Locking tuner problem

[stratman3]

I just became the proud owner of a Luke III buttermilk. I bought it 1/31 haven't put it down since. Well I decided to change the strings to 10s wish is what I have on all my strats with locking tuners. First thing I noticed was all the locking wheels were extremely tight, when I got to the high E it was a challenge. When it finally broke loose it did not want to let go of the string, when it finally did, the new string was a bit hard to get through. I locked it but as I try to tune it would brake loose, every attempt to lock would make the tuner post spin too. Now the tuner is very hard to turn and it just broke the new string. I submitted a repair order with Sweetwater let's see what happens. It's just a bit discouraging to finally get my hand on a Luke and couple of days in this happens.

 

[beej]

This is pretty unusual- those tuners are well designed and should last for years without issues. Personally I've never had issues with any of them, but it's possible those were over tightened or otherwise damaged somehow.

Is it a NOS guitar (in which case you'd have some warranty coverage)? If not, you can always buy new tuners. I'm guessing Sweetwater will take care of it for you. Worst case, you can order replacement tuners. You can buy them from a variety of sources (including MM directly).

 

[stratman3]

I don't think is an NOS it's the buttermilk which I thought is a 2019 color. Anyhow Sweetwater is contacting musicman for a replacement turner. But they said it will be about 2 weeks. I hope they can send it sooner.

 

[beej]

Oops! I was thinking Luke II. That makes more sense. In which case, they will certainly take care of you.

 

[ksandvik]

* You don't need to squeeze the locking tuners to an absolutely hard connection, even just adjusting it so it does not move is enough
* When you remove strings, tap on the top part of the tuner so the locking system falls down so it's easier to snap in new strings.

Locking tuners is the best thing -- after Floyd Rose bridges -- to keep guitar tuning stable.