What does staggered tuners mean ?

[ocean]

Always trying to learn,, not quite sure what staggered tuners mean.. Height of pegs ? The way they line up on headstock ? Something else ? Thanks in advance..

 

[Grandturk]

The height is staggered - each peg is lower than the last as they move away from the nut to increase the break angle at the nut - essentially diminishing the need for a string guide on the headstock

 

[rfriday]

Do they diminish the need or eliminate it? I put staggered Fender locking tuners on my American Special, but left the trees in place. I'd like to remove them if I can. Thoughts?

 

[JABSolstice]

It is designed to eliminate the trees altogether. The thought is that the string trees add tension and friction to the strings when using the tremolo, which in turn causes tuning stability issues. With the staggered tuners, the angle gets greater on the higher strings.

 

[ocean]

Well after a few responses.. My MIA Does have staggered tuners,, however there still is one string tree.. Hmm

 

[Guitarmageddon]

your 2006 wouldnt have staggered tuners Ocean....

unless they're installed / changed out by a previous owner...

staggered tuners look like this

 

[ocean]

your 2006 wouldnt have staggered tuners Ocean....

unless they're installed / changed out by a previous owner...

staggered tuners look like this

That's what they look like,, also in product description fender emailed me..
Edit- why the string tree as per previous response..

 

[Guitarmageddon]

Wow, I guess the 2006 american series did come with staggered....

Well to answer you buddy, there are more than 1 type of staggered tuner....you see you have only 2 heights on the normal kind like in that photo and on your Strat....so a string tree is there only for the high E and B....

On an Eric Johnson Strat the tuners are more staggered, not just 2 heights there's 3 different heights...so the E and B sit lower than they do on yours....thats why his doesnt have a string tree...

 

[JABSolstice]

Wow, I guess the 2006 american series did come with staggered....

Well to answer you buddy, there are more than 1 type of staggered tuner....you see you have only 2 heights on the normal kind like in that photo and on your Strat....so a string tree is there only for the high E and B....

On an Eric Johnson Strat the tuners are more staggered, not just 2 heights there's 3 different heights...so the E and B sit lower than they do on yours....thats why his doesnt have a string tree...

Thanks for clearing that up. I was beginning to doubt myself for a minute.

 

[Yogi]

Wow, I guess the 2006 american series did come with staggered....

Yeah one of the upgrades when the American standards went to the American Series in 2000 or so is that they got staggered tuners.

 

[CRobbins]

Staggered tuners on my EJ.

 

[Antigua]

your 2006 wouldnt have staggered tuners Ocean....

unless they're installed / changed out by a previous owner...

staggered tuners look like this

I see a string tree in that pic, is it common to have both staggered tuners and a string tree? I suppose it doesn't totally defeat the purpose, but it seems a lot less worthwhile to have both.

 

[albala]

I have a lot of different sets of staggered tuners.

Some are 4+2, some are 3+3

On some, the posts are all the same height but the holes are lower on the posts of the higher 3 strings.

I don't like string trees at all.

 

[alanbama]

I put staggered tuners 3+3 on a squier standard Strat that came off my '94 Strat Plus and the friend that I got my standard Strat from had put 3+3 tuners on it. The standard had a string tree when i got it but I removed it and the ones off my Squier too. I haven't had any problems without them. I don't like string trees either.

 

[tmcgee]

I have a lot of different sets of staggered tuners.

Some are 4+2, some are 3+3

On some, the posts are all the same height but the holes are lower on the posts of the higher 3 strings.

I don't like string trees at all.

There are good reasons not to use them. If you do use string trees, the roller type string trees are a better choice. I've noticed a difference when I swap out the stamped metal ones to the roller type. You can also get roller saddles on eBay for about $15.

 

[bluejazzoid]

Truthfully, "staggered tuning" really describes the process by which Keith Richards somehow manages to keep from falling while tuning his guitars.

 

[alanbama]

Truthfully, "staggered tuning" really describes the process by which Keith Richards somehow manages to keep from falling while tuning his guitars.

LOL! True.

 

[silhouette]

Truthfully, "staggered tuning" really describes the process by which Keith Richards somehow manages to keep from falling while tuning his guitars.

Gosh, and I thought they were the tuners that Joni Mitchell used for her outrageous tunings.

 

[Smackythefrog]

Great post! I wondered this myself. Thanks to th OP for asking and to all who answered.

 

[CaseCandy]

I have a 2008 Am Std with 4+2 staggered tuners and a string tree on high EB.

It was a couple of years before I noticed they are staggered.