I've made plenty cbgs and mostly just for fun, but I sell the odd one to keep the habit going. Unfortunately I was contacted by my latest buyer to say one of the tuners had broken. The little cog mechanism isn't turning any more. Now I've no idea if he just wound it too tight, or it was faulty, as it was tested fine before selling. I've had a couple break, a small percentage.
He only bought it about 3 weeks ago so I'm feeling a bit guilty. I suppose it's the nature of cbgs that you are winding strings tighter in some cases and it puts more strain on the tuner.
Are there any tuners out there that are extremely robust yet a reasonable price? Can you recommend any, or is it a fact of life that a small percentage will break?
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Open tuners are less robust than sealed tuners and need treating gently - i would send a replacement tuner to your buyer and put it down to a faulty unit, but too much stress causes the "hooks" to bend over time but can be repaired (-:
I bought some sealed tuners for £15.00 a set
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wilkinson-Tuner-Machine-Heads-Sealed-Chro...
...but have found cheaper ones since for £6.00, tempted to try them but not sure if they will last...
I didn't realise closed tuners would be more robust, I had been using open ones because I liked the look of them. They are pretty cheap ones so I suppose I should buy quality and charge a few extra quid for the guitars I sell to compensate. I get mine from eBay.
I'll go and have a look at some more reputable sources.
I only use the sealed bushing type tuners and I get them from one of my seller`s in China, as I do a lot of my parts. I usually buy tuners in bulk and with free shipping [ wait time around 10 days - 2 weeks. ] it`s a great deal. I prefer to have parts in stock instead of buying parts just for a certain build. Just like making my rod bridges, I spend a week just making them for stock. Then when I need one for a build there`s plenty to choose from. The average price for a set of 6 tuners runs about 9 bucks and with the free shipping you can see why I buy multiple sets. My seller also sells parts in lot groups...like 5 six pole mag pickups for one low price. Now I know about all the hype about only buying American made .....but in this hobby Chinese parts are way less cheaper and I haven`t had any problems in the years of dealing with them. Quality parts and a reasonable price and great service is what I like. Most of the tuners now a days are manufactured overseas, the ones that are not, are out of my price range.
There's nothing worse than hanging around waiting for a part to arrive is there. That's exactly the situation I'm in on my current build. I'm trying to build up a stock of parts, I usually have enough of everything to at least build 4 or 5 but I quickly run out and forget to buy more.
also . taking into account what others have said . installing some tuners upside-down can cause this also . but this is more so for open tuners .
many get an inline left or right side set , and put a few on each side of the head stock , meaning one or more will actually be upside down .. this may pull the shaft away from the cog and cause skipping .
the tuners in randy's picture are great .. and can be installed either way with no probs .
a general rule is keep the round side down ;-)
Thanks, that's some handy info folks, a lot of which I didn't know and just plonked tuners on thinking they'd be fine. I was getting mine from an eBay seller in the UK at around £8 a set so I think I'd rather have peace of mind and spend a bit more on quality, I probably make two per month and sell one.
I'll have a look at those thanks. I can't justify £50 or anything but definitely don't mind £15 if I've got peace of mind that they will work, and of course 6 tuners equals two cbgs ;-)
Sealed tuners are a nice luxury to have on a CBG. Open tuners for me seem to need tuning adjustments more often. When I started building I stripped out a few open tuners from not having the holes drilled out at a perfect 90 degree angle to the headstock. If the angle is off you run the possibility of the tuner flexing and thats when the soft brass looking gear strips out.
At least Gitty sells replacement gears . . . Just received 4 sets of their open gear tuners, they're longer than I thought they'd be... now I have to rethink my head design...
John
I've found open gear tuners too flimsy for even the most basic CBG, but you don't need to spend a ton on decent sealed tuners.
If you don't mind waiting, I've used these Cheap and cheerful ones from China on my last 40+ builds and I've had just one fault. More often than not, the screw that holds the buttons together needs tightening a tad, but other than that, they're smooth. There's a few UK sellers that offer the same ones if you need them quicker.
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