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Thread: Handel buttons on Stewmac Repro tuners?

  1. #1

    Default Handel buttons on Stewmac Repro tuners?

    Does anyone know if Handel mandolin buttons fit on the Stewmac Repro tuners. I have a set of Handels on appro which are not the best in certain ways so may consider the Handels on the Stewmacs. Don't want to start taking them off as the tuners are not mine yet.

  2. #2
    Registered User William Smith's Avatar
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    Default Re: Handel buttons on Stewmac Repro tuners?

    Well if they are old Handels-that are glued on original shafts-I doubt they'll come off in one piece? Now there were bowlbacks with handel buttons and they are drilled through but not real easy to get the metal shaft out-it can be done with serious patience as I have a set! There were repros made by Mike Blome-maybe thats the name and at the Ellis precision pearl shop and they will screw on to new Waverly or Golden Age tuners!

  3. #3

    Default Re: Handel buttons on Stewmac Repro tuners?

    Hi William. Jimmy here (same guy here in UK as communicated re your Gold tailpiece). I have a new set of Mike Blohm ones but the Handel ones, without the screw on the end, and also the general look, appealed more. Many years ago I took some Handel buttons off an F4 with warm/hot water and patience.
    I don't know if all the old Handels were glued or just gently pushed on.

    Thanks for your help.

    Jimmy

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    Registered User William Smith's Avatar
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    Default Re: Handel buttons on Stewmac Repro tuners?

    Huh I thought the Mike B. handel replicas were drilled all the way through? I got a set of those from a guy that came on an Altman F-5 with Waverly tuners, and he sold me the buttons. I bet you could clamp them carefully and drill them out completely but remember the Waverly tuners-have square button shafts! Some older tuners have round shafts.

  6. #5

    Default Re: Handel buttons on Stewmac Repro tuners?

    I think you misunderstood Will. I was saying that the Handel ones are the ones withut the screw on the end. Yes the Blohm have a hole all the way through.

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    coprolite mandroid's Avatar
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    Question Re: Handel buttons on Stewmac Repro tuners?

    F mandolin tuners as I've observed, often had the screw on the end ..
    Already big ticket item, adding those Blohm replica buttons would be icing on the cake .

    Not using screws? you could fill the hole with MOP position edge dot material, perhaps (?)


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  9. #7

    Default Re: Handel buttons on Stewmac Repro tuners?

    Hi Mandroid. Yes I've just ordered some 2.5mm pearl dots and going to put them in the holes, one way or another. I took the Stewmac screws out and it looks better already. When the holes are filled with pearl, it will finish it off. Thanks.Jimmy

  10. #8
    Registered User j. condino's Avatar
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    Default Re: Handel buttons on Stewmac Repro tuners?

    All that work for a set of handmade buttons and you are going to put them on a $60 set of Chinese made machines????????????????????????

    French polishing a turd........
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    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Handel buttons on Stewmac Repro tuners?

    Quote Originally Posted by j. condino View Post
    All that work for a set of handmade buttons and you are going to put them on a $60 set of Chinese made machines????????????????????????

    French polishing a turd........
    Don't sugar-coat it James, tell him how you really feel
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
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  14. #10
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    Default Re: Handel buttons on Stewmac Repro tuners?

    Quote Originally Posted by MikeEdgerton View Post
    Don't sugar-coat it James, tell him how you really feel
    Am sitting here......totally cracking up.

  15. #11

    Default Re: Handel buttons on Stewmac Repro tuners?

    So Mr Condino would want to use old Gibson tuners which are well and truly shot??????????

    Stewmac tuners, made for pre 1924 (when the string spacing changed) Gibson style mandolins are ideal and they work.

    End of story.

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    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Handel buttons on Stewmac Repro tuners?

    You have the MOP dots for the buttons, but what about the little silver wire filigree?

    To me, Handel tuners have always epitomized the difference between yesterday's painstaking, affordable skilled hand-labor, and the realities of current production requirements. I mean, what is the utility of having hand-inlaid tuner buttons on your mandolin? I look at the incredibly intricate ornamentation on some century-plus-vintage mandolins, and then realize that someone was bent over a workbench or table for a couple days or more, preparing and installing it. Seems incredible.

    Good luck fabricating the tuners; hope you haven't taken on too much to handel...
    Allen Hopkins
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  17. #13
    Registered User j. condino's Avatar
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    Default Re: Handel buttons on Stewmac Repro tuners?

    Schaller Grand Tune, Rubner, Waverly, Alessi - those are all great machines and worthy of the effort.

    Stew Mac Chinese made reproductions- mediocre at best. In five months you'll have another thread titled "Why do my $60 tuners suck?".....
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    www.condino.com

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  18. #14

    Default Re: Handel buttons on Stewmac Repro tuners?

    I've been handling, playing, buying and selling mandolins for 50 years and know all these names. Pre 1924 the spacings were different so the modern ones don't fit this teens Gibson F4. Simple as that.

  19. #15
    coprolite mandroid's Avatar
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    Question Re: Handel buttons on Stewmac Repro tuners?

    They may Use Taiwan companies . many do.. high quality manufacturing capabilities..

    Taiwan, ROC, is still as separate independent country .. Not yet absorbed by The PRC..

    … if you have accurately measured post spacing dimensions, compare those numbers with what Stew Mac offers on their site,
    they supply dimensioned drawings 'aka blueprints', they may have a replica spaced set for that purpose...

    https://www.stewmac.com/parts-and-ha...-mandolin.html



    writing about music
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    about architecture

  20. #16

    Default Re: Handel buttons on Stewmac Repro tuners?

    I just wanted to know if Handel buttons fit Stewmac Golden Age repros. Never got the answer and the thread goes off on to other aspects. Anyway I'm fitting a set of Mike Blohm repros on the Stewmac tuners but putting pearl dots in the outside screw holes. Handel tuning buttons are no different to many other cosmetic fancies in musical instruments. Some people think they are artisticly beautiful and others can't see the point. Same applies to the F style body scroll. It doesn't change the sound but it's just a shape that many people like.

    Hope this ends the thread.

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