Thanks to T.B. - new Grovers on the Yamaha

[Freeman Keller]

T.B.'s pics of the vintage Grovers on her Yamaha got me gassing for new tuners. Ordered a set from StewMac ($31 plus shipping) and installed them last night (gave me an opportunity to do a few little setup tweaks). Tuners fit perfectly except the bushing were too loose in the headstock holes (the old bushings didn't fit the new tuners) so I used some thick CA, Everything else worked good - a new set of Elixers and the old gal gave me an evening of nice playing.

 

Told my wife FG-150's were going for six hundred bucks on evil bay, but I was going to keep mine a few more decades, she said "you better, it sounds good"

 

Thanks Trina

[knockwood]

I love Grovers. Are these the Grover 18:1 open-backs (same guys you used on your 000)? Or are they enclosed gear? I recently smacked a set of the new 18:1 enclosed gear Grovers (the big clunky ones) on my D-1. I love the look & the tuners work great.

[Freeman Keller]

They are the open back "vintage" looking ones

 

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Guitar,_solid_peghead_tuners/1/Grover_18:1_Sta-Tite_Guitar_Machines/Pictures.html#details

 

The really nice thing is that they fit the existing mounting holes perfectly. However the shaft is bigger - 1/4 for the Grovers and a 32nd less for the old Yamaha (probably metric). I could have reamed the old bushings (but I didn't happen to have a set of metric reamers at home) or use the new bushings, which didn't fit the holes. A little superglue fixed that just fine (I don't plan to remove them in my lifetime). IMHO Grovers are truely great tuners for the money - a fraction of the cost of Waverlies. I also bought two sets of their mini's for the 12 string (and made a really cool drilling jig on our CNC mill).

 

The spec tabs on StewMac's website makes it real easy to figure out what will work and what won't. There seems to be minor variations in dimensions between various tuner manufacturers - can be a big problem with 3- or 6-on-a-plate.

 

Anyway, it was T.B. (Trina) that turned me on to these and I'm a happy picker..

[Hudman]

My Epi Masterbilt came with those tuners (Grover Sta-tites). They look great and work great too.

[Kalebmation]

Love these tuners on my Masterbilt! Love my Masterbilt!!

[T.B.]

Originally posted by Freeman Keller T.B.'s pics of the vintage Grovers on her Yamaha got me gassing for new tuners. Ordered a set from StewMac ($31 plus shipping) and installed them last night (gave me an opportunity to do a few little setup tweaks). Tuners fit perfectly except the bushing were too loose in the headstock holes (the old bushings didn't fit the new tuners) so I used some thick CA, Everything else worked good - a new set of Elixers and the old gal gave me an evening of nice playing. Told my wife FG-150's were going for six hundred bucks on evil bay, but I was going to keep mine a few more decades, she said "you better, it sounds good" Thanks Trina

 

I'm pleased I could be of some assistance Freeman, you're very welcome. Those Yams tuners have a little heft to them. I was surprised how lighter the headstock felt when making the switch to Grovers. StewMac has been added to my favorites list guitar folder. It's cool that they give you specs info, it does eliminate guessing.