High marks for Schaller GrandTunes

My old Flatiron F-5 had a set of Golden Age tuners that have driven me crazy for the two years I’ve had it. It seemed like I was never really in tune and getting as close as I could was always a prolonged struggle. So much so that I was constantly messing with my bridge or changing strings more than necessary out of frustration. The Golden Age tuners were true buzzkills (wrong word - replacing them eliminated a sharp buzz whenever I fretted the E string at the fifth fret).

Last week I finally replaced them with a set of Schaller GrandTunes, and they are truly superb. They have completely transformed my instrument by making smooth tuning easy and by staying — really staying — in tune. They don’t creep at all, for days, it seems. The action is super velvety smooth and identical on all buttons.

NFI here. I paid full freight at Luthier’s Mercantile. I’ve never used a set of the modern Waverlys that are considered by many to be the benchmark or the gorgeous Alessis, so I’m unable to compare, but if they’re functionally better than the GrandTunes I’d be amazed. And the GrandTunes are about $150 compared to $550 for the Waverlys, so there’s that.

I’ve had Grovers, older Schallers, vintage Waverlys on old Gibsons, Klusons, and the Golden Ages previously mentioned. There is absolutely no comparison between any of these and the Schallers.

On the downside for many potential users might be the fact that these do not adhere to a strict vintage or traditional look. No fancy engraving and the trademark S on the cogs might offend some. Also, buttons are not replaceable by screwing new ones on and not many choices of material. What they do have is a fit and finish so excellent that I was surprised by how gemlike they were when I opened the box. The gears look like they were made to aerospace specifications. Interestingly, they seem to have very little backlash. The humidity blew up here in Vermont and when the top swelled and raised the string pitches the ones I dropped into tune pretty much stayed there.

True quality. If you’re looking for tuners, don’t leave these off your list. I had no idea a set of tuners could make such a colossal difference. Oliver Apitius wrote about these here. He seems equally smitten. These are the tuners on the Aaron Weinstein Yorkville jazz mandolin Mr. Apitius built for him. Aaron seems likewise as pleased with them as he is with the rest of that stunning build.

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Sorry the pictures aren’t loading vertically, for some reason the site is forcing them to load sideways. As a consolation, here’s a picture of little Pokey, AKA The Snow Goat, AAKA The Ice Weasel, just because she’s a sweetheart.

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Thanks for posting your review. Especially like Pokey.

I thought Schaller Grand Tuners were reverse tuners. Do they do them in 'normal turn' as well?

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Originally Posted by jimmy powells

I thought Schaller Grand Tuners were reverse tuners. Do they do them in 'normal turn' as well?

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Yes. I have a set I put on my Eastman mandocello to replace the ugly (but functional) OEM tuners. All the metal hardware on the 'cello was gold (except the tuners) and they had pearloid buttons which just scream cheap ass to me. So I bought a set of Schaller Grand Tune f-style gold tuners with ebony buttons. They work great and look better.

My Martin HD-28 came supplied with Schaller Grand Tune's. Work great and all, but they had chrome buttons. As stated earlier, buttons are glued on and not necessarily est to swap. So I bought a set of Waverly's during Stew Mac's big sale with nickel finish and ebony knobs. Then I got skittish about pressing out the old Schaller bushings, reaming the headstock and pressing in new Waverly bushings. So I bought a set of Schaller Grand Tune's with snake wood buttons that dropped right in and match the headstock wood better. They also work flawlessly.

Normal CCW to raise pitch, CW to lower on every set of Schaller's I've had. You can order them backwards if you want.

I agree. I just installed Schallers on my Red Diamond. They are smoother than the Waverly's I had on for a little bit. I ordered directly from Schaller in Germany and received them in just a couple weeks.

I've been severely tempted by these tuners as a replacement for my 2002 F-9's Schallers. The only reason I've held off is that I read lots about proper installation including proper spacing and also setting the bushings properly, both operations which I do not have proper tools for.

The old ca 2002 Schallers had one tuner button shaft replaced previous to my ownership, with a longer-than-normal shaft, but other than that they are working well enough. But personally I tend to drool over this upgrade.

To the OP, could you describe the installation process that was required on your Flatiron? TIA.

My mate Rab swears by them.
He wrote to Schaller requesting some tuner bits and pieces for a restoration he was doing and they were very helpful.

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Originally Posted by jimmy powells

I thought Schaller Grand Tuners were reverse tuners. Do they do them in 'normal turn' as well?

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From what I understand, Schaller seems to call them the wrong thing. They are standard tuners. Check the gear direction in the pictures and compare to your current tuners. I read complaints about Schaller using what some say is a European nomenclature that has it turned around.

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Originally Posted by dhergert

To the OP, could you describe the installation process that was required on your Flatiron? TIA.

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The post spacing is standard at 23 mm, so they’ll fit. On my Flatiron there were unfilled screw holes from the original Grovers under the additional holes for the Golden Ages. They had to be filled as did the holes from the Golden Age, which uses much larger screws. The other modification was a slight enlargement of the bushing holes to the Schaller outer diameter, which is a tiny bit wider.

But since you have Schallers, I would recommend going to their website and looking up the drawings of your existing tuners and the Grandtunes. The drawings with the dimensions are all on the product pages for each tuner. Maybe they’ll turn out to be the same and you can just swap them easily. I would have done that, but since the bushings needed to be accommodated and new screw holes pilot drilled I found a local luthier. He did it while I walked the Ice Weasel for an hour. Truly worth it.

Left out of my original post that I have Rubners on an A-5. They’re great, but the GrandTunes blow them away hands down.

Their Preceding tuners worked fine, I have several A & 1 F tuner of theirs..

99% of perceived tuners failures are failures in setup or their installation. I've seen some very expensive mandolins with badly damaged tuners because of bad installation. These new tuners like Waverlies and Schaller GT's are a bit more rugged so they will probalbly take longer to show damage. Not that it is case of OP, but foks often swap tuners unnecessarily. Things like slipping tuners etc. are red herring.

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Originally Posted by HoGo

99% of perceived tuners failures are failures in setup or their installation. I've seen some very expensive mandolins with badly damaged tuners because of bad installation. These new tuners like Waverlies and Schaller GT's are a bit more rugged so they will probalbly take longer to show damage. Not that it is case of OP, but foks often swap tuners unnecessarily. Things like slipping tuners etc. are red herring.

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Agreed. But not in this case. The previous tuners were determined to be faulty by an extremely trustworthy am experienced luthier.

I got a set. I think their nice but like every other Schaller product the bushings are their own weird size unlike any other.

Stew Mac Sells the Grommet bushings that are more traditional.. It's what the Waverly kit includes , I believe..
so using the Schaller ones is Optional ..

I went with the grommet style bushings for a while until it dawned on me that modern bushings are a huge improvement over the old timey ones. They were more decoration than anything else. I think I still have a bag of them.

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Originally Posted by Brian B

Oliver Apitius wrote about these here. He seems equally smitten. These are the tuners on the Aaron Weinstein Yorkville jazz mandolin Mr. Apitius built for him. Aaron seems likewise as pleased with them as he is with the rest of that stunning build.

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Oliver posted this the other day, and it seemed relevant to this discussion. This happens to be my new Apitius Rosine Loar Spec, and I requested the gallalith ivoroid buttons on the Grandtunes because I prefer them to pearloid. My last mando had GT tuners, and I was exceedingly pleased with their precision. I don't want to put words in his mouth, but I think it speaks for itself that GTs are his preferred tuners. Otherwise, I would have gone with Waverlys to complete the Loar era vibe.

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Originally Posted by Jim Hilburn

I got a set. I think their nice but like every other Schaller product the bushings are their own weird size unlike any other.

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I've replaced a few sets of tuners on mandolins, guitars, etc. I've used Waverly, Schaller, Gotoh, Grover, Rubner.....

I've found in most cases every mfr is a little different. Waverly roller shafts are bigger than most others, requiring you to use Waverly bushings and sometimes drill out the roller holes on the headstock. Everyone uses slightly different size bushings (not just Schaller). If you want a good fit you have to drill, fill, buildup, etc. I don't think I ever changed one brand of tuning machines with another and found they were drop in replacements, especially when it came to the mounting screw holes on the back.

Anyone know if the Grandtunes would/could be a good choice for an Eastman 305? I didn't want to stick a lot of money in a mando that I would/could grow out of in the future, with the stock tuners being sort of/kind of/maybe ok?? Oh, you know, the thing.

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Originally Posted by Frankie D

Anyone know if the Grandtunes would/could be a good choice for an Eastman 305? I didn't want to stick a lot of money in a mando that I would/could grow out of in the future, with the stock tuners being sort of/kind of/maybe ok?? Oh, you know, the thing.

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I wouldn't recommend them for that application. For the price of the Grandtunes and a pro install (it would require considerable redrilling) you could just move up to the Eastman 505 and get a far better return on investment (plus a hardcase for that matter). I think Grandtunes are better suited to a higher end new build than trying to improve a lower end instrument with limitations to improvement.

And,.. higher end tuners Really put a premium on the peg head hole spacing accuracy ..

Bought a Mix A5 , prior owner fitted Waverly tuners.. but , undisclosed, the seller force fit them in, in spite of the spacing not being spot on .
Damaged the tuners .. one of the A wouldn't turn at all , so I removed them and fit one of Stew Mac's regular tuners .. 'the Elite'

It tolerated the slight mismatch, just fine , I've been continuing to use them, satisfactorily, for many years ..

Have the Schaller Grand on my Coombe. They are the smoothest I've tried. Best compliment I can give is I use them and then don't think about them again.