I just tuned up my 316 (it was flat, haven't played it in a while) and the only other thing I could say about it is that it tunes up rather quick. Too quick? I don't know. Quicker than the rest of my mandolins? I don't know.
I just tuned up my 316 (it was flat, haven't played it in a while) and the only other thing I could say about it is that it tunes up rather quick. Too quick? I don't know. Quicker than the rest of my mandolins? I don't know.
1983 Flatiron 1N - Pancake/Army-Navy
2011 Eastman MD-315 - F-style
Rover RM-50B - A-style
2014 Satin Cherry, Gibson USA 120th Anniversary SGJ14
Godin Guitars' Art & Lutherie "Spruce" 6-string dreadnought. Hand made in Canada.
I'm posting this in case others have this issue. I'm in agreement with Paul Hostetler and HoGo that the tuners are usually not the issue. I had this problem on my Gibson A4 2nd A string. I had Gryphon put new StewMac Golden Age tuners on it and it still had the problem. A knowledgable friend suggested that I loosen the screw and that fixed the "slop" issue where turning the peg wouldn't move the the gear immediately when tuning either up or down. I loosened it a lot and retightened it snugly and all if well. Btw, I wanted the new tuners anyway because the ones I had on this beauty A4 were not the originals and did not fit the original holes properly so I’m glad I replaced them. YMMV.
I think the problem with the base level Eastman tuners is that the worm gears don't have proper bearings. They are held in place by "C" shaped slots rather than "O" shaped bearings. Ultimately, the worm gears are held in by string tension that presses the tuning peg gear against the worm gear. Without fully supported worm gear axles, the whole mechanism is free to wobble as you turn it. This changes the gear alignment and leads to increased gear lash - i.e. tuning slop. I just got a set of Grover 409N for my new-to-me Eastman md304, so here is a picture of the old Eastman tuners on its own where you can see the C slots.
Unfortunately, the 409Ns will leave one of the old mounting holes at the top showing. So with everything off, I took some measurements of the old Eastman tuners to look for mounting hole matches. The top mounting hole on the Eastman is ~30mm from the others, which are spaced 23mm apart. The Grover 409N mounting holes don't quite match up, but the Grover Stay-Tight tuners have the extra space at the top that appears to match the Eastman screw placement. The Gotoh M120S tuners appear to be a match, but the Gotoh MA40 don't match. Unfortunately, the Stay-Tight only come in metal turning knobs and the M120S don't have exchangeable knobs like the MA40. So I will just live with the Grover 409N and try to fill and hide the hole as much as possible with a stain pen.
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