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Thread: No cool tuner buttons !!!!!

  1. #1
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    Default No cool tuner buttons !!!!!

    yes.., Why doesn't someone manufacture some way cool tuner buttons for mandolins.....I mean, look at Gibson almost one hundred years ago were putting out chocolate colored buttons on their A4 snakeheads..and yellow marble swireled buttons and in the teens, handel inlayed tuner buttons.....alas, I must be content with the boring white pearloid buttons. ja

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  3. #2
    Registered User Ivan Kelsall's Avatar
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    Default Re: No cool tuner buttons !!!!!

    Realistically - there's probably almost no call for them. If there was,& if the makers thought that there would be money in it,they'd be making them already. I'm not sure if the tuner manufacturers also make their own buttons,or if they sub-contract those to a specialist plastic Co.,but as you say,buttons these days are usually either Ivoroid / Perloid / Cream / Black or real MOP. There are makers of wooden buttons suitable for some makes of tuner. Roger Siminoff did offer an array of tuner buttons that included some non-standard materials ie. Buffalo Horn,but he's now retired.

    There's also the fact that these days,there are quite a number of different tuners for which buttons might be required,all these would require different mould tools to make them,& injection mould tools (the usual method), are pretty expensive to make.

    As i said,if there was any money to be made,we'd already have 'em !.

    As for Gibson - they didn't make their own tuners & i suspect that the Chocolate coloured tuner buttons ''might'' have simply been because the button makers only had Chocolate coloured plastic in stock ?,
    Ivan
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  5. #3
    but that's just me Bertram Henze's Avatar
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    Default Re: No cool tuner buttons !!!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by Ivan Kelsall View Post
    Realistically - there's probably almost no call for them.
    Yes, I, for once, wouldn't spend any extra money for baroque looks without an audible effect...
    the world is better off without bad ideas, good ideas are better off without the world

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    Default Re: No cool tuner buttons !!!!!

    My OM has a set of Robson tuners on it. I think Keith Robson makes his own buttons so, in theory, you could have a choice of materials/colour - mine are plain old ebony.

  7. #5

    Default Re: No cool tuner buttons !!!!!

    Seems like it is a thing with guitars https://www.allparts.com/buttons

    But not really a thing with mandolins http://siminoff.net/machine-knobs-buttons/

  8. #6
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: No cool tuner buttons !!!!!

    Handel replica buttons have been manufactured by at least two different people in the last few years. The cost was high but the folks that bought them loved them. They were apparently a whole lot of work to manufacture.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
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    Default Re: No cool tuner buttons !!!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by vetus scotia View Post
    Seems like it is a thing with guitars https://www.allparts.com/buttons

    But not really a thing with mandolins http://siminoff.net/machine-knobs-buttons/
    Other than the blue ones and maybe the red ones those are all pretty traditional guitar buttons.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
    --J. Garber

  10. #8
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    Default Re: No cool tuner buttons !!!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by Ivan Kelsall View Post
    ... As i said,if there was any money to be made,we'd already have 'em !...
    Truth.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
    --J. Garber

  11. #9

    Default Re: No cool tuner buttons !!!!!

    I've always thought using small coins as tuner buttons was interesting, and they're (generally) cheaper than conventional tuner buttons. I've only ever seen them as jury-rigged tuner buttons though.

  12. #10
    Registered User Ivan Kelsall's Avatar
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    Default Re: No cool tuner buttons !!!!!

    One maker of ''Handel'' tuner buttons was Mike Blohm,& i think that Tom Ellis has made some in the past,
    Ivan
    Weber F-5 'Fern'.
    Lebeda F-5 "Special".
    Stelling Bellflower BANJO
    Tokai - 'Tele-alike'.
    Ellis DeLuxe "A" style.

  13. #11
    Registered User Roger Moss's Avatar
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    Default Re: No cool tuner buttons !!!!!

    To me the "cool" in tuners isn't in ostentatious "bling." It's in knowing your accessories are the best possible. Fancy carved buttons are fine for some, but my Rubners look quite plain, indeed. My "cool" is knowing I've got quality.
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  15. #12
    Registered User Ivan Kelsall's Avatar
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    Default Re: No cool tuner buttons !!!!!

    Hi Roger - I agree totally. My Ellis "A" style came with Ivoroid coloured buttons on it,& honestly,IMO,they didn't do it any favours in the 'appearance stakes'. The tuners are Gotoh MA40's & they work superbly well. I decided that a set of Black buttons would look noce & give the mandolin a more 'classy' appearance. I was very fortunate indeed that i was able to but a set of replacement buttons via Allparts UK - Gotoh / Allparts do NOT supply them as spares. They totally transformed the look of the mandolin. This was my
    'bench mark',an "A" style made by John Hamlett,possibly the ''classiest'' headstock i've seen. Very often,less is ''much more''.

    Tom Ellis's own mandolin with 'Handel' tuner buttons & my own Ellis,
    Ivan
    Click image for larger version. 

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    Weber F-5 'Fern'.
    Lebeda F-5 "Special".
    Stelling Bellflower BANJO
    Tokai - 'Tele-alike'.
    Ellis DeLuxe "A" style.

  16. #13
    but that's just me Bertram Henze's Avatar
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    Default Re: No cool tuner buttons !!!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by Ivan Kelsall View Post
    Tom Ellis's own mandolin with 'Handel' tuner buttons & my own Ellis
    I guess you have to tune a mandolin with Handel tuner buttons so they all look nicely aligned - maybe we should save this one for another string changing thread
    the world is better off without bad ideas, good ideas are better off without the world

  17. #14
    Registered User Ivan Kelsall's Avatar
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    Default Re: No cool tuner buttons !!!!!

    Hi Bertram - If mandolin tuner shafts / buttons were 'splined',very much like most modern banjo tuner shafts / buttons,then the buttons could be removed,& replaced almost in alignment. The splines would allow the buttons to be rotated on the shafts in small increments to align them & then secured with the end screw. However,that would require a re-design of every make of mandolin tuner on the market,
    Ivan
    Weber F-5 'Fern'.
    Lebeda F-5 "Special".
    Stelling Bellflower BANJO
    Tokai - 'Tele-alike'.
    Ellis DeLuxe "A" style.

  18. #15
    but that's just me Bertram Henze's Avatar
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    Default Re: No cool tuner buttons !!!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by Ivan Kelsall View Post
    If mandolin tuner shafts / buttons were 'splined'...
    ...like central locking rims on race car wheels?
    This would be so totally over the top.
    the world is better off without bad ideas, good ideas are better off without the world

  19. #16
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    Default Re: No cool tuner buttons !!!!!

    If you're willing to pay what it costs, noting is out of the question. Just maybe out of the budget.


    Jamie
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  20. #17
    Registered User Ivan Kelsall's Avatar
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    Default Re: No cool tuner buttons !!!!!

    Hi Bertram - I've no idea what the central locking rims on racing car wheels look like.This is the tuner shaft from a Bill Keith 'D' tuner.
    It's somewhat larger in diameter than a mandolin tuner shaft,but with a bit of ingenuity,a similar spline could be added to a mandolin tuner shaft to take a similarly splined tuner button - simply make the button part of the shaft just a tad larger ?,
    Ivan
    Click image for larger version. 

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    Weber F-5 'Fern'.
    Lebeda F-5 "Special".
    Stelling Bellflower BANJO
    Tokai - 'Tele-alike'.
    Ellis DeLuxe "A" style.

  21. #18
    but that's just me Bertram Henze's Avatar
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    Default Re: No cool tuner buttons !!!!!

    Ivan, that's exactly what I expected.
    And I am sure you have seen those on cars, what with living in England and all...
    the world is better off without bad ideas, good ideas are better off without the world

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