Tuning Keys

[mero]

Not quite on topic, but the standard Schaller locking mini tuners we all use and love don't necessarily have to be plain looking.

http://crazyparts.de/mode/schallerm6/index.php

I believe all of them will fit the Schaller locking minis, even the larger buttons. I've got a set of ivoroid ones from them and they're great!

No affliation with the store, just passing along what I found. Pretty tempted to get a set of faceted ivoroid knobs as well to match the tuner buttons

 

[ghostrider]

You know, there seemed to be a fad around the turn of the century there where people were stringing up guitars and leaving the excess string hanging off from the keys. That drove me insane.
MULLY

Me too! Every time I see a guitar like that, I just want to tell it to cut its strings and get a job!  :laughing7:

All joking aside though, cut those strings.

 

[Cagey]

Back 100 years ago when I played a LOT, I used to change strings weekly - at least. Bought 'em by the 10-pack. I sometimes didn't cut the excess length just because I wasn't interested in mucking about with aesthetics; I just needed a new set of strings. They got gunky or dead or wouldn't hold tune, so they were ouch. But, you didn't go out in public that way. That just makes you look like you might be the type to not shower or brush your choppers, or were just otherwise careless and inattentive to detail.

These days, I'm not so particular or under any kind of stress, so strings get trimmed at installation and stay on the instrument a lot longer.

 

[mullyman]

Not quite on topic, but the standard Schaller locking mini tuners we all use and love don't necessarily have to be plain looking.

http://crazyparts.de/mode/schallerm6/index.php

I believe all of them will fit the Schaller locking minis, even the larger buttons. I've got a set of ivoroid ones from them and they're great!

No affliation with the store, just passing along what I found. Pretty tempted to get a set of faceted ivoroid knobs as well to match the tuner buttons

Nice!! Thanks for the link.
MULLY

 

[mero]

Not quite on topic, but the standard Schaller locking mini tuners we all use and love don't necessarily have to be plain looking.

http://crazyparts.de/mode/schallerm6/index.php

I believe all of them will fit the Schaller locking minis, even the larger buttons. I've got a set of ivoroid ones from them and they're great!

No affliation with the store, just passing along what I found. Pretty tempted to get a set of faceted ivoroid knobs as well to match the tuner buttons

Nice!! Thanks for the link.
MULLY

Just for reference and for the benefit of anyone who's interested, here's a photo of my Warmoth rosewood neck with the chrome Schaller locking minis and ivoroid buttons.

 

[stubhead]

Some of those wood buttons are gorgeous. I wonder if they stabilize them in epoxy or something? I wouldn't think that a finicky wood like snakewood could be very strong - there's not a lot of wood there. I get into weird moods where I really dislike all the plastic... EVERYTHING we're surrounded by.  Sit down at an MDF desk (sawdust and wood scraps glued together and covered with... plastic woodgrain formica). Pick up your plastic pen, type on your plastic keyboard, eat plastic food out of plastic bowls... them wood buttons would be a good fondle, every once in a while.

 

[thearmofbarlow]

Some of those wood buttons are gorgeous. I wonder if they stabilize them in epoxy or something? I wouldn't think that a finicky wood like snakewood could be very strong - there's not a lot of wood there. I get into weird moods where I really dislike all the plastic... EVERYTHING we're surrounded by.  Sit down at an MDF desk (sawdust and wood scraps glued together and covered with... plastic woodgrain formica). Pick up your plastic pen, type on your plastic keyboard, eat plastic food out of plastic bowls... them wood buttons would be a good fondle, every once in a while.

There's not a lot of tension ever put on tuners. I'd imagine they throw some kind of sealer on them and kick them out the door.

 

[stubhead]

But if you look inside a tuner button, it's got a round hole, with a little flat spot to engage the flat spot on the shaft. It's like, a perfect example of how cam action could be used to split a softer material. LMII has been carrying wood buttons for years, these are the Gotoh ones:
http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdproducts.asp?CategoryName=Tuning+Machines&NameProdHeader=Gotoh%99+Steel+String+Replacement+Buttons

They could do a lot to pretty up certain applications, but then there are reasons somebody sells you tuning pegs made of metal in the first place. I would hate to be out somewhere that I was supposed to be able to play all adult-like and responsibly, reach for the tuner and hear that little "crack!" uh-oh.... "everybody's tuning to ME the rest of the night".... :laughing11:

 

[Cagey]

But if you look inside a tuner button, it's got a round hole, with a little flat spot to engage the flat spot on the shaft. It's like, a perfect example of how cam action could be used to split a softer material. LMII has been carrying wood buttons for years, these are the Gotoh ones:
http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdproducts.asp?CategoryName=Tuning+Machines&NameProdHeader=Gotoh%99+Steel+String+Replacement+Buttons

Right. I put a set of Ebony buttons on some gold Schaller mini-lockers, and I wondered about that flatted part. If the post was larger, it'd be less of an issue, but as it is the hole in the button looks like an easy failure point.