3 Year Campaign for Direct Replacement PRS SE Locking Tuners Finally Bears Fruit!

I have mentioned several times on this blog - my surprise that PRS did not offer direct replacement locking tuners for its SE Line of guitars - which have been in production now since 2005. The current Core Line Phase II/III tuners have a much wider barrel/bore which could not be accommodated by the existing narrower tuner holes of the SE’s without significant alterations (drilling!).

Players like myself have had to buy locking tuners from different brands that fit the SE’s without alterations - my own brand of choice has been Schaller, but I would also consider GraphTech Ratio Tuners as high quality replacements - in fact there are actually a number of really decent options/alternatives. I always felt though that it was short-sighted of PRS not to offer its own after-market replacements - to make it easier for its customers to upgrade - and to ensure more revenue stayed in-house.

In any case Paul has finally yielded to the polite and gentle pressure of repeated suggestions and personal representations - and seen fit to release his own exact SE Locking Tuner replacements - available now for a very fair $95 - at least on the US PRS Accessories store - I’m pretty sure they will soon be in stock on this side of the pond too.

I have always been a big advocate for locking tuners on all guitars (if possible vs price point) which in my opinion aids tuning stability and makes for far quicker and easier string-changes. The science of string tension/slack supports my view, but even those who don’t believe in the extra tuning stability cannot argue that locking tuners do not make for easier string changes. I think the majority of us are of the opinion either way that Locking Tuners are a definite upgrade - and it’s great that they’re more accessible now - they should really be an option when you buy the guitars! But perhaps that is asking too much, we’re delighted that they are finally available ...