Just got a set of Schaller M6 Minis in their new "Vintage Copper" finish

[Wade Hampton]

I special ordered them through Allparts, and they took five months to get here from Germany. That is absolutely not Allparts' fault; that's Schaller choosing to move in mysterious ways and take their own sweet Teutonic time about filling the order.

Anyway, the tuners look like this:

Schaller M6 Mini tuners in "Vintage Copper"

To go with them I have a set of the re-designed (shall we say "reimagined?") Schaller strap locks in the same finish that I happened to find at a music store in Hobart, Tasmania this January:

Schaller strap locks in "Vintage Copper"

For some reason Schaller tuners in their new Vintage Copper finish are next to impossible to find in North America. I probably could have gotten them faster if I'd ordered them from a retailer n Germany, but even at wholesale from Allparts they're not cheap, and no overseas retailer is going to sell them to me at wholesale cost!

Here's a link to the only set I could find on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Schaller-HS10.../dp/B0169UFZTA

That price is $60 more than the official retail price, which itself is expensive. (I paid a fraction of that.) So no wonder they're not exactly flying off the shelves over here, eh?

Anyway, I finally got the set I ordered and will install them this weekend.


Wade Hampton Miller

PS: Despite the discrepancy in color values between the tuners and strap lock hardware in those two photos, in real life both match perfectly.

[steelvibe]

They were probably like a shiny penny when they shipped in 800 B.C.

But on a serious note, those look very nice Wade.

And yes, I'd probably notice them on your guitar even if you didn't tell me they were special.

[Rockysdad]

Those look great, nice find

[Wade Hampton]

What I already have on one guitar is a set of Gotoh 510 minis in a very similar vintage copper finish:

Gotoh 510 Minis in X Copper finish

Those have been readily available from Japarts in British Columbia for at least two or three years now, and even if they have to special order a set from Japan it doesn't take any five months to arrive (more like two or three.) The Gotoh 510 minis are also significantly less expensive but equally good as the Schallers, perhaps even better.

The problem is that the custom instrument I ordered the Schallers for has a slim headstock design that was designed specifically for Schaller minis. The Gotohs simply won't fit (pause now to imagine the torrent of colorful old Anglo-Saxon words and phrases I use to describe my feelings about that!)

Anyway, I like that copper look and it goes nicely with the instrument, so around Thanksgiving I swallowed hard and special ordered the Schallers from the Vaterland through Allparts, and they finally got here today.

Hooray!


whm

[Brucebubs]

I'll be looking at them and the bridge pins when I see the guitar.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

I'll be looking at them and the bridge pins when I see the guitar.

Fortunately, this particular instrument has a pinless design...


whm

[Brucebubs]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

Fortunately, this particular instrument has a pinless design...


whm

I'll be the judge of that when I see it.

Only joking with you Wade but it will be interesting to see how you find Schaller tuners now given their previous history.

[tadol]

Picked up some Rubners in that finish - like them but can’t decide what to use them on!

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by tadol

Picked up some Rubners in that finish - like them but can’t decide what to use them on!

Interesting - those are made in the former East Germany, if I remember correctly.

I got a set of Rubner mandolin tuners for one of my mandolins, really liked them, so I got two more sets for two of my other mandolins. While the first set was and is great, the next two sets were terrible. So I returned them, and the one gentleman who imports them to the US was very nice, very apologetic, and replaced them at no charge.

But they were awful, as well! I felt so bad about it that rather than return these replacement sets I just threw them away and put the Gotoh mandolin tuners that came on the mandolins back on. I’m just glad I’d kept them.

So, short version: my experience with Rubner mandolin tuners has been hit or (mostly) miss. I don’t have any experience with their guitar tuners, though.


whm

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

I'll be the judge of that when I see it.

Only joking with you Wade but it will be interesting to see how you find Schaller tuners now given their previous history.

As I wrote to you offline before I saw your reply here, Schallers have improved immensely since their period of despond and crappy QC in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. The company was purchased by a new owner maybe ten years ago now and their quality has returned to their previous very high standards. They’ve also begun innovating and creating great new designs again.

Unfortunately from Schaller’s perspective, during the years while they were dicking around and making lesser quality products, Gotoh got better and better and better still, to the point where they surpassed Schaller in quality while remaining significantly less expensive. As a result many guitar builders and just plain gearheads like me switched our guitar tuner allegiance from the Vaterland to the Land of the Rising Sun.

These days Schaller’s quality has achieved either actual or near parity with Gotoh’s. But their prices remain higher.

Which is why if I could have fit Gotoh tuners onto the skinny little peghead of this new instrument, I would have. But since it was designed for Schaller minis, that’s what I got.

At least they’re excellent tuning gears once more. Can’t complain about that!


Wade Hampton Miller

[Mycroft]

You do realize Wade, that no one is actually going to look at your spiffy new tuners or straplocks...

[tippy5]

Wade a couple years ago I took your advice and ordered (through eBay) a set of bronze, mini Gotoh's.
They mounted and work nicely on my Goodall GC Aloha cutaway.

I might change out the buttons to a same patina but different shape?
The pear shape buttons look a little out of place on my Hawaiian flame KOA headstock.

[Long Road Home]

I'll be interested in seeing your review (and comparison with the Gotoh 510 Minis) once you've had a chance to try them out.

[Wade Hampton]

First, Mycroft (Sherlock's smarter brother) wrote:

Originally Posted by Mycroft

You do realize Wade, that no one is actually going to look at your spiffy new tuners or straplocks...

Oh, I do understand that, Tony, and in fact just answered you at length in the thread about whether people notice tuners and bridgepins, at the bottom of this page of the thread:

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...=545140&page=5

Then Tippy wrote:

Originally Posted by tippy5

Wade a couple years ago I took your advice and ordered (through eBay) a set of bronze, mini Gotoh's.
They mounted and work nicely on my Goodall GC Aloha cutaway.

I might change out the buttons to a same patina but different shape?
The pear shape buttons look a little out of place on my Hawaiian flame KOA headstock.

Well, you can get different shaped buttons for Gotohs, but I haven't seen any metal buttons with the same finish in a different shape that will fit your tuners. You can't use actual Schaller buttons - aftermarket buttons intended for Schaller tuners won't fit the shaft on Gotohs, and vice versa.

I prefer the shape of Schaller-style buttons myself, and the buttons on all of the Gotoh 510 tuners I have on any of my instruments have been switched to those. Allparts is the best source I know for a good selection of different materials in shapes other than the stock 510 Jetsons-style buttons. Luthiers Mercantile International is also carrying more of a selection of aftermarket Gotoh buttons than they used to, so check them out as well.

Not everything they carry is always on their website, so if you don't see what you want, give them a call.

Just on a side note, moments ago I looked at the Allparts website page for tuners, and they're offering this as one of the finish options on their "economy keys" :

TK-7562 Economy 3x3 Keys Antique Brass

They're calling that finish "Antique Brass," but it sure looks more like copper than brass to me. Since those are "economy keys" they're almost certain to have been made by Ping or a similar manufacturer, but since it's the weekend I can't call Allparts and ask who made them.

Even so, if someone wanted to get a set of tuners with that finish, this would be less expensive than paying a premium price for Gotohs or (shudder...) Schallers.

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller