Upgrading Fender Mex tuners

victorludorum

Has anyone changed their Mex standard tuners? My neck is from a Cabronita model I believe, but the tuners look like the standard ones.

Cheers all ;-)

not_the_dj

I replaced the tuners on a MIM Strat with locking tuners, (the Fender branded one's with the F logos), perfect drop in replacement.

victorludorum

Do they have the 2 prongs that dig in (technical term used here!) to the headstock to align them?

not_the_dj

victorludorum said:

Do they have the 2 prongs that dig in (technical term used here!) to the headstock to align them?

Yes

ICBM

These or the locking Fender ones are the only type of tuners which fit without modifying the headstock.

victorludorum

Locking tuners would be overkill to be honest. That just leaves the American Standard ones, but from what I can gather there's no difference between these and the Mexican ones. It looks like they're made by Ping regardless. Maybe the Schaller version would be better, but it's no clear to me that they would be.

Funkfingers

Affirmative, VL. Both the standard and F logo locking 'heads on many Fender MIM guitars are made by Ping. 

The locator lugs on the Fender-badged, Schaller-made 'heads on modern style US guitars are in a different position. FWIIW, the locator on Sperzels is in a different position again. 

The modification to fit these other 'heads is simple but not entirely reversible. In the event that you revert to stock specification prior to selling, some redundant drilled holes may be exposed.

victorludorum

Thanks for all the info here chaps. it looks like I'll be sticking with the standard ones for the moment. Cheers all ;-)

CasperCaster

The tuners from American Standards are much the same as the Mexican Standard tuners except that, depending on the year of the guitar they will be staggered 4 low + 2 high.

Schaller make standard and locking versions with two pins which are a direct fit with no modifications (all of the Fender branded ones have long since been made by Ping, even though they are often marketed as Fender/Schaller tuners). I believe Kluson also make some direct fit/two pin locking ones as well, but I've no direct experience of them.

@Funkfingers, I've just put Schaller branded locking tuners on my American Special Strat and they were a direct fit. I also bought a single Fender/Schaller locking tuner (available as a Fender spare) as a replacement for a damaged Fender/Ping locking tuner on my other US Strat - all dropped straight in without modification.

Funkfingers

Oops! My mistake. Put it down to Alz Al's whatitsname senility.

I once tried fitting the Fender/Ping 'heads on a Squier that was drilled for Jin-Ho lug types. 

CasperCaster

Ahh, that explains it! My US and Mexican Fenders with the two pin tuners are all relatively recent (oldest is 2006), but I did begin to wonder if Fender had changed things at some point on time.