Gotoh 3 on a plate tuners

[El Conquistador]

Has anybody had any experience with Gotoh 3 on a plate tuners. I just received a guitar I commissioned with these tuners, and, they are horrible. One has so much play it is almost useless, and the other 5 are so hard to turn, accuracy is virtually unachievable. The builder is mystified as well.

So, did I just get a bad set, or, is this the norm for Gotohs.

https://www.stewmac.com/Hardware_and...SABEgJPsfD_BwE

Steve

P.S., I really like their steel string tuners.

[Dogsnax]

In general, I've had excellent luck with Gotoh classical tuners over the years, but I've never had this lyre-style set.....I've always used the 1800 hauser-style set.

Maybe your builder will cover the cost of a new set, as it sounds as if there's a problem with the ones on the guitar now.

The great thing about tuners is they're easy to change! Good luck.

[stanron]

According to your link, you can tell by measuring or by the plastic knobs if you have the expensive or economy set. There is quite a difference in price. If you remove the tuners from the instrument and they turn OK then that would show that the difficulty with turning comes from how they are fitted to the instrument and not from the tuners themselves.

[Bax Burgess]

I have the less expensive set - they work well. I believe that Stanron is right on the mark.

[tkoehler1]

I have bought two of the more expensive lyre style GOTOHs and they have worked flawlessly both times. Maybe you just got unlucky :

TK

[nikpearson]

The high end Gotohs with ball bearings are superb, not so the less expensive ones in my experience. Whilst okay for the price, the inexpensive tuners are not particularly smooth but I still prefer them to the Hauser pattern Schallers which are very uneven. The best tuner quality vs price I’ve found are Schallers more recent GrandTune models. The ball bearing models are buttery smooth and I like the look as well.

I find it odd that the builder is mystified unless as s/he must have used them when stringing and tuning the instrument. One possibility is that higher humidity has caused the headstock wood to expand and the machinehead holes to shrink.

Another poster mentioned the fitting of the tuners to the guitar. It’s common to find the string posts bind in the headstock on classical guitars which causes unpleasant creaks and an uneven feel. This can be fixed with a dowel and sandpaper (or even the rear end of a drill bit + sandpaper. You can also use some candle wax in the holes to give a smoother feel. My preference is for tuners with the bearings on the string post end as this completely eliminates any chance of binding with the inner holes.