First major upgrade for my Ibanez SR1350B: the Hipshot drop-D Gotoh-style tuner! I first saw this in one of Josh’s videos and wow is it as awesome as advertised! Works perfectly, and once you dial in the tuning, it sticks and never moves! One flick of the lever and I’m down to D on the 4-string.
If you don’t want 5 strings (which I don’t), this is a nice option to get another whole step lower when needed.
Awesome!
How did you go about figuring out the right one for your bass? I’ve been thinking of swapping to the lightweight Hipshots on my Spector to help with the neck dive and I can’t seem to find which size/model would be best.
Their website has very detailed diagrams. You should be able to find an appropriate replacement by matching it up. Also, they do have a second hand store on Ebay. I’ve gotten smoking deals on b stock and returns.
Fortunately, my 1350B came with Gotoh machine heads, so the Gotoh Hipshot was the perfect match. I didn’t have to research further once I saw that they were the same style and color as my Gotoh’s. 
Nice!
One thing to make sure (for others reading this): always order the HipShot USA, not international models. The USA ones are machined aluminum; the international ones are cast zinc.
I’ve got the poor mans drop D tuner.
I just pluck the string, turn the tuning peg until it goes “Eeeeeeeeeeuuuuuuuwww” and drop D
Me too, takes seconds 
The switch would be nice for changing tunings mid-song though.
For the people wondering about the title. Imho one of the greatest songs ever
Well, that’s rather the point. We’ve moved from one song directly into another with no breaks, and either song may be in Eb or D (which, I think, are the main keys for this device). You don’t have time to manually tune it in such a case. I wouldn’t have purchased it if it were as simple as manual tuning. LOL
Me too, but moving from one song directly into another during a set may not allow me the time to do that. Of course I can tune it manually. LOL
You get to be pretty quick at it (5-10 seconds), but if there’s no breaks between songs at all (common for, say, punk) then yeah the switch would help
I think you NEED to buy a 5 string then 
Julia detunes like a pro
You can even do it faster than that against the open D like that
@howard - how do you see the difference US vs INT?
I ordered this: Amazon.com
@Huth_S0lo : where did you find the “detailed diagrams”?
It may only affect the Ultralites, but the USA ones say USA on them and are advertised as being made of machined aluminum:
whereas the export “Licenced” models do not and are much less expensive:
Ah, cool! Thanks
Honestly, unless you’re slamming your bass off the stage at the head, either model is fine. Hipshot wouldn’t have licensed them if they were crap. Cast is fine and less expensive, and they’re still licensed by HS.
Hmm, respectfully disagree. Cast zinc vs machined aluminum is a huge difference in material quality and well worth the price difference, IMO. But of course YMMV.
This from Hipshot’s own FAQ about the difference between South Korean licensed machine heads and the USA machined aluminum heads: “We consider both tuning machine types to be the best in the industry and we stand by their quality 100%.”
Again, Hipshot doesn’t see any difference in quality…because there is none. Spending more to get aluminum vs. zinc - when cast zinc is considerably stronger than any grade aluminum in the first place (up to 2.5x stronger) - makes little sense to me. But like you said, to each their own. I won’t have a single issue with my $84 licensed Hipshot GOTOH machine head, I’ll guarantee it because Hipshot does.
