Keith D Tuners on a Telecaster

patdaddy · Joined: 09 Jan 2009 Posts: 210

Do the Keith D tuners serve the same purpose as, say, a Hipshot drop D lever? Could someone explain to me how they work and how they are tuned?

Thanks yall

Don Miller · Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 238 Location: Anchorage, Alaska

Yes..they do...or they can be set that way... They have two set screws that are used to set set the high and low notes and then by twisting the peg, one can go from the high to the low point..or vice versa..I have them on my E strings..both set to drop the Es to D. Clarence had his on the high E and the A string, presumably to do an A-G drop. I also heard you can tune the high E tuner to do a E=F# raise. They can be set to do anything from a 1/2 step to maybe 3-4 steps..Ive never checked the max it would do...

The Kentucy Colenels have a tune where the banjo player uses his pegs pretty much exclusively to play the melody...and many of the changes sound almost proto stringbender,,when i heard that I wondered if that technique could have been the inspiration for some of the phrasing Clarence developed

patdaddy · Joined: 09 Jan 2009 Posts: 210

I might haveta pick some up for the mexican tele i have on the way. i'll never be able to sound like Clarence, but mabey i can try to look as cool.

Matt · Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 183 Location: St Louis, MO

patdaddy · Joined: 09 Jan 2009 Posts: 210

ok ok...i can sit in my room, hold a tele, and pretend..and sing Jamaica Say You Will.

Mykkus · Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 7:55 pm Post subject:

Actually High E and D string sounds interesting.
One twist away from open G....(never use the low e with that tuning).

Don Miller · Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 238 Location: Anchorage, Alaska

They do have a certain cool appearence factor IMHO..They get some pretty good "what the heck are those??" looks from gearsheads here and there...by the way, Ive used the Schaller versions and they work fiine..and are a bit cheaper than the true Keith tuners. I use the lower tuner more that ther high one, for occassional forays into drop D. Clarence used the high E-D drop for the tune "Nashville West"..gives a banjo tuning on the top 4 strings..DGBD, low to high.

My occassionally clueless bandmate thinks my banjo tuners are the reason we get out of tune altho 8x out of 10 its him thats out. I have found, once the stops and set screws are dialed in and the tuners securely seated in the head stock, the tuning is extremely stable.

The Schallers use a 3/8" post hole so they are a drop fit on an Amercian Standard,or any other guit with that size peghead holes..I had to ream a bit to get them to fit on my Nashville West ...

patdaddy · Joined: 09 Jan 2009 Posts: 210

Yeah i'm thinking the Schallers would be fine for an occasional drop from E to D.
Ive noticed they're sometimes listed as being for the "1 & 4" strings and the "2 & 3" strings..if you're putting them on a Tele, it shouldnt matter should it?

Don Miller · Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 238 Location: Anchorage, Alaska

With the "1-4" set, the posts you wind the string on are 2 different diameters. I use the thicker post for the high E, the thinner post for the lower string. Once, using a fat low E I had to enlarge the hole for the string but usually thats not a problem,. I dont know if their is any variation on the "2-3" set. I think most banjo players use the 1-4 to raise the Ds to E for an open Em tuning..and use the 2-3 sets to lower the G to F# and B to A for an open D tuning..but all I really know about banjos is about nothing so I could have it incorrect...

Adrian Legg use 6 tuners..Im not sure how his are set but he also does alot of incoropating the changes into his playing

Murr · Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 10:42 pm Post subject:

Btw, Clarence only used those tuners to get into D-tuning for Nashville West, and for a certain lick in Eight Miles High. Thats about it.

Silverface · Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Posts: 324 Location: Hermosa Beach CA

Actually he used it for one lick coming out of the bridge on Chestnut Mare as I recall.

patdaddy · Joined: 09 Jan 2009 Posts: 210

I wonder...how difficult are they to reset after the occasional fine tuning of the string?

Drake · Joined: 22 Aug 2006 Posts: 89 Location: California

There is really nothing to them. Fine tune? Loosen a screw, tune, tighten screw. Play.

Even a cave man can do it. Cool

Jim, you recall correctly. The big resolve chord coming off the bridge in Chestnut Mare - turn the A-tuner G to A while pulling the B string B to C# with the bender. Very cool.

Jerry Hayes · Joined: 25 Aug 2006 Posts: 57 Location: Virginia Beach, Va.

I have 'em on string 1 for a drop to D and on string 5 for a drop to G. I used to have one on the 6th string for a drop to D but I found that having two Keith/Scruggs tuners side by side on a Telecaster hindered their fast use (at least for me) so on my low E to D drop I use the HipShot D-Tuner which is the one that goes on the peghead and has it's own Schaller tuner and a lever.............JH in Va.

patdaddy · Joined: 09 Jan 2009 Posts: 210

Do they hold plenty tight for, say, using a Bigsby? i'm thinking about getting one of them thar EZ mount systems, that uses the strap button to mount.