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So I'm guessing I'm not the first person to come across this dilemma...
I'm building a mandolin (F-5), and have been perusing the options for tuning machines.
Seemingly, at the top of the heap there's the waverly's.
Is there a generally agreed upon second-runner in terms of quality?

I bought a set of waverly's for the first guitar I built, and I've been nothing but blown away by their performance.
In fact, they're almost too good.
You buy a nice set of tuners like that, you kind of want to have to use them once in a while.
That guitar hasn't gone a half cent sharp or flat in nearly 7 months!
They're expensive, but as far as I'm concerned worth what they cost, and if I can afford to I'll continue to use them on future guitars.

I'd really, really love to be able to afford a set of waverly mandolin tuners, but they're so expensive it's almost ridiculous.
Are they really that good?
Why the huge price discrepancy between the waverly's ($500USD) and say similar gotoh or schaller tuners ($50-90USD)?
Does anyone know of anyone out there offering very high quality tuners in the $100-200 range?

Hopefully that didn't come off sounding too much like a rant.
Just looking to see how others approach this dilemma.
Thanks,
Dan

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http://www.threepartharmony.net/category/guitar-project

You would have to pay freight from Germany, but check out Rubner Tuning Machines. I know they have Mandolin Machines, and their prices would fall in that mid range. The machines are nice too. You can have a look at their catalog on Martin's site http://www.best-eurospruce.com/index.html. Click on the Shop link, then on the Rubner Tuner link and scroll down to the bottom of the page. There, there's a link to the Rubner site. Mandolin tuners are near the back of the catalog. Somewhere on the Rubner site, there is also a price list, in Euros.

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Waddy

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Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Thanks Waddy! Wow, those look really nice!
I don't know how bad the shipping would be, but that might be just the ticket!
Anyone know if there's anyone doing anything like that here in the states?

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http://www.threepartharmony.net/category/guitar-project

The Rubners are very nice, and they are priced competitevly with Grover and Schallers (which I think have fallen in quality). I also ordered a reall nice set of Alessi's, but they are very expensive, and am saving those for a very special instrument. I really don't know why the Waverly mandolin tuners are so much more than the Waverly slotted head guitar tuners. The Waverly guitar tuners are in chrome with ivoroid buttons are $136.00. If you do the math (divide by six and multiply by 8) the mandolin tuners SHOULD be about $181, but they actually cost $500!! Something is not right. I got great service on a custom order of Rubners (ivoroid buttons) and the shipping was quick, even from Germany.

I used the Classical Tuners on my guitar, and I love them. They are a bit plainer than some, but that appealed to me.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Those Rubeners look nice, but I don't believe they make F5 (graduated shaft length) tuners. The catalogue in the link didn't work for me, so I couldn't check it though.

I’ve only used Schaller and Gotoh mandolin tuners (and some budget Grovers A-style tuners for weird things), and they are about equal in quality IMO, the Gotohs are probably more “authentic” if that matters for you. Many builders who reported about them over on Mandolin Café seemed to be happy with the “Elite” brand Stewmac was carrying for a while, I wonder if the “Golden Age” ones they now sell are the same thing? I haven’t tried them, nor Grover’s F5 tuners, but their black shafts make them look a little different.

For an F5, one thing to keep in mind is if your headstock outline is designed for the old style “gear over worm” tuners, and if so the opposite (modern) style will look funny, if they can be made to fit at all.

This isn’t really a mandolin builder forum, you should ask your question over on Mandolin Café, I bet you’d get a lot more answers.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

That may be true, Arnt. They have changed their website, and no longer post links there to the catalog. The price list works though. Those links are at the top of the page in the paragraph about the tuners, not at the bottom as I said. Sorry. I have the catalog, somewhere, printed out, but I can't put my hands on it. It may be that their Mandolin tuners are all for slot heads.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

I am about to say something that is gonna be wildly unpopular here...but here it goes:

If you do a proper job with cutting the nut....the tuners do not need to be anything special to hold it in tune. I don't think I have ever come accross a decent mid grade tuner that ever was the cause of a guitar going out of tune. On my guitars (I have about 25 in my collection of vintage pieces) I have tuners of all qualities. In general the only difference I find in tuning has to do with the gear ratio and how easy that turn. I have never seen one where the string tension allowed the gear to rotate and detune a guitar. When I purchase tuners (for playing) I use one of two brands regardless if its my vintage guitars or ones I am building. They are Grovers (rotomatics mostly) or Sperzels. The only reason I choose one over the other is function over form. The sperzels have a locking string mechanism that keeps the strings from slipping out of the shaft. I use these on guitar that I have to change strings a lot on. Its quicker and effectively allows me to not have to double wrap the smaller strings. Otherwise I use the Grovers. They turn smooth, have a nice ratio and add just a little extra mass to the end of the neck. I like that added mass which is why I choose them most often.

I have used just about every other tuner and found little difference in performance. There is no doubt some difference in quality control over the platings etc, but the gears seem to be good. I would have no trouble (if I had too) replacing any of my tuners with Gotoh's or Schallers. I prefer the look of the others I use, but functionally, I have no proplem with these brands.

So back to mandolins. I have little doubt that there will only be minor differences in improvment from the $60 tuners to those in the $100-200 range. There may be some cosmetic advantages, but most likely not mechanical.

If you do an ebay search for F5 tuners, you will see quite a few nice sets in the $50-100 range. I will be purchasing a set of "A" tuners this week for a mando I am working on...

Cheers!
Joe

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Joe

14:1 Gotoh http://cgi.ebay.com/GOTOH-MANDOLIN-F-ST ... 18Q2el1247

Grovers: http://cgi.ebay.com/Grover-Deluxe-Mando ... dZViewItem

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Joe