Official Luthiers Forum!

Yep, I emailed them and they told me that's the shipping weight although it looks like the Waverlys are the tuner weight. And they confirmed about 27g per tuner.

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http://www.chassonguitars.com

I like the look, but I'm not sure about the way you are forced into using a .400" hole all the way through the headstock due to the flange on the back of the tuner, which does not allow additional support for the post. I have gotten use to the full support you get with the Waverly's and Grover Sta-Tites using the SM bushing reamer. Does that bother anyone else?

It may be that with the flange and bushing that the post does have almost full support along its length, so this may be a moot point.

You can also just make your holes stepped if you know your using these so that it also surrounds the post/flange in the same manner as if it didn't have that.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

You could counterbore both sides of a 6mm hole, if you found or made a 6mm pin for alignment (like the end of a broken 6mm bit).

Not sure how much the wood support really matters. A Waverly shaft is .249, so in theory has .001 clearance. I'd think that if it really was getting much support from the wood, there would be friction issues. Also, the Schertler bushing's interior is 6.15mm/.242". Seems you would want the central part of the hole to be that size or larger so the shaft bears on the bushing. So would there be any disadvantage in just drilling it 1/4"? Then it would be easy to find an alignment pin for counterboring.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

I got in my set today. Put them on a spec guitar I'm finishing up. They look really nice to me. Are very smooth. I'll know tomorrow how they feel under tension/tuning.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

So I strung up a Mahogany L-00 size guitar with these tuners. I have another guitar of the same size here in the shop with some Waverlys on it. comparing the two the Schertlers are smoother by a very large margin. I don't know if that is because of the slightly larger tuning knob, or the tuner itself, but the difference is very noticeable. The tuners work great, I like the look, and like I mentioned they are very smooth and accurate. Less slop than the Waverly tuners as well. I recommend them if you like the look. I got the "Metallic" ones which is like Gotoh's Cosmic black... like a combination of black and nickel. I like it. Still would like something nickel plated.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

John, I hope we see some pics of the spec guitar you put these on soon, and thanks for the review. I think I'll try them on one of my next builds.

Andrew Nelson

pics I took before I strung it up.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

You know, seeing them on a guitar like that changed my mind about their look; I think I'm a fan now.

Thanks for posting the pics, John!

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Finally escaped The Peoples' Republik of Massachusetts; I can smell the freedom in the air!

As a follow up. Took some "real" pictures of this guitar today. Tuners are still performing awesome. I love them.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

The buttons look really big in the pictures. Do they seem close together when tuning? (I'm assumeing they're spaced "normal")

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

They are bigger than Waverly buttons. But they look "normal" to me. They feel no different in terms of closeness while tuning.

When it's all said and done they feel vastly better than Waverly's. No backlash or slop (waverlys tend to be spotty in this area a bit) and they turn A LOT smoother than the Waverlys. They feel about the same smoothness as a Gotoh 510 full size tuner with the funny buttons, which is to say... very smooth!

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

Those look fantastic! Plus, if they're good enough for Claudio Pagelli, and you, John, they're good enough for me! I will try these on my next project.

Thanks for the heads-up.

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

I finally put the Shertlers on two builds, one "metallic" set and one "satin chrome" set. While functionality is good, but no better than Waverlies IMO, I am disappointed by the finish.
I didn't look very closely when I received the sets, but the edges of the bushings are a bit rough, the metallic finish overall is not great, and the ebony buttons show sanding scratches under the buffing (as a side note the grain orientation is opposite than on Waverlies, the shaft is parallel to the end grain). While it's possible to take the buttons off and sand and re-buff them, nothing can be done about the metal as it is either anodised or plated.
I will return the four remaining sets I have, I think at this price point the finish should at least be equal to Gotoh, and preferably Waverlies.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

Interesting. Mine had none of those issues. The grain was running with the shaft though like you mentioned which I'll be watching. But no scratch marks, or rough finish.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

I just saw these in the new StewMac catalouge for the first time the other day. My first thought was like Laurents' in that they looked like Alessi tuners. Was thinking about giving them a try but what threw me was the smaller shafts. Not a problem other that my fixtures have 1/4" bushings. Thanks for your reviews.

Laurent was the finish problem only on the nickel plating? Or was it on the matte black also?

Tim

Laurent, thanks for the reminder. I'd been meaning to email the company and Stew-Mac about the grain direction on the buttons. I loved the set I used but would sure feel better if the grain was going the other way.

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http://www.chassonguitars.com

The rough finish is more obvious on the matte chrome, but the metallic (sort of a translucent black finish) could be better.
The marks on the buttons look more like mill marks perhaps, in any case it could be much better. It's ebony, so it's only obvious with some light angles. Enough to bother me, and in any case no match for the level of finish on Waverlies.
I have 6 sets here, all exhibit the same workmanship.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

I've not seen the satin ones. Only the Metallic ones. I still have one set here. I checked it over really well and found nothing wrong with the finish or metal, but I did see some mill marks on the buttons as mentioned if I raked them in the right light.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

John:

I bought three sets after the last discussion on these tuners. They look very classy to me and while I haven't got a set on a guitar yet, they seem a step up from the Schallers, Grovers, and Gotahs I have used in the past.

Danny R. Little

John:

I also should note, I was a bit disappointed in Stew Mac for not allowing me to mix the finishes to get a discount. I had to buy all three in a single finish. It would have been nice to show a customer the three options and I can't imagine the supplier imposing such a restriction. It is a little thing, but.... still..... Something I will mention in my next survey.


Danny R. Little

It has been a while since this thread started and I was wondering how they are holding up after a little use. I need a set of tuners and am getting away from the Grovers I have been using have had a lot of slop in the last couple sets so thought these might be something for me to try.

Fred

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

I delivered one with Schertler's a few months ago and no complaints yet. I continue to recommend them. But I would still like to see them change the grain direction of the knobs.

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http://www.chassonguitars.com

An update. I've talked directly with Schertler on the issue of the grain orientation and I heard back again from them recently saying they have addressed the issue and the grain direction will be changed. I had also prodded them to make a gloss nickel finish rather than just the satin one, as well as include the gold finish on the solid peghead. they will be offering the Gold tuners for the solid peghead models effective immediately. I don't know if stew mac has any of that color configuration on order, but I'm going to check. With the change in grain orientation on the button and the added finish (and hopefully a gloss nickel one soon as they said they were going to be working on making that available as well) I've been recommending them to my customers on my guitars. I think it is the larger button that makes it feel this way but they feel smoother than Waverleys to me. I'm pretty sure that is just a function of the larger button, but I still use Waverly's standard and offer these tuners as an option.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

Talked with StewMac and they do not have any of the gold ones on order. If you'd like to see them get some I'd suggest emailing them and mentioning it. Maybe that would spur them on to ordering a batch.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com