Gotoh Replacement Tuner Buttons

[John Gass]

I have a The Loar LM70" with the gold Gotoh tuners and am wanting to replace the buttons with something less plastic looking. Where could I find something for this? They are the slip on type with a screw and not glued on.

[Mike Black]

Siminoff (http://parts.siminoff.net/machines.aspx) has a lot of variations on buttons for the Gotoh tuners.

[ledbailey]

hi mike. I have been looking for tuner buttons to fit gotoh tuners on the Kentucky 1500 1988.do you have a source that may have what I need ? ledbailey thanks

[MikeEdgerton]

You can buy real mother-of-pearl buttons for both the new style and old style Gotoh tuners on eBay. Pull a button. If the shaft is square the buttons sold by www.stewmac.com for their Waverly and Golden age tuners will fit.

[tryingtopick]

The square shafts on my 1980s Kentucky Japanese mandolin instruments measure 3.25MM. The Stew-Mac buttons are cut for a 2.9MM square shaft. I posted an inquiry in the builders / repair forum seeking a source for replacement buttons measuring 3.25MM. Best, Sam Rawlins, Atlanta, GA

[MikeEdgerton]

I have an older set of Gotoh's and a set of Waverly tuners. The buttons are interchangeable. Unless something has changed since Paul Hostetter did this (http://www.lutherie.net/gotoh.compared.html) comparison page I don't know what to tell you.

The other thing I wouldn't know about would be if Saga was making those fake Gotoh tuners that early and had made them with square shafts. I had a set of what I thought were Gotoh's but were actually Saga tuners. The only difference was that the Saga shafts were larger. Other wise the screw sizes were even the same.

[ledbailey]

I googled this siminoff an it tells us he has retired .having said that I am not shure if the new management is only selling strings . if anyone knows more about this company please let all the members know. ledbailey

[MikeEdgerton]

If you're talking about Roger Siminoff it's well known that he retired a few years ago. If you're looking for Gotoh stuff you won't find it there.

Find someone that has a digital caliper and see what size the squares are on the shafts of your tuners.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Mike - Many thanks for the link back to Paul Hostetter's button comparison item. I see that if that still holds,then the buttons on my Ellis MA40 tuners are classed as 'new' - & they do have the little 'collar' around the hole.

So,are black ones of this type available ?. Just in case i decide to try to remove all the buttons from my Ellis,
Ivan;)
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[MikeEdgerton]

I think someone said they might be at AllParts. I'd contact them. You're limited to Gotoh buttons for these as far as I know. You could also see if Ellis might have them. Those are the newer tuners.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Mike - I checked out Allparts UK,they didn't have them & they seemed to think that they'd have trouble getting them from the US as well. However,i haven't checked out Allparts US myself yet. I did contact Gotoh directly last year,but they won't supply buttons on their own,you have to buy the complete tuner sets. Maybe we shouldn't buy from manufacturers who won't supply 'spare' items ?.

Many thanks for the info.,
Ivan;)

[MikeEdgerton]

I'll see if I can find the post where somebody found them a while back.

[ledbailey]

hi folks. it seems that these gotoh buttons are scarce even though many mandolins have them. I contacted saga twice as they supply Kentucky mandos and never heard a word back. I had a problem with my martin D35p and got quick repairs done .it has a life time warranty . I too contacted gotoh japan also never did hear back. there is some nice members willing to help us find them thanks Mike Edgerton. ledbailey

[MikeEdgerton]

To say this (https://www.google.com/search?q=black+gotoh+buttons+site%3Amandolincafe.c om&rlz=1C1AOHY_enUS709US709&oq=black+gotoh+buttons+site%3Amandolincafe.com&aqs=chrome..69i57.13721j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8) has been a hot topic for years is an understatement. I can't find the post I think I remember.

[Ivan Kelsall]

To expand on my note in my last post - " Maybe we shouldn't buy from manufacturers who won't supply 'spare' items ?."

Whilst not wishing to be 'anti' any Co.,they should understand that the more fragile items that they supply, can & do get damaged.
To that end,IMHO they should be prepared to supply spares & / or replacement sets,& not to expect people to buy complete tuner sets,which,to my way of thinking,is a tad on the ignorant side of things. The tuner buttons must be made in their 10's of Ks,& to refuse to supply either spares or replacement sets,is simply wrong,
Ivan

[MikeEdgerton]

The better answer would be for everyone to adapt one square sized mount. Problem solved.

[Ivan Kelsall]

I tend to agree Mike - but !. That would mean change = cost. To simply supply spares,nothing needs to change except the attitude of the manufacturers - they might even make some cash out of it as well ?,
Ivan

[Ivan Kelsall]

Well,kudos to Allparts for not forgetting an enquiry !!. I received an e-mail this morning. They've managed to source a set of 8 Ebony Gotoh tuner buttons from the US. I sent them the pic. in post #17 for them to compare them to. If they are the right ones,then i suppose that i'll be obliged to buy them - no problem with that,but as i mentioned previously,3 of the Ivory buttons just wouldn't budge.
I might have to warm 'em up a bit !!,
Ivan:(

[MikeEdgerton]

Very cool.

Hit the ones that stuck with some heat from a hair dryer. I've had to pull pretty hard on a few but I've never had to heat one up.

[Hockey Puck]

Hi All

Josh Gemmell at Japarts.ca was able to get Gotoh tuner buttons for me. They were the tuners supplied on my Pava Pro A style.

[ledbailey]

hi mike Edgerton. I took your advise and measured the shafts on my 1988 Kentucky 1500. they are square and are 2.5 mm .I did bring up Stewmacs site and again you were right they sell the Waverly buttons the same size as Gotoh . I am guessing by the forum comments these are the older shaft style buttons.? they have them in ivoried and ebony. at least NOW I know the style and size I need thanks mike!! I hope this clears up anybody else questions . Ledbailey

[MikeEdgerton]

Yes they are the older style. You have some great options available. You can also get real mother of pearl buttons on eBay. If you want to consider that I'll try and find the link.

[Ivan Kelsall]

The guy at Allparts checked the buttons against the pics. i sent,& it looks like they're the right ones. I'm just waiting for a price,:grin:
Ivan;)

[Ivan Kelsall]

The buttons are on their way - £24 UK - £28.80 UK inc.postage. Of course having been imported from the US,there will have been a bit of a price hike (?). I just hope that i can get all the old ones off without damaging them,
Ivan

[ledbailey]

I did see some pearl on eBay 2 different sites but the price was aprox 85 US. dollars that would be at least 100 plus shipping cdn. if you come across some for a little less or free shipping please let me know. also I would like your opinion on which might look better ebony or fake pearl from Stewmacs for Waverly tuners on my 1500. please see pics. Ledbailey

[Ivan Kelsall]

The 'Pearl' could look very nice. My current 'Ivoroid' buttons look a tad 'flat' in appearance,they don't do my Ellis justice in the 'looks' department. I've not seen any mandolin headstock to outclass the headstock with Black tuner buttons on the "A" style built by John Hamlett - i'm hoping that mine will come close !,
Ivan:grin:
167994

[Ivan Kelsall]

I fitted the new Black Gotoh buttons to my Ellis yesterday & it looks great (IMHO). The plastic used isn't of the hard,brittle type,it's more of the slightly rubbery, Nylon type. The fixing screws are maybe a tad overlong, & the 3 buttons that wouldn't come off were being forced down onto the round part of the tuner shaft, & simply jamming up. I eased them off with a pair of snipe-nosed pliers braced against the side of the headstock,& as soon as they moved,i was able to pull them off with my fingers & with no headstock damage either,it was that easy.

I did e-mail Allparts UK to ask if these Gotoh buttons are freely available from stock, as they're NOT on the Allparts website in the UK or the USA - i've not had a reply.

Here's a pic.,
Ivan;)168007

[MikeEdgerton]

Looks great!

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Mike - The original Ivoroid buttons looked plasticy & a tad cheap to be on such a high grade mandolin. It was seeing John Hamlett's "A" style headstock that set me off on my 'Black button' quest,
Ivan;)

[Ivan Kelsall]

I asked Allparts UK if the Gotoh button sets were freely available from Allparts US,this was the reply from AP US :- "Allparts say:

He (me) is correct that Gotoh does not agree to sell them separately. We happen to have that set here from years past, either something they sent as replacement, or did a one off order to us. Unfortunately it’s not something we have more of, or can get."

Bad news for anybody else hoping to get a set - but at least we know,
Ivan :(

[Mark Wilson]

We'll have to until white button become the rage. Last set! thx Ivan :grin:

[Ivan Kelsall]

Mark - Gotoh won't supply 'spare / replacement' buttons of any colour. IMHO - That would put me off using them if i was a builder. If you loose / break a button,it's a whole new set or nothing. Would you buy any car, where,if your steering wheel bust,you had to buy a whole new interior ??.

A very bad policy IMHO ,
Ivan:(

[jimmy powells]

Hi Ivan. Did you get fixed up with your black buttons ?

Jimmy Powells
Northumberland

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Jimmy - Yes i did. I'd asked Allparts UK about them,drew a blank,then forgot all about changing them. I was surprised when i got an e-mail from Allparts nearly 2 weeks later,saying that Allparts US had come up with a set. I was more or less obliged to buy them - i'd have looked a bit of a jerk if i'd said no,& a bit discourteous as well. I managed to remove the 3 that were 'jammed'. It seems that the screws are a bit overlong,allowing the buttons to be forced over the round part of the shaft if you tighten them up too much,so they'd jammed. I got them off by levering them with a small pair of snipe nosed pliers, braced against the side of the headstock. As soon as they moved,i easily removed them - see my posts #27 & #30,
Ivan;)

[akjed]

Hearing that Gotoh won't replace just the knobs, and you have to buy the whole tuner, is infuriating. My KM-1050 came with the pearloid ones and three of them have split. I ordered a set of waverly ivoroid ones from Stew Mac not realizing they wouldn't fit. I'm tempted to drill them out, see if that will work.

[MikeEdgerton]

The first thing you need to know is that Saga didn't use just Gotoh tuners they used their own fake Gotoh tuners that have a larger stem than Gotoh. The Waverly buttons will fit only very old Gotoh tuners that had a square post. I'm assuming yours has two flats and two rounds. See if you can find a digital caliper and get the size of the flat to flat and round to round measurement. I can probably help you out. I think I have a few left from a set I tore down but you need the sizes.

[akjed]

I just ordered a set of pearloid ones for $75 from a seller on ebay. I'm really not psyched about it. Pearloid is really nothing but cheap plastic, and I'm annoyed that Gotoh doesn't seem willing to sell just the buttons as replacements. I made the mistake of ordering a set of Waverly ivoroid knobs from Stew Mac. They were cheaper than the Gotoh's and I rather like the feel better than the pearloid. I might just tinker with them, break out the needle file and dremel tool and see if I can modify them to fit my Gotoh pins. Anyone have experience doing this or advice?

[MikeEdgerton]

One more time, they may look like Gotoh tuners but they may be Saga tuners. Gotoh button sources come and go. We've had two or three over the last several years. Are you looking for ivoroid buttons to fit Gotoh or maybe Saga? Some of us have them. Good luck on your search. Without checking the size I can't help you.

https://www.elderly.com/products/gotoh-f-style-mandolin-tuning-machines-nickel-finish

[Mandobart]

I bought both mini-Gotoh and mini-Grover ebony tuner buttons recently (this year) from Guitar Parts Factory. (https://www.guitarpartsresource.com/tuners_partsbuttons.htm)

The mini-Gotoh's work great (as do the mini-Grover's).

[akjed]

Thanks, Mike. Not sure why I didn't see your first reply before my second post. Sure enough, my eBay order arrived and the buttons don't fit. You are correct that the posts are two flat and two round. I'll work on finding a digital caliper to get an accurate measurement. This whole thing is driving me mad. The variety of tuners and compatibility reminds me of the battle a few years ago over cell phone chargers. Every manufacturer made a different kind.

[MikeEdgerton]

Just let me know what they measure out at.

[akjed]

Looks like 0.1455" (3.68mm) on the rounded edge, and 0.1185" (2.83mm) on the flat edge.

[William Smith]

There was a seller on evilbay that sold real pearl tuner buttons for around 75 bucks a set? I got a few sets awhile back?

[MikeEdgerton]

Looks like 0.1455" (3.68mm) on the rounded edge, and 0.1185" (2.83mm) on the flat edge.

It appears you have the Saga "Fake Gotoh" tuners. How many buttons are broken?

[akjed]

Ugh. Fake Gotoh? Three buttons have broken. I glued one. A few more have cracks and will go at any moment. The more I uncover about this problem, the more grossed out I get. These pearloid (cheap plastic) replacements are so hard to find. I'm wondering if I'm heading toward just replacing the tuners completely. There appears to be quite the range of tuners out there. Are Waverlys really in the $500 range? And Grovers $30-60? Certainly quite the rabbit hole I've fallen down.

[akjed]

:crying:

[MikeEdgerton]

:crying:

You have two ways to go, maybe three.

You can replace the broken buttons.

You can replace all the buttons.

You can replace the tuners with real Gotoh's.

I'll send you a Personal Message.