Looking for a tuner for vintage Martin

GinnyT11

GinnyT11

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I am temporarily in possession of a beautiful, 1950s Martin soprano for a friend overseas. The uke is beautiful, but the E-string tuner is cracked and untunable.
My luthier has said that a repaired tuner would not have the integrity needed to play it.
I'd like to find a vintage set of tuners...ones that look like these or are similar in their vintage-ness. Any ideas where I should be looking? Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

P1030483.jpgP1030485.jpg
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(And can anyone tell me why I can no longer select five images and upload them at the same time in a post? After selected the image icon, no menu to choose pics comes up; I have to go to the link Basic Uploader and upload them one at a time.)
 
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UU only allows 4 images in a message. I get around this by combining as many as I need into one, like this.

ukes5group.jpg
 
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I would try repairing the cracked tuner with super glue . Looks like a simple fix with super glue.
 
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I haven't had the need to replace any tuners yet, so I dont have any direct knowledge. You would have to call stewmac. But as hmgberg points out, there's info on their website. Also, there are a number of prior threads on the forum, with posts from folks who have changed tuners on old ukes. Good luck!
 
ombracorta said:
Hi, I'm the friend overseas :)
Please could brimmer or someone else confirm that Waverly vintage tuners fit on a 50s Martin? If diameters match we have our solution... crossing fingers.
Click to expand...

Email StewMac. They will help.
 
If the superglue approach did not work, might it not be possible to make a cast of one of the existing tuners and 'cast' a new one in something?
 
Thank you very much, Stan.

For those who suggested superglue to hold it, our luthier said the tuner could not be repaired in any way that would be trustworthy for playing.
 
If it were mine, I'd check to see if the waverly tuners will work without reaming. If they will, I'd get a set to use while I waited for a set of Klusons to turn up on Ebay. The Waverly tuners are high quality.
 
GinnyT11 said:
Thank you very much, Stan.

For those who suggested superglue to hold it, our luthier said the tuner could not be repaired in any way that would be trustworthy for playing.
Click to expand...

I would still try superglue , your Luthier may be wrong , and your uke will be all original. It is worth a try before changing parts.
 
If you have to replace the tuners , I would use Grover 4B or 4W tuners. The B is for black and the W is for white. Great tuners.
 
Pukulele Pete said:
I would still try superglue , your Luthier may be wrong , and your uke will be all original. It is worth a try before changing parts.
Click to expand...


Thank you; these ideas are welcome.
The issue on the tuner is more than just the cracked external part. It wouldn't tune up at all, just going around and around, even with careful tightening of the external screw. And now, in trying to take it out to examine it and to measure the tuner hole exactly, it will not disengage for removal. The tuner is well and truly broken and I'm leaving it to our luthier (who is really, really good) to take out.
Good news is that I believe we've found a matching vintage tuner that will work, but it will be a few days to get it.
 
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