Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi folks.
I'm sure its been asked before and I've had a quick look in the forums.
I'm looking for feedback about classical guitar machine heads.
All of the guitars I've made so far have been fitted with friction pegs.
I'm looking for mid price range tuners for my classicals
I'm looking at schaller, fustero and Rubner, but open to suggestion.

Part of why I'm looking at some machines is branding. Its a foible but I'm human
Part of why I'm not looking at 15 dollar machine heads is that I have this irrational concept in my head that cheap means crap and perhaps i need to be talked back down to earth.

So what are other people's opinions?
Are fancy brand name mojos worth the extra cash?
What about durability, backlash, smoothness of operation, etc., performance in genreal?
Does attractiveness play a role in your selection criteria? (thats machine heads guys, not beer cars or girls)
All things considered, what sells it for you?

Waverlyey, sloane, fustero, gotoh....
What do you like or use and why?

Cheers,
Claire

Are Sloan and Gilbert "midrange"? I like the action better on Gilbert, but the look is non-traditional, which bothers some folks. I once bought a set of the high-end Gotohs, and promptly returned them when I found out how much backlash they have. If $40-50 is mid range, then Schallers, which can be improved by pinning the plastic roller to the inner metal shaft.

What I have personally settled on is Sloane for people who like traditional, and Gilbert if that doesn't matter.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

I agree with Howard, Schallers in the $40 to $50 and Sloane for traditional and but a little more expensive

Sloanes and Gilberts are both very good machines if you don't mind being in the $200 range. I am very happy with the Rubner Machines I put on my guitar. They are very well made, very smooth, and nice looking. They are, however, a little harder to get. You can buy them directly from Rubner, but I also believe Martin at www.best-eurospruce carries them too.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

I'll throw a vote for Gotohs .. not that expensive, and the gearing is excellent - better than Schallers IMO. One of my students put a more expensive set (35xxxxx) on his project, but they are a good as any others I have touched. Lovely faux black onyx buttons too ... they looked sweet.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

I use the Gotohs as well if trying to keep the cost down. My last customer wanted Sloans so I put those on and was very impressed with them. I think in classical guitar machines you get what you pay for.

For the $50-$75 range, I prefer the Gotoh over Schaller and Rubner. They turn smoother. If you type "classical tuners" into ebay's search engine, you will get a lot of listings from Sam in Taiwan for tuners for $20, and the ones I have seen are not bad. If the Gotoh option was not there, I'd prefer those to Schallers.

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Ken Whisler, guitarist and luthier

I like the hand-engraved Fustero tuners, they just look so Spanish, LMI carry them as do Madinter, I also like Rubner tuners small family business I get mine from David Dyke or Martin Gruhl at Eurospruce, great value for a small production tuner.

Here's some of the Fustero:



Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

You're pretty much right that cheap means crap.

Schallers are okay for $50.

Sloans are good for the money (but I have not tried the new more premium waverly ones yet).

I've used Gilbert as well. Sometimes they can look cool, depending on the guitar. They function nicely.

The Gotoh premiums are pretty good, but with the Schallers and Sloans they have stamped plates, which look a little cheesy. I'd probably go with Sloan over these.

I use Fusteros quite a bit and I really like their style (hand engraved, etc) and the rollers are quite hard compared to many makes, which is nice - and have a brass bushing to prevent slippage (a problem with the Schallers). They function well and I use them as my "standard". I would Suggest Ron Fernandez or Madinter for a source.

Graf are excellent tuners. Beautiful machines, fairly reasonable priced (compared to Rodgers... and you can get a discount getting a couple sets at once) and the functionality is great. Very smooth and well made machines.

Alessi are also great machines. Top of the line, like the Graf and Rodgers. Great styles, perfect functionality. Alessi are probably my favorites, but the Graf are just as good and more accessible.

I default to Fustero, then offer Graf or Alessi as an upgrade. Sometimes a player will ask for Sloan or Gilbert. But for a Spanish-style guitar, I think Fustero is the best place to start for style/funtionality/price.

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Instagram: @jfrenchluthier
Web: https://www.jfrenchguitars.com/

All the advice is good. I'll just add that for mid-range price, the Gotoh's are very nice machines. My last build used the Gotoh premium's but I didn't find them to be "better" than the mid range machines that they offer.

To get better than these, then you need to go with the Fustero, Sloan, Graf, Allessi, etc.

I would also offer that you should choose machines which are in line with the grade of instrument that you are offering. Top of the line guitar gets top of the line tuners, but it doesn't make any sense to put Fustero orAllessi tuners on a mid range guitar.

It is nice that the standardized dimensions of the barrel and their spacing make it easy to upgrade in the future. Whatever you choose, stick with standard size machines for future concerns.

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

I love the Grafs !!
The look of the Gilberts may turn some away until they try them!!!
They are great tuners !!
Sloanes are only available in 2 models now !
I think!
I apply a automotive whitelube(stick) to my tuner holes to help with any binding(and a never need to be lubed again) -even though I redrill every hole !

Gotohs are great for the price !
Just my 2 cents!

Mike

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Mike Collins