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I'm about to put together an order to Stewmac, and thought I'd ask some advice....

Are the Gotoh Large Schaller style tuners interchangeable with the Gotoh 510's (midsize, not mini)? I really like the Gotoh 510's, but on my first instruments which could end up being wall-hangings or closet dwellers, the less expensive ones should be good enough. If the guitar turns out to be a killer, then I could switch up to the 510's without drilling any new holes. The only real size difference I can find is that the "Schaller-style" has a .390 diameter and the 510's show a .396, which I assume would mean they would fit a little more snugly into the same hole. Seems like it would work, just thought I'd see if anyone has not had good luck doing this sort of thing.

Related question, does anyone have any experience with the rear peghole reamer for installing this style of tuner?

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

Jonathan: When using enclosed tuners I like to have a push fit with my thumb.Having said that if the 510's were to be used in these holes they would have to be enlarged.It sure seems strange that they would not make the tuners the same size. I guess my only point is don't try to push the larger tuner into the hole that fits the smaller one. Split head plate I would think.As to the reamer,if you use a tapered reamer you can get a fit but only on a short area on one end.On second thought the sleeve may have a slight taper to it due to manufacturing process. Don't have any here to measure. One more point, not sure about screw holes.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

I have a feeling it's a typo in the Stewmac specs for the Gotoh 510's. I just noticed that they list the diameter as .396 (10.06mm) and also the height of that section as .396 (10.06mm). I'm guessing they copied the text of the dimension and forgot to change it. I looked it up in Gotoh's catalog and they show the diameter as 10mm. It wouldn't make sense for them to be just slightly oversized from everyone else in this one product line. I have used 510's as a drop-in replacement for Pings on a Larrivee and it worked fine.


Screwhole arrangement should be the same, they were showing 11mm on both from center of post to center of screw.

I don't think that rear peghole reamer is tapered, should be a straight 10mm hole. It uses a 5/16" pilot hole and creates a stepped hole so the upper part of the tuner post is better supported.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

Jonathan: I got your post wrong and thought you meant a tail pin reamer. Old brain and not enough coffee today. Also OK on the sleeve size,maybe the draftsmen had a bad day like myself. Take care.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!