J Reynolds mandolin tuners

[Lucy Lindblom]

My brother has a J Reynolds mandolin, and one of the tuners broke this past week. I can't seem to find a set of replacement tuners that'll fit the holes. I bought some on stewmac, but the holes didn't line up. Does anyone know what I can use? Thank you!

[MikeEdgerton]

You need to get some idea of the measurements center to center on the string posts. The brand tells us nothing. There are two sizes that would be available at Stewmac that represent historically the spacing's of mandolin tuners. The problem comes in when manufacturers, for whatever reason buy off sized tuners for a model. Kentucky has done it as have others.

Get the dimensions and post a picture of the back of the headstock.

[Lucy Lindblom]

From measuring them, it seems like all the holes are 1 inch apart from the middle of each one. When I look at the dimensions of the tuners on Stewmac, it shows a measurement of 29/32". As I was looking this up, I came across this... https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/threads/58396-replacement-tuners-for-1-inch-spaced-set
Is that a good way to do it? Thanks!

[MikeEdgerton]

It does look like they are an unusual spacing, now I'm trying to remember the name brand of the odd spaced tuning machines we came across a while back.

[MikeEdgerton]

I believe you might possibly be looking at 15/16" spacing. There are some inexpensive tuners available at that spacing but I'm struggling to find the manufacturer and the model numbers. Hopefully someone that has been through this can jump in. I just can't locate a model number yet.

[Richard500]

Lucy, if you look on ebay you will find hundreds of tuners. The cheap ones from China (and Afganistan!) are below $10. Some of the descriptions show diagram with measurements. Many of them are listed as 25mm, where 25.4mm is one inch. I can’t remember the vendor, but I bought ones that were supposed to be 29/32” but were really 1”. They were also really crappy. Maybe something up in the $20 level, and from someone who ships from here would be a better bet.
When you measure the old ones, put the ruler across all four of the screw heads and measure that. Going from post to post isn’t accurate.

[MikeEdgerton]

...When you measure the old ones, put the ruler across all four of the screw heads and measure that. Going from post to post isn’t accurate.

:)

[Ray(T)]

If you’re not bothered about keeping things original, the simplest solution might be to fit a set of individual tuners. My Fylde has such a set - from Gotoh - and, forget Waverley and Alessi, it’s the easiest tuning mandolin I have. I think Schaller also make them but, after a quick search, I can’t find you a link to a set of 8 so you might have to buy 2 sets of 6 and sell the spares to a tenor guitar player!

[I don’t think they are on the Gotoh website but, if you’re anything like me, you might think that life is too short to be bothered browsing it - it’s painfully slow; think dial up an a particularly bad day!]

[Lucy Lindblom]

Thanks, everyone! Something easy and cheap would be the best seeing as it’s a beginner mandolin and I know he’ll update it eventually. I’ll look into those options, and if anyone finds a link that would be good, let me know!

[MikeEdgerton]

Lucy, here is a link to a set of tuners with 25 mm post spacing. They are on Amazon and if they don't fit you should be able to return them. Good luck.

https://www.amazon.com/Mandolin-Machine-Strings-Instruments-Accessory/dp/B07K12B2CF

[Lucy Lindblom]

Thanks! I ordered them last night, unfortunately, they aren't supposed to come till May 13. But hopefully they'll work right for him!

[MikeEdgerton]

If they are blister packed in plastic measure them before you open them to make sure they look to be the right spacing. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[Lucy Lindblom]

Thanks everyone for your help! The tuners came today and fit great! I’m so glad we found something that would work for him, he was SO excited to have it back again!!

[MikeEdgerton]

I love it when a plan comes together, enjoy the mandolin.