What cheap machine heads for a CBG?

[doggadog]

hi guys. Being a bit of a TA I`m thinking of some cheapish tuners for the three CBG`s I`m putting together. Any suggestions,,,,don`t do it..lol or get the more exe ones. Any info will be appreciated. cheers, Graeme

[orraloon]

Graeme,
Machine heads have a huge price range fron about SFA up to OMG. My advise is dont get the very cheapest. I have had some cheap open gear ones bend out of shape on instalation and some were too tight to turn and strip the gear wheel. Trial and error has me setteled on fully closed ones at about $20 for a set of 4. I dont recall the brand but like the ones on my latest uke.
Search a bit on ebay.
Regards
John

[doggadog]

thanks John. I thought as much and sorry for wasting your time asking a doh question. I`ll aim around that figure of $20-30. cheers, Graeme

[Sebastiaan56]

I bought a lot of 10 sets of open Uke tuners from the auction site for something like $40. They work just fine on everything I've tried. The advantage of this approach is that I can do four, six or eight string instruments and not worry about sets of tuners.

The reality is that they are mostly cosmetic, as long as they don't break as John has said you can use whatever. Once the strings have settled only minor adjustments are needed.

If you want branded Rubners are good value and quality.

[doggadog]

thanks Seb. Will look at that. Met a guy (who makes CBG`s) at the Narooma blues fest and asked about m/heads and he said to buy them online on fleabay for 15-20$. Might give it a try but I do like your suggestion. cheers, Graeme

[damienb]

The $4/set open back ebay tuners are fine for ukes. Much better than the nasty ones on $20 plywood ukes. You can adjust the tension by changing the angle of the grip.

Not so good for guitars though.

[orraloon]

I had a look in the CBG stall Narooma too. Always good to see how others do it. He does a very good job on those boxes. I saw him do a couple of stage appearances and he can crank out a tune pretty well too.
Regards
John

[doggadog]

hi John (bluesman) ...trust you enjoyed a great taste of the blues. I loved it as usual. I like his CBG`s but he is a tad `rough` in his workmanship...just my impression of course....and if he is reading this then I say he is doing a fine job... I pulled the trigger on some 6 right fender style m/h`s and some 3l/3r m/h`s on ebay....and hope they firstly arrive from our asian friends...and they work ok as well. Fingers crossed. Got the fret wire from Aust luthier supplies and the piezo pickups and strings on ebay as well. Fingers crossed for these as well. Might even get these finished by the end of the year. cheers.

[simso]

We have some new cheap guitar silver closed ones available, 4 posted for 20 bucks if that helps 2 lefts and2 rights or I can make a single side of 4 up for you

steve

[doggadog]

We have some new cheap guitar silver closed ones available, 4 posted for 20 bucks if that helps 2 lefts and2 rights or I can make a single side of 4 up for you

steve

thanks Steve. Will contact you in the near future. I got some M/H`s from China and hopefully they will arrive in the next couple of weeks. cheers, Graeme

[Cliff Rogers]

I've found a few interesting things including machine heads here.
http://www.suntekstore.com/

Be aware that some of their machine head sets don't have screws with them & you won't find the little screws in a hardware shop.

[doggadog]

thanks for the info Cliff. I actually snapped off the very last little screw in my own CBG and I was not very happy about that..to say the least. But I learned one very important thing.....don`t drill 1 & 1/2mm holes (core/root dia) as the screws can snap off in a hardwood..such as blackwood. Drill 2mm dia and if the screws go in/fall in too easily then you can put a tiny sliver of wood in the hole. Lesson learned the hard way. I`m going to do some research into getting the best possible screws for the next build. cheers, Graeme

[Cliff Rogers]

.... Lesson learned the hard way. I`m going to do some research into getting the best possible screws for the next build. cheers, Graeme

www.stewmac.com

[doggadog]

thanks Cliff....will have a look at StewMac accessories. Will start saving now...

[Cliff Rogers]

These ones, they come in Nickel, Gold, Black, & Stainless.

I bought a couple of bags of 100.

http://www.stewmac.com/Hardware_and_..._Pegheads.html