!

Then again (back to the OP), locking tuners are a means to keep the string from slipping on the post... the "King Kong" version of the "luthier's knot" kink, so fewer wraps are needed and string changes are quicker. If you change strings often and don't have a string winder, locking tuners will certainly pay for themselves with the timed saved.

[Xoo]

The B and the E are the ones that stay in tune most though.  G is worst (but badly wound - my bad for not checking  and making an assumption) but the low E and A aren't amazing (IMHO).

[Amberwolf]

On my six string Ibanez bass, the two low strings are the hardest to get tuned in the first place, and lose their tune first.   At least they don't drag the rest of the thing out of tune, but it's annoying. 

 

I don't really worry about it and havent' done much to try to fix it because I don't use the guitar much (any of the non-virtual stuff these days), and when I do it's just one string at a time (cuz I can't actually play; I build chords where I use them by combining different recordings at different times.) but this thread has good ideas for trying out next time I get annoyed enough by it.  

[Xoo]

Of course, after all this "threat" of locking tuners and restringing and the like, it has stayed in tune near perfectly for the last couple of days 🙂

[Glenn Stanton]

7 hours ago, Xoo said:

Of course, after all this "threat" of locking tuners and restringing and the like, it has stayed in tune near perfectly for the last couple of days 🙂

same thing happens when i'm near someone's computer they claim is not working properly... 😉 

[Amberwolf]

The technician effect.

 

Which does not work on the technician's own systems.

 

Edited Friday at 02:02 AM by Amberwolf

[Glenn Stanton]

18 hours ago, Amberwolf said:

The technician effect.  Which does not work on the technician's own systems.

no, my machines also start working correctly once i've interrupted whatever i'm in the middle of working on, and then don't reappear for some random time later... 😈

[Jim Roseberry]

Get the PRS SE locking tuners that @Chaps pointed out.

Those are drop-in replacements that work well.

 

I've owned a lot of PRS guitars.

Though I love much about them, the nut is typically pretty thick.

That makes it all the more likely that strings get bound up in the nut.

Even with PRS Private Stock guitars (with their vintage style tremolo), I've had issues with strings binding in the nut.

ie:  When you first pick-up the guitar...  press down on the tremolo arm... and you'll likely hear the strings "ping".

That means strings are getting caught in the nut. 

That's likely the reason the guitar isn't staying in tune.

If this is the case, locking tuners won't solve this issue.

Take the guitar to a trusted/skilled luthier... and have them file the nut so all strings slide smoothly without getting bound.

Note this isn't an issue limited to PRS guitars.  Gibson Les Pauls (and similar) often have this issue on the G string.  (No jokes please 🤪)

 

[mettelus]

Jim makes a good point. In addition, some nuts are slotted to a preferred string gauge, so anything bigger can get pinched if the slots are too deep and you are using a bigger gauge. TUSQ XL nuts are one of the best replacements out there (they have teflon in them) and IIRC are designed to accept 9-11 string sets. StewMac sells them a little cheaper, but not sure about the shipping comparison. If you get outside their intended gauge range (the TUSQ site has a lot of info), a luthier may be needed to open the slots on them.