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Okay, okay!!! I surrender! I didn't really want to turn this into a discussion on banjos, either, 'cause I don't know that much about them (as is painfully apparent), and I've never played one. The point I was really trying to make is that people have put banjo tuners on guitars just so they can have the freedom to profile their headstocks however they want. It seems like a good solution, but, for me, their 4:1 ratio just isn't precise enough. In fact, I'm constantly annoyed by the imprecision of 12:1 tuners--when I get to the lowest two strings, I constantly find myself fiddling back and forth way too much just to get them to pitch, because a tiny turn of the knob has too much effect on the string. I'm not alone in this; I see it again and again with other players, too, and it shouldn't have to be that way. Manufacturers have finally figured that out, and are now making gears with 16, 18, 20 and even 40:1 ratios. That's great, but what I'm asking for is tuners that mount like banjo gears, but have those generous ratios, are lightweight (very important!), and don't cost anywhere NEAR $100-plus. Something like the Grover 18:1 open-gears, but rear-mounting. Then poor luthiers (and their buyers) could afford to build acoustic and electric guitars with freely-shaped headstocks, AND gain the benefits of having back-pointing knobs, which, as a player, I've always found to be much easier to access than the standard solid-headstock style. Those Peghead gears look promising. Now, if he can just give us at LEAST a 16:1 ratio....
Steve & Jeff...Thanks for the comments.
Carlton
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