The catch is, a lot of the headsets that use race locking mechanisms like this, and the jagged-tooth style, do not have flats on the threaded race for the preferred two-spanner approach as described above. So if you decommission the locking mechanism, you need some other way to hold the threaded race in position. A strap wrench might do the trick.
Or, at that point, a headset that actually accomodates two spanners might be in order. Depends on your level of ambition.