'67 Starfire Bass tuners...

Hi. I have just finished restoring a Starfire Bass that I got and when I put the tuners on they rotate in the opposite direction as normal(ie: counterclockwise to tune up). I have seen pics of other basses around that year, including one of John Entwhistle's, that has the same orientation. Is this just what they put on them at that time? Why?...

The '66 SFB-I I used to own had the same type of tuners. If my memory serves me correctly, that is how all the SFB tuners were back in the day.
I don't think there's any functional difference though.

I'm left right challenged which probably applies to clockwise and counter clockwise as well, but (without having the bass in hand) I believe turning E and A the tuners CCW (when looking down on the bass held in normal playing position) raises the pitch. Can't wrap my mind around how to describe the D and G tuners without flipping the bass. However you compare this to "normal" as if it is something different. All three of my Guilds are the same and I can't remember the last bass I played that was different :wink:

Welcome to LTG, by the way.

...first of all, I'm really a guitar player(horrors!) so I compare the tuners to what is traditionally on them. On guitars if you were looking down at them in the normal playing position, the tuner would rotate counterclockwise and make the string peg rotate counterclockwise tuning up. I have very little experience with basses so I thought this was odd...

btw, is it possible to post a picture on this page of the bass when it's finished?

'67 Starfire Bass
'65 Guild F20 SB

guildyone said:

btw, is it possible to post a picture on this page of the bass when it's finished?

'67 Starfire Bass
'65 Guild F20 SB

Click to expand...

Actually, It`s almost mandatory

guildyone said:

...first of all, I'm really a guitar player(horrors!) so I compare the tuners to what is traditionally on them. On guitars if you were looking down at them in the normal playing position, the tuner would rotate counterclockwise and make the string peg rotate counterclockwise tuning up. I have very little experience with basses so I thought this was odd...

btw, is it possible to post a picture on this page of the bass when it's finished?

'67 Starfire Bass
'65 Guild F20 SB

Click to expand...

You're forgiven. But I must be missing something because your description above describes my basses and I thought you thought things were different.. Maybe I need to put down the Maker's Mark and pick up a bass :wink:

As for pictures, you can't store them here. You upload them to some other site and then link to them here using the Img tag. More detailed instructions available if you need them.

Have some bass porn...

(Mine)

There's more where that came from.

Frono,

Not to beat a dead horse here but the tuners on this bass need to be turned clockwise to tune up, opposite of what I described as guitar tuners. You should check yours and see which way they turn. I can probably post a pic on my Picasa site soon. Thanks for the link to all those basses! Awesome.

I have a '76 Rickenbacker 4001 bass that has the "backwards" tuners. Not sure about my Guilds!

guildyone said:

Frono,

Not to beat a dead horse here but the tuners on this bass need to be turned clockwise to tune up, opposite of what I described as guitar tuners. You should check yours and see which way they turn. I can probably post a pic on my Picasa site soon. Thanks for the link to all those basses! Awesome.

Click to expand...

The horse is quite dead.
I read

they rotate in the opposite direction as normal(ie: counterclockwise to tune up

Click to expand...

as meaning counterclockwise applied to the direction of rotation of YOUR tuners and not to the direction you called normal. Upon rereading I should not have done that :wink:

There was a bass on eBay that had a comment about "reverse tuners" in the description but I have no idea what they were talking about and no one offered up an explanation. Maybe you have 'reverse tuners'?

fronobulax said:

There was a bass on eBay that had a comment about "reverse tuners" in the description but I have no idea what they were talking about and no one offered up an explanation. Maybe you have 'reverse tuners'?

Click to expand...

Hello folks,

All tuners on Fender basses were 'reverse' tuners up till the 2nd half of the '60s, when Fender started manufacturing their own. Most other U.S. based bass manufacturers used 'reverse' tuners as well but some used them quite a bit little longer than Fender, depending on how much sets they still had in stock and the time it took for the other manufacturers to come out with the 'new' tuner direction.

Here's a photo that might explain it a little better:



The small tuner on the left is a 'reverse' tuner similar to the ones you would find on a '60s Starfire Bass. The big one on the right is a 'regular' Fender tuner as they were used from the second half of the '60s. Notice how the way the worm gear was cut, makes the shaft turn into the other direction.



Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

Dreamlander's JS-II with mismatched Hags has those reverse geared tuners too. It feels a bit like when I cut the tip of my finger off and played left-handed for a month... awkward. :roll: It almost seems like they were meant to be mounted upside-down.

Hans:

that pic says it all! Thanks all, it's been very informative. Now to get down to the business of playing!