Upgrade Tuners on Eastman MD3xx Series Mandos

Looking to upgrade the tuners on both my Eastman mandos; MD305 and MD314..

Any MD300 Series owners who have done it. Any recommendations?

Would prefer drop-in replacements to avoid headstock modifications, but willing to do so for higher quality (not Waverly priced) sets.

I put 309 Grovers on a 315 which required one new hole on each side. Don't know what the difference is with the new 409 tuners.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bob Buckingham

I put 309 Grovers on a 315 which required one new hole on each side. Don't know what the difference is with the new 409 tuners.

---

Thanks. A new screw hole is easy enough. Are the Grovers a noted improvement?

I recently changed the tuners on a relatively new 315 to Grover 409s. Only 3 of the original 5 screw holes on each side aligned with the holes in the plate of the new tuners. The holes nearest the scroll/distal end of the headstock were close, but not close enough to get the screws in without angling them. The 2 holes nearest the nut were not even close, and were not even completely covered by the shorter plate of the new tuners. I filled the 4 holes with toothpicks and redrilled. The 2 filled holes nearest the nut are barely visible at the edge of the plate. The 409s are much smoother than the stock tuners.

Attachment 206644

I installed the 409s in my 515 a few months ago.

http://https://www.mandolincafe.com/...style-Mandolin

I have remained impressed with them. The greater ratio allows for much easier tuning.