Waverly tuner bushing reliability

[dan in va]

Considering taking the plunge on a new Waverly set on a new instrument. i'm wondering about their nylon bushing design and if it will eventually wear out or develop any problems. Something this spendy ought to last pretty much forever, IMHO.

Since the high end Waverly tuners have been out there for a sometime it seems that potential issues would be surfacing by now. What's the buzz?

[MikeEdgerton]

Considering taking the plunge on a new Waverly set on a new instrument. i'm wondering about their nylon bushing design and if it will eventually wear out or develop any problems. Something this spendy ought to last pretty much forever, IMHO.

Since the high end Waverly tuners have been out there for a sometime it seems that potential issues would be surfacing by now. What's the buzz?

I bought a set of used Waverly mandolin tuners. They were missing a screw. I called Stewmac (and told them they were used) to buy a screw. They wouldn't let me buy one. Instead they sent me two for free. Yes, they are expensive. If anything goes wrong they take care of them. I know of a situation where they replaced a set they couldn't repair under the same circumstances. If they'd make a set of worm over tuners for me right now I'd buy another set.

[foldedpath]

I installed Waverly tuners on my Lebeda F5 mandolin around 4 years ago, and my Weber F Octave mandolin a year after that. That's not a long time as these things go, but I haven'd had any trouble with them. Great tuners.

[MontanaMatt]

I tried to buy pearl buttons for my 2yr old Waverly F’s...I have ebony. They said no, try a lutherie forum. I’m unimpressed. They used to be made here in Bozeman, and my band mate used to work for them... they fired him and moved out of Bozeman. I’m less inclined to be an ardent supported as of late... just saying.

[MikeEdgerton]

You can buy mother of pearl buttons that will fit on eBay if you know where to look. The set I bought was $75.00. I wasn't aware that they had moved out of Bozeman. Anybody know where they moved to?

[Marty Jacobson]

You can buy mother of pearl buttons that will fit on eBay if you know where to look. The set I bought was $75.00. I wasn't aware that they had moved out of Bozeman. Anybody know where they moved to?

Google says 412 E Bryant St, Bozeman, MT 59715. No other hits for the address (i.e. other companies having moved in there) or for Wavely Mfg Company anywhere else. I did do a search for "Waverly manufacturing company ohio" on the off chance...

[MikeEdgerton]

Google says 412 E Bryant St, Bozeman, MT 59715. No other hits for the address (i.e. other companies having moved in there) or for Wavely Mfg Company anywhere else. I did do a search for "Waverly manufacturing company ohio" on the off chance...

That would be the logical next place to look. The last time I looked was a few years ago and the Bozeman stuff was there.

I can't find any mention of where they are being made on their website.

[mandroid]

you can get old style replica brass bushings from stew mac which are nickel or gold plated..

I have a set of die cast/machined Schaller bushings around here, loose, somewhere..

peg head has to be made a bit bigger holes for those..

[MontanaMatt]

That would be the logical next place to look. The last time I looked was a few years ago and the Bozeman stuff was there.

I can't find any mention of where they are being made on their website.

They moved to wherever Stew Mac is headquartered...I think Ohio.
They are not in Bozeman anymore.
The story I heard was that they bought the building in Ohio, and it had enough space, so they consolidated.

[MikeEdgerton]

21 N Shafer St, Athens, OH is Stewmac's address.

[Rob Roy]

re: nylon bushings. I put a set of German Rubners on my mandolin and they have thin nylon washers between the worm gears and the frame part of the machine. It makes for very smooth tuning. Gotoh also utilizes nylon washers on their 510 series machines (which is all you'll ever find on $5,000+ boutique guitars). I don't think these folks would be using nylon in their machines if there was any foreseen wear issues. Of course, machines can work smoothly without nylon if adjusted properly and lubed periodically. I'm impressed with how beautifully Grover 309s work. I think I would seriously consider Schaller's GrandTune tuners, they've gotten very good reviews and are very classy German machines.

[ivancook]

Does anyone have a recent of box of these to confirm where they are made now? The old box clearly had Bozeman on it, so curious what it says now.

[rcc56]

Stewart MacDonald was purchased a while back. The new ownership has made some changes since then. These included printing a color catalog and instituting some sizable price increases on many items. I had heard that they were planning to open a new building in Ohio, but someone else will have to provide the details about that.

The only other thing I know is that they are only taking orders over the computer, due to the epidemic. I assume that they will re-open their phone service after the epidemic passes.

[ivancook]

For those that are curious... I emailed StewMac and they replied, "All of our Waverly tuners are currently produced in house at our Athens, Ohio location."