Musiclily Ultra R18T Left-Handed 6-in-line 18:1 Ratio Semi Closed Vintage Hybrid Staggered Locking Machine Heads Tuners with Oval Button for Fender SQ Strat Tele Style Electric Guitar, Nickel

I’ve purchased many items from Musiclily over the past few years and I’ve been happy with all of them…except this one. I expected a solid set of locking tuning machines at fair price but the reality is, these are genuinely overpriced for how mediocre they are. The action of them is spotty at best; half of them in the set turn smoothly and others have significant resistance in the rotation. The finish is fine but it’s by no means a timeless nickel finish; it reads more like a cheap chrome finish. I’m pretty disappointed and I will not be ordering tuning machines from this company in the future.

I ended up getting two sets of these -- standard version and also the "ultra" version which adds staggered post heights for "tuning stability." They look the same otherwise. I'm saving the ultra for a future project. They're both similarly priced and are of good value. Do verify your current guitar tuner setup -- and if you have a "modern" setup with 10mm holes for the tuning pegs, you'll also need to buy some 10mm tuner bushings separately to get these installed (and not use the included bushings, which are smaller). Generally, if your original tuners can be tightened with a wrench on the top-side, you likely have a modern setup... these vintage tuners will still work, but you need to buy 10mm bushings (and be handy enough to drill guide holes in a straight line for the screws). If that sounds tough, just buy a modern set of tuners (don't be like me!).I got these tuners to upgrade a short scale Squier mini-stratocaster, which has notoriously bad stock tuners. They install easily, but since the screw holes in the guitar are setup for "modern" tuners, you'll have to have the knowledge and steady hand to get the holes drilled in the exact right places. I got it done and it's totally functional, but they're a little crooked, but only noticeable up-close.Once installed, the tuners work great. All the strings lock in place nicely with the little knob on the back of each tuner and they stay in tune very well. I'm not all that sensitive to the workmanship not being completely perfect, as this is my travel/practice guitar.This "ultra" version is identical to the basic version except each pair of tuners is 2mm higher than the previous pair. I opted to install the standard version on the mini-strat, so I can't comment on the tuning stability of the staggered height version. But I can say they're otherwise identical to the basic version and will offer stable tuning without string slippage.

These are 6 inline old school classic looking locking tuners. The finish is nicely done. Of course the nice feature of these is that they are locking tuners. So you cut the string to just stick out past the hole in the peg, lock the string with the locking thumb screw and tune the string without having to wind the string around the peg multiple times.However, they are not initially completely uniform in friction during tuning. Each full revolution of the tuner, so 18 full turns of the tuning thumb screw results in varying degrees of friction turning the thumb screw from less friction to more friction, easier to harder, and is consistent based on where in the full 360 degree position of the peg is. On 4 of the 6 the higher friction area did loosen up a bit with repeated use. On 2 of the 6, the friction got worse with both of them getting more difficult to turn. Those 2 tuners that got more difficult to turn with use developed backlash on the tuning thumb screw.The backlash on 2 of these is disappointing. The increased friction on the 2 tuners with use is also disappointing. Binding and backlash seem to be common with inexpensive turners. However, because these are locking tuners, the increase in friction can be somewhat mitigated. By positioning the post just before the middle of the area without increased friction, the friction area can be avoided because when tuning, you only turn the post about 180 degrees or less to tune the string. The backlash is only going to be apparent when you loosed the string. While tuning the string to tension the backlash doesn’t matter. So even though the friction is not uniform, it is in the same spot and can be mitigated due to these being locking tuners and the backlash, although not optimum, doe not impede tuning since you always loosen the string and then tune to tension.More important to me in inexpensive tuners is that they are not gritty, which definitely detracts from precise tuning of the string to tension. None of these are gritty, they are smooth tuning. So in my opinion, those these do not perform like $100 tuners, because they are much less expensive, for inexpensive tuners they tune just fine because they are not gritty and although there is a little backlash and extra friction in 2 of the 6, that doesn’t really impede precise tuning and just seems to be a common trend in inexpensive tuners. Also being 18:1 ratio tuners, they are more precise than a lower ratio tuner.I gave these 4 stars instead of 5 due to the non-uniform friction and backlash on 2 of the 6 tuners but as stated above, that can be worked around if you don’t want to spend $100 for better tuners. Let’s face it, most people with a $200 or $300 guitar are not going to spend $100 on new tuners. These will get the job done and locking tuners are a game changer.

I’ve come to expect good things from Musiclily. I was very skeptical when I first started ordering from them. I figured they’d be cheap and not well made. Man, I was wrong. I’ve ordered multiple sets of tuners, bridges, nuts, and other parts and each one was well made.These tuners are 18:1 ratio, locking, and easy to install. They come with everything you’ll need.I’m swapping the tuners out on one of my Tele’s for these. They hold tuning, they fit great, and they’re worth every penny!10/10, order it!

I've had the privilege of trying both these Musiclily Ultra and the corresponding Musiclily Pro version of these tuners and as far as I can tell the only difference between the two is that this is a staggered set and the Pro version is all one height. Otherwise both appear to be identical in design, materials, and overall quality. Having said that, they are both excellent quality for the money and both offer a phenomenal alternative to more expense sets from more established brands. One thing I will warn though, BE SURE TO CHECK YOUR HOLE SIZE! These take a much smaller hole than the standard modern style tuners and unfortunately the neck I wanted to use them on (an American Ultra II tele neck) had holes that were way too big for the bushings to fit. I checked a few of my other miscellaneous strats (MIM Fender and Squiers) and they were also all way too big for these tuners. The only neck I have that they fit was a random import neck that also had similar vintage style tuners installed. I wasn't able to use them on this project but will keep them around for the next one, because the finish looks great, they have a nice solid weight to them, and the heads turn smoothly with no jumpiness, etc. Overall this is the typical ML Pro/Ultra quality that I'm starting to get accustomed to being impressed by.