Black mandolin tuner buttons

[po56okie]

.....yes, anyone have a source for black tuner buttons that use the screw ??? I have a Weber mandolin and would love to switch out the pearloid. I don't think the stew mac buttons would work as the shaft requires a slightly larger hole. thanks

[George R. Lane]

When I bought my Yellowstone it had Grovers tuners with plastic black buttons, they looked cheap. I did find some Grover mini tuner buttons that were ebony, so you might check with Grover about them.

[AlanN]

I found a set of black buttons to fit my Gotoh tuners right here on the ads. They took a little scraping to fit but they look real nice. Keep an eye out on the classifieds here.

[Charles E.]

Alan, if you don't mind my asking, what is the story behind the Frank Wakefield (pearl?) truss rod cover? Nice buttons by the way.

[MikeEdgerton]

.....yes, anyone have a source for black tuner buttons that use the screw ??? I have a Weber mandolin and would love to switch out the pearloid. I don't think the stew mac buttons would work as the shaft requires a slightly larger hole. thanks

If you could post a picture of the tuners so we could identify the brand it might make this easier.

[AlanN]

The FW truss rod cover came off another mandolin; it's a long story with a short cross tie

[MikeEdgerton]

If Bill Sullivan was still alive I'd order one of those that said "Wake Frankfield".

[Ivan Kelsall]

I'd wanted to buy a set of Black tuner buttons to suit the Gotoh MA40's on my Ellis - but !. I'm sure that i read somewhere that Gotohs can have different shaft shape / dimensions - is that correct or are they all alike ?. I've tried a couple of time to remove a button from my Ellis,but they seem pretty stuck,so i don't really know what the shafts are like ie, 'square / oval',
Ivan

[MikeEdgerton]

Newer Gotoh's have two flats. The older Gotoh's were square and are the same size as the Wavery buttons sold by Stewmac. Pull a button if you're unsure.

Paul Hostetter's site has pictures here.

[Robert Mitchell]

.....yes, anyone have a source for black tuner buttons that use the screw ??? I have a Weber mandolin and would love to switch out the pearloid. I don't think the stew mac buttons would work as the shaft requires a slightly larger hole. thanks

Ichanged to black on my Weber,,,got them from All Parts Part # 3080-B Phone# 713-466-6414 Houston TX

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Mike E - " ...The older Gotoh's .." Thanks for the info.,but what years would be 'older' - ie the last 5 /6 / 7 years etc ?. I ask because my Ellis was made in 2010 - so square / 2 flats ??,
Ivan

[MikeEdgerton]

From Mike E - " ...The older Gotoh's .." Thanks for the info.,but what years would be 'older' - ie the last 5 /6 / 7 years etc ?. I ask because my Ellis was made in 2010 - so square / 2 flats ??,
Ivan

That I don't know. I own both styles but don't know when the changeover was made. You have to pull a button to be sure. Hope it's square because you have a whole lot more options available to you.

[AlanN]

Mine are square. The mandolin (and, presumably, the tuners, which are original to the mandolin) is 20 years old. The buttons I bought here were advertised as for Gotoh; nonetheless, they required a bit of reaming to truly fit - which was good, because they ain't comin' off, come Helen Highwater...

[MikeEdgerton]

I pulled a button off my Waverly tuners and slid it right on my square shaft Gotoh's. Having a set with square shafts does open up a world of opportunities. I wish I knew when they made the switch over.

[Ivan Kelsall]

I tried to remove one of the Gotoh buttons on my Ellis a couple of years back,but they seem pretty well stuck. Maybe a warm up with my wife's hair dryer might loosen one up,
Ivan

[Willie Poole]

Ivan, You could use a gear puller...Lol

[Ivan Kelsall]

Thanks Willie - but i'll pass on that idea !!.

I have toyed with the idea of replacing the Nickel Gotoh's with Gold tuners with black buttons which i can buy,& having the silver James t/piece gold plated. The only thing stopping me is the removal of the old tuner bushes - i'd hate to louse up on that & damage the headstock in any way,
Ivan

[Ray(T)]

My thought was WD40 and a pair of Mole-grips, Ivan! Methinks you need to do less thinking and more playing.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Ray - Re.playing,i'm still getting in an hour a day at least. Currently i'm making up for lost time. I'm just recovering from a very severe boubt of flu,which floored me for close to 4 weeks, & i'm still a tad shaky.

I don't know why the tunner buttons are so tight. Hopefully the idiot who previously owned my Ellis didn't glue them on !!. He didn't have any qualms about screwing a bass guitar strap strap button the size of a dinner plate into the neck !. However,i've more or less decided to leave the Ellis 'as it came',
Ivan

[Ray(T)]

Sorry to hear about your flu Ivan; I had a flu jab. Incidentally, my National has gold coloured Gotoh tuners with black buttons but I've never tried to ake them off. Knowing how much you like strap buttons, I also fitted a dinky little one at the heel - the kind folks at National sent me one to match the one at t'other end.

[mandolinstew]

.....yes, anyone have a source for black tuner buttons that use the screw ??? I have a Weber mandolin and would love to switch out the pearloid. I don't think the stew mac buttons would work as the shaft requires a slightly larger hole. thanks

I painted mine black.Two coats of black lettering enamel(made with lead) and three coats McCloskey Heirloom varnish(eggshell)applied with lettering brush.Look great.

[AlanN]

I painted mine black.Two coats of black lettering enamel(made with lead) and three coats McCloskey Heirloom varnish(eggshell)applied with lettering brush.Look great.

Great idea!

[mandolin tony]

you can buy black ebony one from China, just go to EBay .

[MikeEdgerton]

Do they fit the tuners that the OP has? If the size doesn't matter you can buy them on Stewmac as well.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Ray - " I had a flu jab." So did my wife,she got the flu before me. With so many different strains of flu out there,it's hit & miss which vacine you're getting & whether it'll be effective.

As i mentioned,i've decided to leave my Ellis as it is - but i might remove a tuner button just out of curiosity to check the shaft shape,
Ivan