# Locking tuners from China?



## littlebadboy (Apr 18, 2015)

I am looking at trying these China locking tuners. It's just $20 for my 7-string. One question though... is the size standard? Do different guitars have different sized holes? It looks like these tuners requires me to drill screw holes. Is that ok? I have an Ibanez RG7321.







New 6R Auto Lock String Guitar Tuning Pegs Machine Heads Black Tuner Pegs | eBay


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## Hywel (Apr 18, 2015)

The only difference I know of in tuner hole size is between vintage (~8.8mm I think?) and modern (~10mm) styles and your Ibanez should be the 10mm size so these should fit (not that they've given the measurement anywhere, it's just more likely they've used 10mm as that's what the tuner's they've copied use)

Drilling holes isn't a problem as long as you don't mind extra holes in your headstock. The tuners should cover up the old holes. Watch you don't drill all the way through the headstock when you add the new holes and be sure to drill a decent size pilot hole for the screws as I imagine they will have the cheapest screws imaginable so breaking one off in the hole isn't unlikely. You can use a straight edge of some kind against the tuner housings to get them all lined up before drilling the holes.

These tuners are cheap copies of copies (JinHo/Wilkinson/Vanson) of decent tuners (Schaller). I'd probably spend a bit more on the Vanson/JinHo versions which are great and are likely to be a bit more smooth and stable (although these might be fine, I just find it hard to believe at $20).

Good luck


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## mr coffee (Apr 18, 2015)

My experience with cheap Chinese guitar parts has largely been that you get what you pay for.

-m


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## littlebadboy (Apr 18, 2015)

Hywel said:


> I'd probably spend a bit more on the Vanson/JinHo versions which are great and are likely to be a bit more smooth and stable (although these might be fine, I just find it hard to believe at $20).
> 
> Good luck



Where can I find the best deals for Vanson/JinHo tuners?


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## Hywel (Apr 19, 2015)

Probably ebay again but I've only looked in 1 place and I'm UK based so there might be places in the US I've missed


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## Adrian87 (Apr 19, 2015)

i ordered once from china and never again. You definitely get what you pay for. You may hit something and get lucky but most of the time your going to have order a few times to find a decent supplier and by that time your better off buying a quality piece with the money youve spent. 

If your looking to go the budget route, for what its worth, I have used "vanson" tuners on my 7 string budget build (they sell off ebay for about $50 or so) and i thought they were pretty decent. No complaints on them.


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## pondman (Apr 19, 2015)

But where do Vanson get the tuners from. I've used Vanson a few times and liked em but I have also bought the Chinese ones you have in the picture which were identical to the Vanson tuners and they were ok.

Maybe I got lucky


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## SeditiousDissent (Apr 19, 2015)

I've got those on 2 of my guitars. I bought them from Guitar Fetish, so I would imagine that they are the same exact tuners. I've never had a problem with slippage or anything like that. The only issue is that the ratio is pretty low. I think people are too quick to knock anything that's made in China...even though the computer through which they are typing is, coincidentally, made in China.


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## Hollowway (Apr 19, 2015)

On average, stuff coming out of China is low quality. But it all has to do with the quality control over there. Obviously it can be done, since Apple makes most of their stuff there. But in general, Made in China is not a seal of quality. As with most things, it's best to be able to try before you buy. Count me among the people who hasn't had a lot of luck with Chinese tuners.


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## jarnozz (Apr 20, 2015)

A set of 7 hipshot tuners only costs like 70 bucks. And those are really good!


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## Adrian87 (Apr 24, 2015)

pondman said:


> But where do Vanson get the tuners from. I've used Vanson a few times and liked em but I have also bought the Chinese ones you have in the picture which were identical to the Vanson tuners and they were ok.
> 
> Maybe I got lucky



yea i know what your saying, i was referring to more of the aliexpress type of suppliers that you kind of have to try and see for yourself. Ive seen some vanson people promote their stuff and stand behind their products on various forums with some decent reviews and gave them a shot. No complaints, at least with a company like vanson, im thinking they have added some layer of QC before their products leave for their customers. I hope at least lol!


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## pondman (Apr 24, 2015)

The Chinese tuners are so cheap that you've got nothing to loose in trying.


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## col (Apr 24, 2015)

By the looks of it those are the same tuners I bought for my LTD PHX401. They were of the same quality as the stock ones were, in fact I think they were the same manufacturer since they looked identical apart from the locking mechanism. Ebay auction had that same 'lotmusic' text on the pics.


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## Konfyouzd (Apr 24, 2015)

I've used MANY sets of Vansons and they've always been good for me. I will say this though... They've shown up missing parts before. The part that threads through the tuner on the front side of the headstock. I guess its a nut of sorts was missing for 2 of the 7 tuners in my most recent order. It was also missing one screw to firmly fix it to the back of the headstock.

Once installed they work great though.


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## TheWarAgainstTime (Apr 24, 2015)

I just put some Vanson locking tuners on an MIJ Ibanez 7 and they were a direct replacement for the stock Gotoh tuners  they're super solid, too! Smooth turning, stable, and they look just like the Gotohs from the front. I fit a 64 gauge string into mine, but much more would require the tuner to be drilled out a bit. 

I got mine on eBay for just under $50 shipped from the UK. I'm definitely considering a set for my DKMG as well.


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## Renkenstein (Apr 24, 2015)

I considered those as a short-cut on my first build, but I hesitated. I thought more about it, set aside a little more money, and opted for a set of Hipshot tuners. 

I'd recommend you do the same.


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## dankarghh (Apr 25, 2015)

I helped install a set of these on a friends guitar today. Same ones.

3/6 didn't lock and the mechanism didn't work at all.

Don't buy..


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## rcsierra13 (Apr 26, 2015)

I have a set on my LTD H300, the stock ones were just crap. They work amazing and seem to hold tune just as well as Planet Waves, Schecter or Gotoh ones I've used.

To answer OP's question, they slotted in the fittings perfectly.

May be a case by case basis but for $20 I would definitely give them a go again.


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## dankarghh (Apr 26, 2015)

rcsierra13 said:


> I have a set on my LTD H300, the stock ones were just crap. They work amazing and seem to hold tune just as well as Planet Waves, Schecter or Gotoh ones I've used.
> 
> To answer OP's question, they slotted in the fittings perfectly.
> 
> May be a case by case basis but for $20 I would definitely give them a go again.



Liar! Don't do it OP.


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## VBCheeseGrater (Apr 26, 2015)

mr coffee said:


> My experience with cheap Chinese guitar parts has largely been that you get what you pay for.
> 
> -m



Ive used them in a few guitars, only one of which still has them installed. The Grover copies in my Iceman (actual rip offs, branding and all) are actually quite solid, while the typical ibanez copies from china do work, but are definitely low end feeling. They came in handy when i needed to buy 2 sets of tuners to swap out my arz307 tuners for black ones. After about 6 momths i got sick of the notchy action on the pegs and went back to stock.


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## InCasinoOut (Apr 27, 2015)

Unless your Ibby's tuners have serious problems and need to be replaced right away. I'd save for nicer ones you can rely on. Nothing like hotrodding a guitar you love with _better_ parts than it ever had.


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## Promit (Apr 27, 2015)

I have a set of Vansons on one guitar. I don't remember why I didn't or couldn't get Hipshots on that thing, but anyways the Vansons work fine. They _do[i/] feel cheap, by virtue of not turning as smoothly and consistently as good quality tuners. But there's no functional issue with them that I've noticed._


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## Knarbens (Apr 27, 2015)

I used these tuners on my 5th guitar build. Nothing wrong with them! Only downside is ... they're heavy.


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## dankarghh (Apr 27, 2015)

So many mixed reviews. It'd be nice if you could tell them apart from different sellers, because the ones I had were utter garbage and i'd never recommend even on the off chance you got lucky. I know i'm repeating myself but, i'm trying to be a good guy here.. ha


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## cult (Apr 27, 2015)

I am currently using vanson locking tuners on my PRS SE 24 7-String and they are great for the money.
Sure, there are better tuners out there but the only complaint I have right now is the weight. Other than that they hold tuning incredibly well and are smooth.


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## Hywel (Apr 27, 2015)

dankarghh said:


> So many mixed reviews. It'd be nice if you could tell them apart from different sellers, because the ones I had were utter garbage and i'd never recommend even on the off chance you got lucky. I know i'm repeating myself but, i'm trying to be a good guy here.. ha



The only way I've seen to tell them apart is the Jin-Ho/Vanson tuners always have a grey/white washer between the tuning key and the tuner body and the cheap ones have black plastic. The good ones are also marked Jin-Ho on the top. I've had the good Korean ones on 5 guitars now and they're going on another one soon. Never had a problem with them or seen any reason to get anything more expensive. 

Pics for reference

Real Jin-Ho/Vanson






Chinese Copy


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## mr coffee (Apr 27, 2015)

Man, I'm gonna be honest. I've been playing for nearly 30 years, on guitars of all degrees of quality. I've done more than my share of modding and hot rodding, sometimes on the cheap and sometimes no holds barred. Will inexpensive tuners do the job? Usually. But I've felt the difference between cheap tuners and high end tuners, and if I'm going to buy tuners, I'm just going to suck it up and buy nice ones. My absolute favorites have been Gotoh Delta 510 locking 21:1 tuners that I picked up for $100, not terribly outlandish for a quality tuner. They're super smooth, not terribly heavy, easy to use, quick to string up and the 21:1 ratio is almost like having fine tuners. I'm telling ya, once you get spoiled to stuff like that, you'll kick yourself for ever settling for less.

-m


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## littlebadboy (Nov 27, 2015)

Update:

I didn't like the generic ones I bought. I just installed them today. It doesn't feel and fit right. It seems it is not 18:1 at all. It is getting rusty after a few months of storage, etc etc. One of the tightening knobs to hold the strings got the threads stripped. Luckily, I had an extra becaused I ordered for my 7-string but installed this on my 6.

I ordered for Jin Ho ones today. I wasted my money on the generic ones. Could've bought Gotoh ones in total. Dangit.

Don't buy generic ones from China!


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## KnightroExpress (Nov 27, 2015)

Buy nice or buy twice.


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## Promit (Nov 27, 2015)

When I tried the Vansons, they were... acceptable. Mediocre smoothness and precision, but they were serviceable locking tuners. Noticeably worse quality than Hipshots, though.


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