Black mandolin tuner buttons

[Verne Andru]

I got mine, for Grover machines, from Allparts.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Verne -Thanks for the info.,i'll make a note of that. I've bought from Allparts UK in the past,
Ivan

[jimmy powells]

Hi Ivan. If you get one off and want to check if a Northfield black button would fit, then I could send you one to try as I changed my Northfield black ones to ivoroid. I've also recently bought a set of Blohm inlaid buttons which are coming soon from USA so hopefully they will fit my Big Mon

Jimmy

Northumberland

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Jimmy - Many thanks indeed for your offer - but what make are the Northfield tuners ?. The Ellis uses Gotoh MA40's,
Ivan

PS - Where in Northumberland are you ?. This is my friend Ian Sharp from Darlington. Ian's been playing banjo maybe as long as me. https://youtu.be/7ruz8INOgRY ''Bachdraft'' An arrangement of part of a Bach Violin concerto. Attachments still not working.

[Ivan Kelsall]

I actually managed to remove one of the Gotoh tuner buttons from my Ellis mandolin,it was a tad stiff,but it came off. The shaft has 2 'flats' on it - now,i'm assuming that all similar 'flatted; shafts won't be the same size - or are they ?. Do any other makes of tuner buttons fit Gotoh shafts ?,
Ivan

[jimmy powells]

Hi Ivan. Internet says Schaller tuners on Northfield. If you'd like me to send one or all them down send me a private email to the cafe or direct to james.powells@sky.com giving your address.

I'm in Cramlington, 9 miles NE of Newcastle Upon Tyne.

Regards

Jimmy

[meado]

I have a 2015 Weber Yellowstone Oval A and wanted to change to black buttons. Call Weber directly and they should be able to help. They sold me a new set of tuners with black buttons at cost... that was less than the cost of replacement buttons. It seems they now use tuners made by a South Korean company called HanChang. (Grover’s are apparently made in South Korea as well.). Anyway, the buttons on the original tuners and the newer replacements seem to be glued on, so a complete switch out seems to be the easiest solution.

She even threw in a new Weber tee shirt! Great customer service and an all around great experience.

For what it’s worth, the tuners on the Weber operate better than the Grover’s I have on a 2015 Gibson F5.

[MikeEdgerton]

Wow, if they aren't the ones making the Grover mandolin tuners those are some pretty serious knock-offs of the Grover mandolin tuners.

http://hctuner.com/hanchang.pdf

[Ivan Kelsall]

Meado - Unless Weber changed tuner makes,the tuners will be Schallers. I have them on my Weber 'Fern' & my Lebeda mandolin - both work superbly well,as do the Gotoh's on my Ellis.

Jimmy -In the light of your offer,i tried removing the other tuner buttons from my Ellis yesterday,& 3 of them simply won't come off !. I'm not going to try to force them off,so with great respect & disappointment,i'll pass on your offer,but my grateful thanks anyway for your nice gesture,
Ivan

[meado]

Ivan, when I called Weber they asked for the serial number and then looked up the build specs. I bought the mando used here through the classifieds. They told me it was a custom build for The Mandolin Store and that the tuners were from HanChang. I suspect HanChang may also make Grovers, but I'm not certain. When TMS originally listed the mandolin on their site for sale it said the tuners were Grovers.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Meado - Looking at the HanChang website,it says that they've been in the tuner manufacturing industry for 50 years :-
http://hctuner.com/hanchang.pdf It would make sense for a company to have their 'Brand named' tuners made by a sub-contractor who's already set up for tuner manufacture - other industries sub-contract parts all the time !,
Ivan

[meado]

New black tuners installed!

[Ivan Kelsall]

Those black buttons look superb !. I don't know why more builders don't use them. Here's one of the most beautiful & understated mandolin headstocks i've ever seen - a John Hamlett "A" style.

It was this one that got me thinking about black buttons for my Ellis,
Ivan

[Mark Wilson]

Save the white ones when you swap them out. In 15 years when black buttons are on everything, folks will be posting asking where and how to find white buttons.