Individual tuners for a mandolin?

[Willie Poole]

I see a few posts on here about the measurements between the post holes for mandolin tuners....Has or do anyone of you builders ever used individual tuners on a mandolin like on a Martin guitar? I`m sure some of the imported ones have had these although I can`t recall any brand names of these.....Willie

[crazymandolinist]

Yep it's being done. Usually electric guitar tuners do the trick, just get a set of six for both the left and right sides. You'll have some left over for your next one after

[Michael Lewis]

The mandocello and a few octave mandolins I have made are fitted with Waverly individual guitar machines. I cut through the mounting holes for all the inside machines so their spacing could be closed up a bit and use a common screw between each pair. Leave half a hole in the end of each base plate so one screw holds the ends of 2 adjoining plates. Don't cut the holes of the outside ends. Is that confusing?

[Dave Hanson]

Most top British builders use individual tuners on their best instruments, Fylde use individual mini Schallers, my Paul Shippey has individual mini Gotohs, they are obviously available, so you don't need to buy guitar sets, although they are quit expensive.

For obvious reasons not good for F models.

Dave H

[Ivan Kelsall]

Dale Ludewig is the only US builder who i KNOW uses individual tuners on one of his models - the Emory Lester. The Mini Grovers would be my choice if i were having a custom "A" style built. The very cheapest Grover 'style' tuners i've come across,leave the standard Mandolin style tuner way behind in terms of smoothness in tuning, & in being non-slip,
Ivan

[Ben Milne]

Ivan when I first saw the Emory Lester I thought he'd used a modded set of mando tuners. Turns out it was a bit more involved than I had envisaged though it appears that this is the case ... Below is a quote from another thread regarding the grover309s. he also has a good shot of the back of the headstock on his website. The longer shaft on the Top E string is the kicker here... I don't think you could get individual tuners like that.

I don't know for sure but the last I knew they were being made overseas and I think South Korea is about right. IIRC. I do know this: they have been great to deal with and very cooperative about sending 1/2 set of A's and 1/2 set of F's which must be disassembled, sent to be plated, tuners reversed and reassembled for the EL model I make. They DO think we mando builders are kind of an interesting bunch.

[Tavy]

Gotoh have some new "stealth" tuners available: http://g-gotoh.com/product.php?id_product=208 which are suposed to be the smallest and lightest individual tuners in the world. I haven't been able to track down a retailer or a price though....

[amowry]

I've used them at customers' requests. They definitely add weight, especially if you use enclosed tuners, but they sure are smooth!

[Willie Poole]

Those "long" shafted tuners on the Lester model looks like they would do OK on a normal F model, you can also build an F model without the fancy pedhead and you wouldn`t need the longer shafts.....Willie

[pglasse]

There's one Nugget two-point that I've seen using individual tuners -- enclosed mini-Schallers as I recall.

Paul Glasse
Austin Texas
http://paulglasse.com

[Dale Ludewig]

Well, I just stumbled into here. So: Ivan, whatever I may have said that made you believe they were individual tuners isn't so.

As was pointed out, I get 1/2 set of A's and 1/2 set of F's. I completely disassemble them and send them off to be plated black. Then they go back together except that the F side is put together so the longest shaft is on the bottom, etc. It's about the biggest PITA I can think of, but it works. I have yet to find a compromise between the desired headstock shape and tuner button length. And if you look closely you'll see that the tuners are also offset tangent to the nut. I have yet to order any of the new ones, I guess the 309's?

I think often of using individual tuners on these things. But then you have to consider that the shafts won't be in a straight line anymore (from the front) but will follow the peghead shape. No free lunch.

[Ron McMillan]

I've used them at customers' requests. They definitely add weight, especially if you use enclosed tuners, but they sure are smooth!

When I was upgrading a cheap instrument with dreadful in-line tuners that had weird spacing between the tuning posts, I was forced down the route of using individual mini guitar tuners. To do so I had to drill the tuning post holes to accommodate the thicker guitar ones, but the end result looked neat. It also transformed the tuning experience on that instrument, taking it from unpredictable and unreliable to super-smooth and perfectly reliable, able to hold its tuning infinitely better than before.

Yes, it made the headstock a little heavier, but not so much heavier that it made a real difference. I have read that a heavier headstock adds ring or tone or volume (or something) to the instrument, and mine did feel a little louder than before. And now, when I go back from my favoured F-style mandolin (which has fine Gotoh tuners), the old dog with the guitar tuners always surprises me with how beautifully easy it is to tune up.

The end result is quite attractive, so long as you do a very careful job of the drilling and attaching (I did not, but the instrument was worthless before I started, so cosmetic effect was not a priority). I would recommend it.

ron

[pops1]

I have posted this many times, but i have cut the 4 on a plate tuners apart at the screw holes so the screw still holds the individual tuners. They look like the 4 on a plate (they were after all), but the fit they odd spacing and work great. You can use any brand and don't need fancy or custom tuners. Woks especially good on the old Gibsons.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Dale - My apoligies for attributing something to you that ISN'T. You did describe your dissembling & recon.process in a previous thread,obviously it went straight through (nothing between my ears to stop it !).
However,last night i did see a Fylde ' Single Malt' flat-top mandolin with individual (Mini-Grover style) tuners & they looked great,
Ivan

[Willie Poole]

Pops...That seems like a very logical way to do tuners when a new set don`t line up with the holes in the peghead...A few weeks ago someone posted that and your idea fits that perfect....I installed some tuners a few years ago for a friend and did exactly what you suggested because the hole spacing was different, neither did the screw holes so I filled those in also and drilled new tiny holes for the screws.....Willie

[pops1]

I usually turn the tuners around as the screw holes match better, makes tuning backwards, but then some tuners are made like that anyway and is not really a big deal.