Official Luthiers Forum!

Owned and operated by Lance Kragenbrink
It is currently Fri Jul 18, 2025 1:04 pm


All times are UTC - 5 hours


Forum rules


Be nice, no cussin and enjoy!




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 7 posts ] 
Author Message
PostPosted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 11:56 am 
While in the midst of a rehab on an older parlor guitar I have run into a jam trying to find replacement tuners for this little box. The original engraved 3 on a plate tuners have decayed and are long gone; no to mention the knobs are either missing or have really shrunken.

The post spacing is narrower than the 1-3/8" size found commonly on the Waverlys and less expensive 3 on a plate models. I thought the single butter-bean Grovers would be a close enough replacement, but they don't quite fit together with the screw and plate material over lapping where the tuners meet.

I guess I'm looking for anyone who has any suggestions of other similar looking/similar vintage tuners (open worm gear, slot head tuners) that would wortk out for these little guitars. Likely I will end up trying to file away the edges of the Grovers beyond the screw mounts, but first I wanted to check in to see if any of the repair gurus might have any ideas. Thanks.


Top
  
 
PostPosted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 5:25 pm 
Offline
Koa
Koa

Joined: Mon Jul 02, 2007 1:22 pm
Posts: 766
-


Last edited by TonyFrancis on Mon Dec 02, 2013 10:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sat Oct 11, 2008 1:03 am 
Offline
Koa
Koa

Joined: Mon Jul 02, 2007 1:22 pm
Posts: 766
-


Last edited by TonyFrancis on Mon Dec 02, 2013 10:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 1:18 pm 
Alright here are a few images of said tuners. Sorry for the delay in getting these posted, I had a few techinical difficulties.


You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.


Top
  
 
PostPosted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 2:58 pm 
Offline
Koa
Koa

Joined: Mon Jul 02, 2007 1:22 pm
Posts: 766
-


Last edited by TonyFrancis on Mon Dec 02, 2013 10:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 3:28 pm 
Tony, thanks for the tips.

I've seen the National replacements which look to be great tuners and are less than half the cost of the 3.o.a.p. Waves. The problem with these is the 1-3/8" post spacing.

The tuners in my images have a post spacing that is closer to 1-1/4". Some other parlor instruments I've seen from the 19th century also have a narrower spacing.

I think I may go back to the drawing board and try to modify some of the single 18:1 Grovers.


Top
  
 
PostPosted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 8:01 am 
Offline
Contributing Member
Contributing Member

Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2008 9:51 pm
Posts: 1134
Location: Albany NY
First name: David
Last Name: LaPlante
Status: Professional
Gee, these tuners look totally usable to me......the buttons look like bone so it would be relatively easy to make a replacement for the one that's missing. You'll need to file a square shaft hole into it and carefully remove the little brass collar at the end of the shaft to fit it on with a little dab of epoxy.
Lubrication and solvent (liquid wrench) will help free up the parts.
The worst case scenario (beyond missing parts which does not seem to be your problem) is the crown gears and worms being worn to the point that they "skip" under tension.
With the old style tuners that have the worms on the nut side of the gears you can ream out the plates slightly where the roller shaft passes through so that the string tension will pull the crown gear more tightly against the worm and make up for the wear.
Indeed you can retro fit and trim a modern set of single side mount gears to work with the narrow spacing but they simply never look right (to me anyway) on an antique guitar.
Collecting, stockpiling and rehabbing old tuners goes hand in hand with the repair and restoration of vintage guitars.


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 7 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 5 hours


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 19 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
phpBB customization services by 2by2host.com