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.
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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