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I'm shopping for tuners for my first two builds which will hopefully be finished within a couple months (I go slow.) Since these are my first guitars, and will potentially be give-aways to friends or closet-fillers, Waverly's are likely out of the question.

Here's what I'd like:
- Nickel finish, or gold for a reasonable price
- open back gears
- individual tuners, not 3-on-a-plate
- same hole pattern as Waverly's so I at least have the option of upgrading
- for a slotted headstock

I've scoured a few threads, and it seems like the ideal would be a Gotoh, open-back, nickel-plated tuner for slot-head guitars... Though I can't find such a thing (at least not at Stewmac, LMI, or Allparts).

I've narrowed it down to the nickel Grovers, which don't have the same hole pattern as Waverly... Or the gold Gotoh's that LMI sells, which are sealed. But I want to make sure that I'm not overlooking a source that has everything I want before I make the purchase.

Any suggestions? No single one of my requirements are set in stone (except the slot head). Am I correct about the Waverly hole pattern thing?

Thanks.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

Jon,
Whatever you do don't buy Grover sta-tites. I'm in the process of returning 2 sets to them. They are having big time problems with them.
Gotoh sounds like a better choice.
Good Luck, Walter

[QUOTE=WalterK] Jon,
Whatever you do don't buy Grover sta-tites. I'm in the process of returning 2 sets to them. They are having big time problems with them.
Gotoh sounds like a better choice.
Good Luck, Walter[/QUOTE]

Did you get the gold though? It sounded like the nickel ones were fine.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

I just put on a set of open back nickel grovers. (Sta tites) One already
broke!!! I am sick of Grovers. I put a 3 on plate set of waverly's on and it
covered all of the holes. But they are not cheap

Andy

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

My problem right now is I have a number of waverly sets in stock and am not happy with the gold ones (I have had problems with over 50% of the sets I've used) and am now hearing bad things about the Nickle ones although I myself have not had problems yet. I think the idea of seeing if Stew Mac will take returns on the Grovers towards Waverlies might be a good idea.

Does Gotoh have a company website where I can view their entire product line? I couldn't find one via Google. Or is the Hosco page their official site?

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

[QUOTE=arvey] My problem right now is I have a number of waverly sets in stock and am not happy with the gold ones (I have had problems with over 50% of the sets I've used)[/QUOTE]

Did you mean you had problems with a number of Grover gold sets, or or you really having trouble with Waverlys?

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

I think Hank mentioned that All Parts sells the Gotoh tuners.

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Joe Breault
Merrimack, NH
Perpetual novice

[QUOTE=JBreault] I think Hank mentioned that All Parts sells the Gotoh tuners.[/QUOTE]

I don't think they have the slot-head version, though, at least not that I could find.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

[QUOTE=letseatpaste] [QUOTE=JBreault] I think Hank mentioned that All Parts sells the Gotoh tuners.[/QUOTE]

I don't think they have the slot-head version, though, at least not that I could find.[/QUOTE]

In a word...GOTOH!!!!!!
Check ALLParts item #TK-7810-002. It's the gold open back slot head individual 3&3 tuner on their page
[URL=http://www.allparts.com/categories.php?cat_id=461&cat_name=3%20x%203%20TUNING%20KEYS]

Retail is $85, wholesale to a business is 50% of that.

Look just above that at item TK 7810-001...no photo but I'll bet it's the nickel equivalent.

Price is $75, same discount as stated above.

If they won't deal with you on the discount level, let me know and I'll get them for you.

Perfect, thanks... I had made the mistake of searching the page for "slot" and "slotted."

I'm sure I'm not considered a business, I'm just a hobby builder, no sales tax # or anything, so I wouldn't feel bad paying retail. But if you want to get some and then sell them to me at a discount... I had PM'd you a couple months ago about ordering some redwood anyway, I think you were pretty busy with something else at the time and I never got back to you.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

Jon,
Mine were Gold finish, but others have had problems with the nickel finish Sta-Tites.

Walter

[QUOTE=Arnt] [QUOTE=arvey] My problem right now is I have a number of waverly sets in stock and am not happy with the gold ones (I have had problems with over 50% of the sets I've used)[/QUOTE]

Did you mean you had problems with a number of Grover gold sets, or or you really having trouble with Waverlys? [/QUOTE]

Once again my Dyslexia kiks in...Had problems with Grovers not waverlys

[QUOTE=letseatpaste] Perfect, thanks... I had made the mistake of searching the page for "slot" and "slotted."

I'm sure I'm not considered a business, I'm just a hobby builder, no sales tax # or anything, so I wouldn't feel bad paying retail. But if you want to get some and then sell them to me at a discount... I had PM'd you a couple months ago about ordering some redwood anyway, I think you were pretty busy with something else at the time and I never got back to you.[/QUOTE]

Give ALLParts a call and try them on for size. Tell them your a budding luthier and give them your business name. Can't hurt...it's an 800 telephone number and the worst they can say is "No". And they are still making a good profit, even at the discount price. I know because I have bought the same tuners, in quantity, direct from Gotoh.
As for the redwood, what do you need/want?

Allparts is located not too far from where I live, and I even know one of the folks who works there. I asked if they give a discount to luthiers. The reply was that if I sent them a copy of my resale permit, sure. Gotta get one of them things soon . . .

As for tuners -- Schaller makes tuners for slot head SS guitars. 3-on-a-plate, though. But there's no questioning their quality. I've had nothing but good experiences with them.

Best,

Michael

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Live to Play, Play to Live

Schaller has a different size shaft though if someone wants to upgrade to Waverlys in the future.

I wrote an article about tuners for slot head guitars that's in American Lutherie number 79. It's primarily about the aesthetic qualities of the various tuners available, with a short section on the mechanical qualities (which was by no means an exhaustive study, e.g. I didn't comment on the problems with the Grovers, as I was unaware of them at the time). Anyway, you might find the article helpful. I discuss some tuners you may not be aware of. I also list sources, though it sounds like you've got that figured out, as far as the Gotohs are concerned.

Personally, I'm very picky about details, and I'm not very pleased with the look of the Gotohs. I think they look cheap, for a couple of reasons. By all accounts, though, they appear to be well designed and made with regard to how well they work. Unless you share my opinion of their looks, you'd probably be perfectly happy with them.   

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Thanks for the tip, Todd... I'm going to go look at your article while I'm home on lunch break today. Smaller bodied 12-fret guitars is what I'm concentrating on as I begin building, so I'm really interested in what's available for slotted headstocks.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

My only experience with Gotoh's is the top of the line classical set I bought
from LMI (the $165 or so ones) and returned to them unused when I felt and
saw the amount of backlash.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

No luck on getting Allparts to sell wholesale to me since I don't have a resale permit, which is understandable.

Are there any other sources that will sell Gotoh tuners with the different button options, without having to buy the buttons separately?

I'm not yet finished reading Todd's article in American Lutherie... Very detailed exhaustive review.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR