tuners for a bouzouki build

[Bob Schmidt]

I am laying out the headstock and am trying to decide what tuners to put on the bouzouki I am building. I had decided on either the schaller M6 mini's or their 4 on a plate, but in the process came across some older threads on the cafe which talked about some issues with them. Is that still the case? What are some opinions on the best tuners in that price range?

[HonketyHank]

This is interesting to me as well, particularly concerning the sealed gear tuners (Schaller M6 minis or maybe Grover Rotomatic 205 minis). I recently put some full sized Rotomatics on a tenor guitar and I loved the result so much that I am wondering why I never see this kind of tuner on a mandolin. It doesn't appear to be a matter of fit -- both should fit the post spacing on a mandolin.

[Dave Hanson]

UK builder Fylde have always used Grover mini single tuners on their mandolin family instruments and my Paul Shippey has mini single Gotoh tuners.

Dave H

[Earl]

I've been using Gotoh SG38's on several octaves with good results. Individual tuners are available at Warmoth.com. Individual Schallers are also available there but are more than 3X the price. I haven't used the Schallers so I don't know if they are worth the additional cost.

Earl Tyler

[Tavy]

I've been using Gotoh SG38's on several octaves with good results. Individual tuners are available at Warmoth.com. Individual Schallers are also available there but are more than 3X the price. I haven't used the Schallers so I don't know if they are worth the additional cost.

If you mean SG381, then yes those are good tuners and not particularly expensive. They are significantly heavier than 4 on a plate tuners, but give far more "bang-per-buck". I suspect these are (probably) what Fylde uses. You need to make sure you get style 7 buttons (as used for 6-in-line headstocks), otherwise the buttons are huge - much too much so for a mandolin family instrument.

[Bob Schmidt]

Thanks for that. I am still interested in the Schaller tunners. I understand they have revamped the M6's to have the same features as the Grand tune 4 on a plate. they now both have an 18:1 ratio which I like. Appearence wise I am partial to the individual closed tuners for a long neck bouzouki although they are heavier. Has anyone used the newer M6's?

Thanks
Bob Schmidt

[dunwell]

I've been using the Grover mini's too in my last two builds. I like the better control than I get with the 4-on-a-plate type. I just use a simple snake-head type design so either works well with that.
Alan D.

[Bob Schmidt]

Thanks Alan,

I just looked at the video's on your website and the bouzouki's sound great. I hope mine comes out half as good. I am using a snakehead design also and the grover's are a second choice. Where did you get them?

Bob Schmidt

[Nevin]

The only issues I can think of with using individual tuners are the size of the buttons as Tavy mentioned and the weight. Particularly with a longer necked instrument you could have problems with it being neck heavy.

[Bob Schmidt]

Nevin,

Thanks,
I did decide to go with the m6 mini's. I ordered them with the small buttons and will be spacing them at 27mm so that should not be an issue. They are however 94g heavier then the 4OAP. I am afraid the asthetics won out over practicality. We'll see how that plays out. The TC bouzouki I am using now has individual tuners and the weight does not bother me. If the build goes south it will be a better looking wall hanging.