I finally pulled the trigger

[MikeEdgerton]

After 12 years or so of going back and forth over buying a set of Waverly tuners for my F5G I finally bought a set that was in the classifieds this week (thanks Anne!). They are supposed to arrive tomorrow. I have been close to just buying a set from Stewmac so many times over the years. I'm pretty excited. The Gibson Grover's that are currently on the mandolin will shift to another project that I've been holding onto for too long as well. Now if I can just find the time to just install them.

[Astro]

Keep us posted. I'm OK with the tuners on my 5FG but I've been interested in replacing the tail piece with a James. I've already lost the original "sliding" cover. Then some day way down the road when my frets are worn, EVO frets!

[Drew Egerton]

Congrats Mike! Please come back with an update on how you like them.

[MikeEdgerton]

You can order the James tailpiece with the Gibson engraving. I replaced my sliding cover years ago with the "The Gibson" model. My original one just said "Gibson". I actually like the Gibson Grover tuners but I've always admired the Waverly tuners. I have them on a few guitars and a banjo. I'll let everyone know what I think about them after I get them.

[Denny Gies]

Hope your trigger finger doesn't hurt too much. Congrats. I appreciate the moderation you do for us.

[mandroid]

NB: (for general readership) if they don't drop in without resistance,
have the shaft hole spacing corrected..

I learned that the hard way . (Mix A #56, off classifieds) past Mandolin owner, sold it,

"Upgraded" .. without describing they had damaged the tuners, forcing them in.





[ Gibson may have production tooling to drill all 8 holes at once,
so consistently all holes are equidistant. ]



...

[MikeEdgerton]

I'm aware of that problem. The installation instructions included with the tuners go to great lengths to tell you about that. I'm hoping for a drop in replacement.

[Austin Bob]

You can order the James tailpiece with the Gibson engraving.

Where did you order the James/Gibson tailpiece?

[MikeEdgerton]

From Bill James. I ordered mine blank (just the outline engraving). Now that I'm thinking about it maybe that was on Siminoff's site. You can contact Bill James and I'm sure he can handle engraving.

http://www.axinc.net

[John Soper]

Bill James did a great job engraving the maker's name on a replacement tailpiece for one of my mandolins. I did ask permission from the builder and it was no problem, as he already had the template. Doesn't hurt to ask.

[foldedpath]

I'm hoping for a drop in replacement.

FWIW, I replaced two sets of Schaller tuners on my Lebeda F5 and Weber OM with Waverly's and had no issues on the post spacing or good parallel drilling of the holes. All I had to deal with was drilling one new screw hole in the peghead (the others matched up), and the bushing holes were too wide for the narrow Waverly bushings. On the Lebeda I just used the Schaller bushings because they were gold and matched the color. On the Weber, I ordered new wider gold bushings from Stewmac because I was replacing a chrome set and the color wouldn't match.

You may not need to do this, just passing along the info. Waverly tuner posts work fine with wider bushings than the ones supplied.

I admit I bought them mainly because 1} I wanted ebony buttons and couldn't get them on the stock Schallers, and 2) I thought these two instruments "deserved" higher-end tuners. But I was pleasantly surprised by the tuning action. I can't say that I tune up any faster than I did before installing them, but they do feel nice and smooth.

[almeriastrings]

One little detail that I've noticed with the Waverley's is that the gold plating lasts.. and lasts... I have some (on a guitar that gets a lot of use) that are now 14 years old and they look as good today as the did when new. By comparison, the plating is already worn though on some Grovers that are much more recent. A small detail, maybe.. but it is things like that where the difference shows. I have the Waverley's with real pearl buttons on one mandolin, and they are superb. The others all work fine, but they have the "finesse" as well as the finish. They just "feel" right.

[Ivan Kelsall]

I was playing my Lebeda yesterday & it was a tad out of tune (flat - the weather's warmed up a bit), & once more,i was amazed at how well the Schaller tuners worked - they are smoooooooth !. I don't know if they're a premium Schaller type,but they have real MOP buttons. The 16 year old Gold plating is immaculate. I had to apply a bit of Frank Ford's ''tune up your tuners'' wisdom to the Schallers on my Weber & they work very well now,but the Schallers on my Lebeda work far better,
Ivan

[MikeEdgerton]

I've never seen Schaller's with real MOP buttons. I wonder if they still make them?

[Caleb]

I'm definitely interested in hearing of the results of the Waverlys. I've been thinking of getting a set for my MT. It has StewMac Golden Age tuners on it which really do not match the quality of the rest of the instrument. It's a bit like having cheap hubcaps on a Mercedes-Benz. In fact, these are the second set I've had since the ones from the factory were very hard to turn (understatement). But StewMac does have great customer service and replaced them with no questions asked. I just wish they'd step up the quality on these or go back to the drawing board all together.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Mike - From Mandolin Cafe July 24 2016 posted by Houseworker - ''Schaller do list Perlmutt (MoP) buttons in their catalogue (page 36): http://www.schaller-electronic.com/h...og.htm#page/36 . The catalogue only lists A style tuners despite having the F style illustrated.''
Ivan

Unfortunately,the page is pretty hard to read.It's in German,but the print size is very small as well. The 'Perlmutt' is the bottom tuner in the table.

[Mandobar]

Use the bushings that come with the tuners. I've found out the hard way that while they might look like they are a good fit the metal on many of the low end tuners tends to bend and then the posts will have too much play. Same for Alessi tuners (which are metric).

[Austin Bob]

Mike, FYI I had a local luthier install Waverley's on my 2012 F5 Custom. Like you, I've always wanted a set, but never pulled the trigger. The only thing I don't like about them is the post length. I wish they were 1/8" or so longer, the strings are very close (but not touching) the peghead. It doesn't affect the functionality, but aesthetically they would look better if they were a bit longer.

Something to double check before installing.

[GreenMTBoy]

I also pulled the trigger on a set of beautiful Gold with ebony buttons on the classified a week or so ago ,I had my luthier fiend install them on my Mike Black A2Z ,long story short ,he installed them but unfortunately they tune up backwards when installed worm under post like they need to be on this mando ,for now because they look and work so nice
I am living with it !but don't like it !

[MikeEdgerton]

Use the bushings that come with the tuners. I've found out the hard way that while they might look like they are a good fit the metal on many of the low end tuners tends to bend and then the posts will have too much play. Same for Alessi tuners (which are metric).

I was hoping to use the Gibson Grover bushings but I'm not adverse to change.

Mike, FYI I had a local luthier install Waverley's on my 2012 F5 Custom. Like you, I've always wanted a set, but never pulled the trigger. The only thing I don't like about them is the post length. I wish they were 1/8" or so longer, the strings are very close (but not touching) the peghead. It doesn't affect the functionality, but aesthetically they would look better if they were a bit longer.

Something to double check before installing.

When I eyeballed them last night they did look a little short.

[MikeEdgerton]

I'm off to make this switch happen before anything else derails my plans.

I may take pictures if I don't get too excited while I'm doing it.

[jasona]

Don't forget to keep breathing, and bend with your knees.

[MikeEdgerton]

OK, the next posts will detail my adventure installing a set of Waverly tuners on My 2005 Gibson F5G. I am in no way saying that everything is done the proper way, it's what I did with what I had.

I of course started out with a set of Waverly tuners with pearl buttons that I bought out of the cafe Classifieds. I marked the position of the bridge and the bass side of the bridge base so that I didn't have to go to the trouble of figuring out where to place it, I know where it was. These are the Gibson Grover tuners I will be removing.

[MikeEdgerton]

I will of course need my custom made Jop (formerly Jim Dunlop) winder to remove and replace the strings. The bridge and strings have been removed and I have assembled some of the tools I'll need. Believe me, as any project progresses more tools enter the mix.

[MikeEdgerton]

I remove one side of the Grovers and see if the Waverly tuners will just drop in. They do, smooth fit, no force. I run into my first question. The tuner bushings are indeed light weight grommet types not unlike the original F5 bushings. The insides are pretty close in size when I put the calipers on them. The outside is totally different. The instructions for the Waverly tuners talk about using a StewMac #2061 peghead reamer (.328 diameter). I don't have one. I also don't want to mess this up. I order the reamer. Now the question is do I stop and wait a few days or go ahead and do the install and change the bushings later? With the courage of the ignorant I decide to continue the install. I'll lose a set of strings. The next issue. The Waverly mounting screws are longer than the Grover screws. I check to make sure there is enough meat on the headstock that the screws won't pop through to the other side and continue.