Considering guitar tuners...

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Long Neck Banjo

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... for those of us who prefer the tuning and singing differences the LN provides. All questions & help welcome!

273 Members, Created 1/30/2011 -

Administrators: TonyS (owner) , Gary Blanchard , pastorharry , vega long neck

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From c_t_s_o on 5/6/2016 10:48:23 AM

Anyone out there with experience fitting guitar tuners on their long neck banjo?

I have a Gold Tone MM-150LN which has old, standard tuners from Gold Tone. They seem quite iffy, both when tuning and afterwards. I have tightened the screws on the tuning knobs, but I still don't trust the tuners.

I'd love to get a set of tuners that I can fully trust, and that are easy to use. And above all, that fit in the peg head.

Since I don't use many tunings - just one - guitar tuners seem to be the way to go. I'd rather have a "somewhat unconventional" looking banjo than having to use iffy tuners (or really expensive planetary tuners).

I guess the old Gold Tone tuners are 10mm wide. Do I have to get guitar tuners that are exactly 10mm then?

Anyone know of any fitting tuners on the market at the moment? I think white colored tuning knobs will look the best on this banjo...

10 Comments
	reese158 says: 5/6/2016 11:18:11 AM When I had my longneck made, I went with Grover Rotomatics. I've never looked back.
	Joe Connor says: 5/6/2016 11:43:08 AM Didn't both Pete Seeger and Dave Guard (Kingston Trio) have guitar tuners on their Vega long-necks? I think Pete and Dave both used Rotomatics.
	mainejohn says: 5/6/2016 12:09:30 PM I've had Grover Rotomatics on my longnecks for years. Not only are they "period correct" they are easier to tune than standard planets, are cheaper, and require no periodic adjustments.
	coalandice says: 5/6/2016 12:33:12 PM So pardon my ignorance but which Grover Rotomatics does one want? An Amazon search yielded quite a few with arcane notations. I'm assuming C is chrome and B is black N is nickle and G is gold, but beyond that? 102 ? 502? 406 ? 102-18
	John Gribble says: 5/6/2016 3:05:13 PM The rotomatics were "state of the art" back in the day and about the only high quality heads available (I didn't like Kluson). The modern ones are still good, and available in different configurations. Check the catalogues. Same for the hole requirements. Check the catalogues. The information is on the web. You might consider a good quality open gear head instead. Lighter weight, less "stuff" on the peghead. Stewmac has a lot of size options. But opening the hole with a hand reamer is not difficult. Just go slow, work from both directions, and do the last bit with a round file. Most
	Pauls Pretty Good Stuff says: 5/7/2016 6:22:30 AM The original Gold Tone shouldn't be 'iffy'. Instead of tightening the knob screw, try tighten that 10mm nut on top of the peghead. The wood is shrinking slightly and loosening the whole tuner a bit.
	TonyS says: 5/11/2016 3:38:02 PM Thanks guys for the info!
	c_t_s_o says: 6/26/2016 1:37:01 PM I guess "Grover Mid-Size Rotomatics (305 Series)" will work? They seem to basically be 10mm in size and probably not much narrower than the classic "Original Milk Bottle Style Rotomatics (102V Series)"...
	Helix says: 7/3/2016 7:06:25 AM Contact Gold Tone for the white tuners, they come on some kit necks I get, so I've got 12 of them for my 12-string. They look like white Grovers.
	c_t_s_o says: 8/20/2016 8:40:48 AM Grover Mid-Size Rotomatics worked out great. Now I'm a happy camper. hangoutstorage.com/banjohangou...82016.jpg hangoutstorage.com/banjohangou...82016.jpg hangoutstorage.com/banjohangou...82016.jpg hangoutstorage.com/banjohangou...82016.jpg
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