Vintage Gibson L-00: need help finding quality tuners

[Blasted Coyote]

I found stew-mac's golden age 3 on-a-plate tuners, anyone know of any other options?

[Nctom]

I'm not sure of higher quality, but I have the StewMac tuners on five guitars, two original equipment and three replacement tuners, including a Martin and a Waterloo. They may not cost $100+ a set, but there has been no trace of stiffness, backlash, or any problems at all. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.

[Larry Mal]

There were Waverlys on mine when I got it. Good tuners.

[Blasted Coyote]

Originally Posted by Nctom

I'm not sure of higher quality, but I have the StewMac tuners on five guitars, two original equipment and three replacement tuners, including a Martin and a Waterloo. They may not cost $100+ a set, but there has been no trace of stiffness, backlash, or any problems at all. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.

Thanks, maybe the bad reviews are from those that need to spend more, just for the sake of spending more. After reading some bad comments on quality, I thought I needed to as well. I appreciate your recommendation, always good to get what you need an not spend any more than you need to.

[Blasted Coyote]

Originally Posted by Larry Mal

There were Waverlys on mine when I got it. Good tuners.

I couldn't find any replacement Waverly's, at least not any that would just drop in to the same holes. Are there 3 on-a-plate Waverly's that fit and look right?

Mine is '33 L-1, has the straight edge plates like those in my original post.

I may just order the Stew-mac's, just need them to do the job, and no one to impress but me.

[Blasted Coyote]

Originally Posted by Nctom

I'm not sure of higher quality, but I have the StewMac tuners on five guitars, two original equipment and three replacement tuners, including a Martin and a Waterloo. They may not cost $100+ a set, but there has been no trace of stiffness, backlash, or any problems at all. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.

Thanks for your suggestion Nctom. They dropped right in on my '33 L-1; they look great/work perfectly, just like you said. The bell-ends were the only one's with the right hole pattern, I could have modified the straight edge plates, but I kind of like this look better anyway:

[1Charlie]

Kalamazoos from the same era came with essentially the same tuners as L-00's, except with black buttons.

I found a set of period-correct Kalamazoo tuners on eBay for my '31 L-0. Dropped right in and work perfectly. Take care not to lose the ferrules!

[zombywoof]

My first used Gibson back in the 1960s was an L-00. Never knew the build year though as such things were impossible to figure out until Spann's Guide came out. But you might check over at UMGF or elsewhere to see if anybody is selling a used set of Antique Acoustics tuners. While available they set the standard for Gibson restorations. Unfortunately Henkes and Blazer stopped making them.

[Osage]

I have used and will use the Stewmac tuners again. That said, they will never be my first choice and are, in my opinion, hit or miss. When they're good, they work just fine. When they're bad, they're bad. They have a good return policy. If they didn't, I wouldn't bother with those tuners since I've had to send several sets back. I can't speak to their longevity but my guess is that it's not all that great. The price is nice on them for sure though.

[Nctom]

Glad you tried 'em and that they worked, Coyote. I haven't had any problems with them but,as it has been said, StewMac's return policy is great.