What makes a good tuner?

**Antlurz** · Feb-16-2007, 2:13pm

Originally Posted by (JEStanek @ Feb. 16 2007, 07:31)

Soupy, I believe those are Big Brother brand Tuners made by Photoshop. They are pretty.

Yup. Those come put of my chop shop.

Ron

**Soupy1957** · Feb-17-2007, 4:57am

Walter Newton: yup, gotcha..makes sense
-Soupy1957

**Soupy1957** · Feb-17-2007, 4:58am

A "Google" search for "Big Brother tuners" didn't call up any info?

???
-Soupy1957

**Bill Snyder** · Feb-17-2007, 7:51am

Soupy I do not know whether you are being serious or not but what Ron (Antlurz) has done is make an image of tuners using the picture Frank Ford posted and manipulating it using a software package named Photoshop. There is no Big Brother brand.
The brand of tuner that Mr. Ford posted a photo of is
Rodgers. They make high-end guitar tuners. They will even make cutom reproduction tuners. Here are some real 4 on a plate Rodger's tuners but they don't apppear to be for a mandolin.

**markishandsome** · Feb-18-2007, 8:45pm

Some tuner related musings:

I've always wanted to make my own tuners, just so I could make an instrument completely from scratch. I've made couple where i made everything but the tuners (including tailpieces and pickups!) and it's always bothered me just a little bit, but not quite enough to go to friction pegs. Tuners made from hardware store items, that'd be my ideal tuner.

I feel like an instrument would need PERECT set-up to take full advantage of an 18:1 ratio.

Has anyone ever tried to come up with some sort of temperature compensated system where the tuners would *somehow* respond to temperature and humidity changes the same way the rest of the instrument does, thus keeping it in tune?

**Hans** · Feb-20-2007, 5:45pm

My requirements would be that they are replicas of the old tuners, work very well, priced below $150. and most importantly, (remember this phrase?) "made in America".

**thistle3585** · Feb-20-2007, 9:42pm

What era Hans? I assume that when we are talking vintage tuner design that we are basically discussing Gibson tuners pre or post 1922. Isn't that when Gibson started using Waverlies?

**Hans** · Feb-21-2007, 6:00am

I'd settle for arrow end. Don't care who made them then...they're not available now.

I'll be interested to see the new Waverly's, but $450 is still too much to pay for a working set of tuners.

**Chris Baird** · Feb-21-2007, 8:45am

I think that a good American made tuner could be produced for $150 but it would require some expensive machinery and someone willing to make tuners full time (in big batches).

Waverly's prices are a good example of small batches coming from less expensive machinery.

The problem is, and has been for sometime now, someone could make a lot more money designing and then jobbing the tuners out to a chinese manufacturer then just sit back and make money when the boat comes in. It takes a "principled" entrepenuer to forgo that kind of "opportunity".

**SternART** · Feb-21-2007, 4:52pm

As long as we're dreaming, how about self-tuning "modern tuners" Press a button between tunes & the instrument re-tunes
itself, or it could maybe be programmed to have alternate tunings. There might already be guitar versions.....