Worm Over F Style Tuners

[MikeEdgerton]

I'd love to hear your response from StewMac. I've asked them almost the opposite for a worm under A model tuners (could even use the f style tuners and just use all the shafts from one bin to make the A style set). They just said that we don't do custom orders.

I'm a glutton for punishment, I asked them again. Specifically if I could custom order a set of Golden Age f style in worm over configuration. My hope is that somebody figures out there might be a market for them.

[MikeEdgerton]

Well, in spite of my best efforts to actually get Stewmac to make a set of Worm over Golden-Age F style tuners I give up. I want to thank Janet Davis Music for having the best price I could find on nickel Worm Over Schaller tuners. I'm on to my next project.

[MikeEdgerton]

Rubner is making Worm over F style tuners!

http://www.rubnertuners.com/worm-ove...-machines-new/

Price looks good. Shipping is cheap.

[MikeEdgerton]

I'm trying to get past my aversion to black on tuners


I just pulled the trigger on a silver set with the minimal engraving. It will look good with the James tailpiece I bought for my mandola. This should be good.

[pops1]

They are a good company and stand behind their product. I just received a new set to replace ones I had on for about a year that developed a problem, good place to do business.

[bbcee]

Funny Mike, I really like the look of the black buttons! I've been considering those Rubners for my F4, but I find I like a higher gear ratio, like the Grovers have.

[MikeEdgerton]

The black buttons are fine, I would rather the rest was silver. The current tuners on my mandola have black buttons.

[Ivan Kelsall]

I know that this question might seem out of place to some,but what's wrong with tuners that ''turn the wrong way ?''. Surely,isn't it simply a matter of getting used to them ?. We 'adapt' to so many other far more demanding situations,that it seems very odd (to me) that turning a tuner button the ''opposite way'' causes what seems to be so much adversity.

My Weber & Ellis ''turn the right way'',my Lebeda doesn't. I didn't worry over it,i just used 'em !!.

Is it simply a matter of ''tradition'' that worm under/over - ''whichever'' tuners are considered to be the only ones that are 'right' ??. I remember it being mentioned in another thread that "A" style mandolins always have ''worm under'' tuners - my Ellis "A" style has ''worm over'' Gotohs on it.

The real criterial should be how well they work - IMHO,
Ivan

[MikeEdgerton]

I know that this question might seem out of place to some,but what's wrong with tuners that ''turn the wrong way ?''...

They turn the wrong way.

[MikeEdgerton]

I got the shipping notice for my tuners from Rubner yesterday. They appear to process orders very quickly.

[Ivan Kelsall]

IMHO as long as they tune the instrument up,they must turn the right way. It's not right / wrong,just different. My question still hasn't been answered - "Is it simply a matter of ''tradition'' ...". Very likely the builders of the Gibsons going back to the early 1920's simply used what they could get.

For all you folks in the USA who drive on the 'wrong' side of the road,do you have any problems doing that ??,
Ivan

[Ray(T)]

They also fit the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car, Ivan. (Unless they can afford a one of the more exotic McLarens where it's in the middle.)

[MikeEdgerton]

You can get used to anything if you try hard enough. I don't know why you'd want to if you didn't have to. Worm over tuners that are properly engineered can turn the same way as worm under tuners do. Paul Hostetter's page on tuners goes through it all.

http://www.lutherie.net/mandolin.gear.direction.html

[MikeEdgerton]

OK, on the Rubner tuners. I ordered off the website last week, they arrived at my door today shipped from an address in Minnesota. On first glance they are well made and there is no slop at all in the mechanism. I can usually get a little play out of a string post, these don't move. I hope the holes for the tuners on my mandola are exactly right

[MikeEdgerton]

As Janet Davis is no longer with us you can get Schaller's, Gotoh, and a no name but well built Schaller knockoff with removeable buttons from www.allparts.com.

https://www.allparts.com/mandolin-tuning-keys

[William Smith]

As Janet Davis is no longer with us you can get Schaller's, Gotoh, and a no name but well built Schaller knockoff with removeable buttons from www.allparts.com.

https://www.allparts.com/mandolin-tuning-keys

Good call on those tuners, never thought of those, never heard of allparts.com, they sure have a bunch of goodies!

[j. condino]

Allparts has been on the scene for 30 years; for the most part they sell the same stuff that the rest of the crowd does, usually at better prices. One of the great things about the Schaller machines is that they come in both worm over and worm under configurations AND they can be completely dissassembled and reconfigured in any manner you like, unlike most of the others. Buy a set of both configurations, spend 1/2 hour messing with them, and you can satisfy almost any need without drilling new holes or settling for less than what you desire.

Nicolo Alessi only makes them in one configuration because his supplier for the button shaft only offers one configuration. He will build them either way, but you'll have to get used to an opposite turning direction. If you can work with that, you can gat some pretty cool machines. These are a set of his on a '27 F4 with snakewood buttons.

j.
www.condino.com
on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Condino-Str...6588557518578/
www.kaybassrepair.com

[HoGo]

Nicolo Alessi only makes them in one configuration because his supplier for the button shaft only offers one configuration. He will build them either way, but you'll have to get used to an opposite turning direction. If you can work with that, you can gat some pretty cool machines. These are a set of his on a '27 F4 with snakewood buttons.

Alessi makes both worm/gear configurations. He uses right turn worm on mandolin tuners (worm below) and he uses left turn worm on most of his guitar tuners.

Looks like Allparts offers more worm above F-style mandolin sets than the more standard reverse geared sets.

[MikeEdgerton]

AllParts sells the only set of decent "unknown maker" worm overs that I've seen. The plates look like Schallers, the worm gears have a tube over the "stem" to make them look heftier than they are and I think the buttons were the same as Gotoh's but I can't remember. The screw sizes are different. They pretty much have the rest of the common tuners and they have indeed been around for years.

[MikeEdgerton]

Nicolo Alessi only makes them in one configuration because his supplier for the button shaft only offers one configuration. He will build them either way, but you'll have to get used to an opposite turning direction. If you can work with that, you can gat some pretty cool machines. These are a set of his on a '27 F4 with snakewood buttons.

j.
www.condino.com
on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Condino-Str...6588557518578/
www.kaybassrepair.com

Those Alessi's look great.

[MikeEdgerton]

Alessi makes both worm/gear configurations. He uses right turn worm on mandolin tuners (worm below) and he uses left turn worm on most of his guitar tuners.

Does he make a worm over F set?

[HoGo]

Does he make a worm over F set?

He makes custom sets (ALL his sets are custom hand made to order). He uses left-turn worm and gear on guitar tuners (they are all "worm over") so he CAN make correct "worm over" mandolin tuners as well (they use the same left-turn worm).
He is somewhat difficult to communicate (not speaking english) but if you provide him with good enough description of what you exactly want, he will make it. I only ordered from him once but I sent him CAD drawing with plate shape, engraving and shaft lengths (Loar stye tuners with zigzag and oak leaves and flowers around screwholes) and he did it (and it cost me less than Waverlies at that time)....

[j. condino]

Alessi makes both worm/gear configurations. He uses right turn worm on mandolin tuners (worm below) and he uses left turn worm on most of his guitar tuners.

Looks like Allparts offers more worm above F-style mandolin sets than the more standard reverse geared sets.

I've been working with Nicolo for ten years and this is not what he has told me. You can get the worm over or worm under, but the turning direction will only work for one gear configuration for mandolin tuners. You either get a traditional configuration with traditional turning direction or worm over and opposite turning. We have had many very long conversations about this and his answer is always the same for mandolins.

As for his English, I can understand him better than some of the folks around here! His communication is excellent for a one man shop on the other side of the world. Mandolins are a tiny part of his business; he makes 1000s of sets of guitar machines every year.

[Austin Bob]

I've been working with Nicolo for ten years and this is not what he has told me. You can get the worm over or worm under, but the turning direction will only work for one gear configuration for mandolin tuners. You either get a traditional configuration with traditional turning direction or worm over and opposite turning. We have had many very long conversations about this and his answer is always the same for mandolins.

As for his English, I can understand him better than some of the folks around here! His communication is excellent for a one man shop on the other side of the world. Mandolins are a tiny part of his business; he makes 1000s of sets of guitar machines every year.

Take a look at this picture. Both sets of tuners are worm over, but the gold ones turn in the normal direction, the silver turn in the opposite. It's the slant of the worm gear that determines which way they turn, not the fact that they are worm over or under.

[Austin Bob]

BTW, if anyone wants the bass ackwards silver tuners, pay shipping and make a donation to the cafe (or not, up to you) and they are yours. I think they're missing some mounting screws, but I bet you can find them if you try.