Tusq, not tusk.

Great guitar, enjoy

Thanks for your comment, Lena. I've honestly never experienced a string popping out after locking it in the tuner. I suppose there may be differences in tuners that accounts for the differences in our experiences. That said, winding the string around the post defeats the purpose of locking tuner with respect to tuning stability.

@@rmalderson the string enters the eyelet of the tuning post and is pinched by the tuner lock set screw. Any material beyond that point is not under load. That’s why you can cut the string off beyond the eyelet exit. So wrapping the string around the post a thousand times has zero effect on tuning stability when the tuner is locked. You still get the benefit of maintaining a constant string length, however, should the lock come loose from vibration or handling, the extra windings prevent the string from popping out. I’ve lost strings a number of times when gigging…sliding the guitar out of a soft case can be enough to loosen a tuner.

@@lenanylonista I respectfully disagree. The string wrappings will loosen and tighten during playing and consequently result in tuning instability because the string wraps are not exactly the same as they were when the string was tuned. In other words, the string effectively becomes longer or shorter. Honestly, I've used locking tuners on all of my guitars since the 1990s and I have yet to have a string slip out of the post hole. What tuning machines are you using? I wonder if differences in tuning machines might explain your past experiences. I've never had problems with PRS, Fender, or Schaller locking tuners.

@@lenanylonista you’re confused about the physics of it. The wraps ARE under load. That string that wraps is before the lock point otherwise how would the wraps even happen? You’re not wrong that should the lock release the string it would be less likely to come unattached from the tuner, but like Matt, I’ve never had that happen and your tuning stability can only be better without wraps.

My first build was okay, but there is definitely a stark difference from my first build to the second, and every build since has been a little better. I decided to use nice wood because picking the wood was one of the most exciting parts about the process, but it definitely would have been more cost effective to use low grade wood for the first build.

I re-sawed it before stabilizing it, and stabilized it before routing. Good luck!

Dang! Is the string still lodged in the hole? Which part is stuck? If it is the thumbscrew on the back, you may have cross threaded it, and that may unfortunately be a lost cause. I suppose one way to tell would be look and see if the thumbscrew looks level relative to the rest of the tuner, or if it is cockeyed at some angle. If alternatively it is the pin inside the post, you may just need a little lubricant (e.g., WD40). You might also try removing it from the guitar and firmly but carefully knocking it against something that won’t damage it (like your palm). That might dislodge the pin if it is stuck. Good luck!!

@@rmalderson thanks for replying kuys(brother) I've fixed it already

Tripods are for rookies! In all seriousness, I honestly thought the "locking" part was fairly self explanatory. You simply put the string through the hole in the peg and tighten the screw on the back.

Dang, I'm sorry to hear about your troubles! Thanks for watching and commenting!

I just bought a guitar with locking tuners (hasn’t come yet) and was 100% going to unlock the tuners when I tuned it.

I just got my new Fender Nashville telecaster Player Plus w/locking tuners. Changed out the fender factory strings this morning and I LOVE the locking tuners. I watched your video to ensure I knew how to use them and I will never go back. So easy and quick.

Same here, i "unlocked" the tuners on my new Larry Cartlon Telecaster to tune it and the strings popped out, i thought they were snapping but the tuners were just letting the strings go, literally always thought the tuner locked so it couldn't be turned at all.

Now there is another victim among you

You can but you will need to stabilize the wood, particularly if it has a lot of spalting. Otherwise, the wood will be too soft. You might try flooding it with resin.

Hi Justin, I totally understand your point. In my experience, the stagger of the tuning pegs does not put a sufficient angle on the string at the nut, so I use one string tree on most of my guitars. It's a bit of a compromise. I put two string trees on this guitar because it wasn't for me and I wanted it to be nearly identical to a factory Strat.

@@rmalderson oh ok I understand now