Carl Fischer Vintage (100 yrs?) Broken Tuners

[tornado____bison]

I am a seasoned guitar player and interested in mandolin. I just inherited this old mandolin. No cracks, good fret board, Italian style bowl, all around great condition. But the tuning pegs aren't working. One had the gear fall off, a couple worked, and a couple worked, but were really tough. Any recommendations on replacement tuners?

[Nevin]

Before you try and replace, I think repairs may be better. There are several threads on tuner repair if you do a search. Frequently just removal, cleanin and tightening things up will get them working again. If you do need replacments, you will have to measure the distance between the centers of the string posts as there are different sizes.

[tornado____bison]

Before you try and replace, I think repairs may be better. There are several threads on tuner repair if you do a search. Frequently just removal, cleanin and tightening things up will get them working again. If you do need replacments, you will have to measure the distance between the centers of the string posts as there are different sizes.

I'll look into threads on repairing tuner heads. Thanks!

They are all very tough to turn and some gears have cracks in them.

I discovered vintage tuners for sale, they seem to be the same size. I am tempted to buy a set and hope for the best.

They recommend new bushings, but I hope that isn't needed, cause they are $18 a pop.

[pops1]

I have replaced tuners on old Gibson's before you could get the newer ones with the correct spacing. Since the tuners were new I hjav no problem modifying them. I cut them into 2 or 4 pieces depending on the mandolin I was putting them in. Simply cutting thru the screw hole allows spacing change that it usually enough to make them fit and you can still use the screw holes to secure the tuners to the mandolin. I have had a set that I cut on my old Gibson for 20 years at least.

[Jim Garber]

I'll look into threads on repairing tuner heads. Thanks!

They are all very tough to turn and some gears have cracks in them.

I discovered vintage tuners for sale, they seem to be the same size. I am tempted to buy a set and hope for the best.

They recommend new bushings, but I hope that isn't needed, cause they are $18 a pop.

StewMac's Golden Age Restoration tuners are usually best for Gibsons, tho it is possible they might fit your bowlback, it is also possible that the shafts might be smaller on the originals and the headstock might also be thinner than the Gibsons. Of course you could drill out the holes larger and cut the plate if the spacing is different. OTOH I would think that you could find a set from some similar broken bowlback.

You are lucky it does not have inset tuners. Those are even more difficult to match.

I am not sure what you are talking about when you say $18 bushings. The tuners come with proper bushings. They do talk about readers and drill hits for the holes but they also want to sell you tools.