Replacement Tuners for KM -150

[roysboy]

Love my KM-150. For the most-part , the stock tuners haven't been a concern . Lately , however , I've been doing more recording and that's where there's no room for tuning issues whatsoever.

IF I were going to swap them out for something better , what would folks here suggest as an affordable set of replacement pegs, keeping in mind the value of the mandolin in question ?

Thanks .....

[colorado_al]

Grover 309 for $52
https://www.ebay.com/p/Grover-309n-a...Set/1603624395

Spend $20 more for Rubners. Well worth it in my opinion.
https://www.rubnertuners.com/hauser-...nickel-classic

[Folkmusician.com]

Grover's are the best value in my opinion. Going with anything less won't be a big improvement. The stock KM-150 tuners are not the best, but I never noticed any problem with them.

As for the Grover's, I haven't installed a set on the newer KM-150, so I am not sure if the posts will match perfectly or not...

[Mark Marino]

I bought a used KM with Rubners on it a while back and they are great. You won’t go wrong with Grover’s either but Rubners are smoother.

[colorado_al]

Or buy the Grovers from a mando cafe user:
https://www.mandolincafe.com/ads/134774#134774

[mandroid]

as I offered, from another thread..

[Tuners, generally] given how slowly they turn, in use, while a string is off, you can wind them faster
and put a tiny bit of lubrication on and smooth them out.

[roysboy]

Much thanks , gentlemen . Grovers seem to be the way to go by consensus .
The 309's run close to 100.00 here in Canada .....with Canadian Exchange and shipping on the US $ it would run the same either way .
Not a terrible price , I suppose ....

As mandroid suggested , possibly a bit of lubricant would be worth trying first ....

[Bob Buckingham]

Grover 309's are very good for the money.

[Dave Sheets]

Nothing wrong with upgrading your tuners, but I had a lot of success with adjusting and lubricating tuners on a Collings MTO, they went from problematic to working fine. You can save a few bucks if this works:

http://www.lutherie.net/tuner.maintenance.html

[MikeEdgerton]

Hang on, we went through this a few years ago. Check the spacing between the post centers. Saga used a non-standard set of tuners on the KM-150 and unless that has changed all the well meaning suggestions will become expensive mistakes.

If the center of post to center of post measurement is not .906" or 23.01mm it's not standard sized.

The older thread on this subject is here. Just check the measurements.

[mandroid]

A work around posted here, years back , saw through the mounting holes, making each strip into 4 pieces.

Your screws will still secure the backing plates 1 serving both pieces.. on either side of it.
then post hole spacing is no longer an issue..




....

[Dave Greenspoon]

Also, look into Jin Ho. Fine value for the price point.

[Br1ck]

Tuners rarely are the cause of tuning issues. Are they less than smooth? Sure, but if you are having slippage, look toward you nut and saddle. Then again, if we didn't unnecessarily swap our tuners, we wouldn't have the nice selection we do.

[mandroid]

Yes, As I learned from past writers, Lots of 'tuner issues' are actually nut slot drag, & other set up issues ..

because mandolin scale is so short .. in tune and out of tune are microns apart....