Replacing Gotoh's with waverleys

[Fresh1985]

I am thinking of replacing the Gotoh SEP700's on my Furch OM with Waverley tuners.

My question is this doesn't look like it will be a drop in replacement as the screw holes on the Gotoh are about 0.8mm inwards compared to the waverleys and the screws on the Waverleys are narrower meaning I will have to fill and re-drill both holes.

Is it as simple as using polyfiller to fill to holes, line up using a ruler and then redrill?

Would appreciate some advice from those in the know.

[mcduffnw]

Why in heavens name would you do that?

There is a reason why Furch is using the Gotoh's instead of the Waverly's...they are a much better quality tuning machine.

I would stick with what you have!

duff

[Fresh1985]

Originally Posted by mcduffnw

Why in heavens name would you do that?

There is a reason why Furch is using the Gotoh's instead of the Waverly's...they are a much better quality tuning machine.

I would stick with what you have!

duff

Basically I find the gotohs kinda stiff and don't seem to hold there tuning as well as the Waverley's on my martin, so I was thinking about swapping them out.

I tend to agree with duff. I like the Gotoh 700 Series a lot, and often choose them instead of Waverly. And for the record, I have no aversion to spending more if I think it gets me more....

My first thought is to remove the Gotoh tuners and see if they turn freely off the guitar, and lightly lubricate them. If they seem smooth off the guitar, it could be that they are binding in the bushings or something else about the mounting is causing the issue. You might check to see that the strings are not binding in the nut slots. That will cause tuning problems too.

All that said, wood putty is a bad idea. It cracks and crumbles. If you can get some mahogany scraps, you can whittle those to little points, dip them in glue and stick them in the holes. When that dries cut them flush with a chisel. Toothpicks work fine too and a color match is not really necessary since it will be hidden under the tuner plate.

[John Arnold]

Given the choice, I put Gotohs on the guitars I build instead of Waverlys. The price difference is not the issue. Waverlys can fall apart for no reason...other than the fact that the design relies on Loctite on a threaded collar to stay together. Once the collar loosens, the only recommended procedure is to disassemble, clean the threads with acetone, and reassemble with fresh Loctite, being careful not to lose the plastic washers. You need to set the proper tension before the Loctite sets up, otherwise you must start over.
I have much more trouble with stiff Waverlys than Gotohs.
Todd has the proper procedure for filling and redrilling the screw holes.
Failure to hold tune is rarely the fault of the tuners....particulaly newer tuners of decent quality.

[Fresh1985]

Thanks for all your responses, you guys seem to know what your talking about, I have lubricated the gotohs recently and it has certainly made an improvement.

I actually wanted a visual change with ivoroid buttons aswell, the Waverleys are actually cheaper than if I was to buy the same spec gotohs with ivoroid buttons from Japan, hence why I was going with waverlys.

But in hindsight if I am not going to gain anything quality wise I will leave it for now with maybe a view to buying some gotohs from japan in the future, making it a drop in modification.

To be honest I never knew gotohs were so highly regarded.

Thanks again.