Official Luthiers Forum!

Anyone else uses Sperzels? what are your thoughts, how do they perform?

Hey Serge. I have a set of locking sperzels on my electric, and I love
them. No complaints at all. They're the keystone kind, and I think they
look cool too.

Mike

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Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

Thanks Mike, i love the look of mine too, i also like the fact that there wasn't any tiny screws to install at the back of the headstock which makes the installation much more easy, the black pin that sticks out really helps in keeping them sturdy as well!

I only use either the Gotoh 510's or waverlys...no sense building a super
high end guitar and then putting cheap tuners on it...

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

Hesh, Waverly might be the Aston Martin of the tuner world but the Bentley Continental of the tuner world is most certainly the Rodgers. If money were no object then they would be the no-brainer choice.

I've recently bought some Fustero's and love the 'Spanish' look of them.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

[QUOTE=John Mayes] I only use either the Gotoh 510's or waverlys...no sense building a super
high end guitar and then putting cheap tuners on it...[/QUOTE]

My sentiments exactly....

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

[QUOTE=Hesh1956]

My father used to run the huge state mental institutions and he was a shrink..... So I was actually born "on" the grounds of a mental hospital in Traverse City NOT "in" the grounds of a state mental hospital - there is a difference even though in my case it's difficult to see at times...... [/QUOTE]

Hesh, the only problem that i would see when observing how you correspond with others is your obvious deviancy and lust for wood which in fact makes me your brother, i suffer too ya know, can i cry on yer shoulder?

If you use a 10mm hole , you can swap waverly's and Gotohs. You just need
the bigger bushings for the Waverlys. Stew Mac sells them.

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

I agree with the Gotoh 510's and Waverlies. They are great tuners both. For more contemporary designs I like the 510's, or Schallers.
For a traditional design, Waverlies rule the world. You have to use them. Nothing else will do. At least in the eyes of most customer in that market. I like them, but I don't know if they are that much better than the Schaller version of the open-back tuners for the money. Especially considering the price difference.Don Williams38909.4454861111

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I have used the Gotoh SD 700s (open back, they also make a couple nice slot head as well) on a couple guitars - they are good tuners, likely not as nice as Waverlies, but at 1/3 the price they are certainly worth every penny. They have NO slop in the post and plate at all, and have a very positive feel to the twisting action. They have Gotohs patented lubricoat on the gearing.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

[QUOTE=TonyKarol] They have Gotohs patented lubricoat on the
gearing.[/QUOTE]

With the obsession with Lard in this forum I'd have thought that lard
would be the preferred lubricant in here.

Maybe it is lard, just the patented Japanese kind.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

[QUOTE=TonyKarol] Maybe it is lard, just the patented Japanese kind.[/
QUOTE]

Rard?

Exceptionnal RARD!

   I love Schallers, Sperzels, Grovers and the Gotoh 510 tuners, but when i build for myself, I use standard Gotoh tuners in either gold or chrome. For customers, I use exactly what they want on their guitars. I have a set of $1000.00 Rodgers slot head tuners with hand engraved Sterling silver plates and posts and Snakewood buttons in my shop right now for a customer's Parlor model that will be completed soon.

   The Gotoh standard tuners have a fine tuning ratio...actually the ratio from one tuner to another has no affect on their feel or finction and players can't feel the difference between one that is 16:1 and one that is 21:1. There's been much more hype than there should be about ratios in recent years.

    As long as the tuners are made with good qiality and operate well and dependably, they're acceptable for me. On my personal guitars, I'm looking for function primarily.

   I like that antique bronze finish that Gotoh is offering on their 510 serie now, though. All of the matte finishes look nice and have an understated affect on a headstock when they're installed.

   As long as they tune the guitar, keep it in tune well and do it for many years without failure, I'm all for them....no matter what brand they are.

   It's my opinion that Schaller and Gotoh are making the most dependable tuners and Waverly to be the biggest disappointment for the high dollar prices that they fetch.

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars

[QUOTE=Hesh1956]

My father used to run the huge state mental institutions and he was a shrink..... So I was actually born "on" the grounds of a mental hospital in Traverse City NOT "in" the grounds of a state mental hospital - there is a difference even though in my case it's difficult to see at times...... [/QUOTE]

Hesh, did they ever lock you in the bathroom as a child?

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Rard - they use that to make flies with the burger - I wrike glavy on the flies too.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

I've been using a variety; Schallers, Sperzels, but most of all the cheaper (but still perfectly great) Gotohs. I want to try the 510's, but I've never had problems with Gotoh's schaller lookalike regular machines. I don't use Waverlies not because of price, but because I don't think they 'fit' the aesthetic of my designs.

When I built my only guitar, I planned to use Gotoh 510's. But, I got the idea I wanted to do something different on the headstock, and cut the shape without re-checking that the tuners would still work. They wouldn't.

So, in a mad scramble to find something that would work, I ended up with Planet Waves tuners:

(image from StewMac)

I used the black ones. I don't like the finish (too shiny - a brushed anodized or flat black would have been better, IMO), but was very pleasantly surprised by the quality. They are well engineered, and well made. The auto-trim is nice, but the 18:1 ratio is even nicer.

Just thought I'd throw this in here, because I'll bet just about no one else here has used these. If they improve their finish and/or offer optional wood buttons, I'll bet there will be some converts.

DennisDennisLeahy38911.0167013889

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

I've used the Planet Waves tuners, and they're nice, but they're a bit bulky. I like the auto-trim (very elegant), but for weight I'd rather have Schaller mini locking tuners, and Sprezels are less bulky feeling.