Opinions - best tuning gears?

[Arnold Schnitzer]

No compromise. The shafts are anodized to match the brass color. The only thing is, if you mount them all the way through the scroll, the opposite side will be silver. I don't find this objectionable, since it polishes up to a nice sheen that goes well with the stainless steel worm gear. And on new basses, I don't drill through. I think there is about a 25% weight reduction.

[Ken Smith]

I like the quality of them but I do not like the look of the mounting plates under the gears. Also, I do not like how slow they tune. I too have used Hat Peg gears and there are the fastest to change strings but not the easiest to tune. Two of the very expensive old Italian basses in the Philly Orchestra have old Hat Peg gears on them and the owners/players are fine with it.

Personally, I love the old English gears, the real Bakers and the older versions of them, possibly by other English gear makers of the 19th century. Any copy of these that actually work and turn smoothly are my kind of bass gears. Nothing I have seen beats the Baker's or similar period English gears.

If a Bass is French, it should have French gears on it and repaired to work as well as possible. If English, English gears or something close to it.

For German or Italian; English gears on the Italian if possible and German on the German is my like. Some finer German gears look French but they are German make but French 'style', not French made. I have one old German bass with actual French gears and they will stay on. No great bargain but they work. My Prescott had French gears as well.

As long as they work or can be made to work and they look ok, leave them be.

[Thomas Erickson]

Nice to know that the Sloane shafts are anodized. Like Ken, I'm not a big fan of the look of the plate - but I do like the high ratio. I don't generally have a need to change strings in a hurry, and I've spent enough time playing (other people's) basses with lurching gears that the slow tuning is kind of nice.

[Matthew Tucker]

IMO if you're not using the cheap string winder attachment for cordless screwdriver that All Hail sells, you're making string changes a harder job than it needs to be.

[Arnold Schnitzer]

Sloanes now come with a free winder that goes on your drill. I have quite a collection.