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This is Luthiers' Mercantile International site, specifically Fustero. I rememeber that until a few days ago you could click on the image and open a chart of specs. If this should no longer be the case, do call the 800 number. Staff at that store is extraordinarily helpful.
On a personal note, for Flamenco guitar, I find Fustero to represent the ideal set of tuners. Although not a s"tight" as Gotoh or Alessi, they are "light" as one would like such as set to be on a Flamenco guitar.
I am sure the Luthiers' community well represented onthis forum will agree that, should the screw spacing differ and cause you to add holes leaving some empty, it is always a good idea to fill those unused holes, or they will in time weaken the wood.
Yeah, unfortunately the Fustero pics don't link. The Gotohs are the only classical tuners on LMII that show full details. I had just hoped someone here had a bookmark.
It would have been faster than waiting for a response from email.
I would write to them Exitao, it will be faster and more accurate than anything else you may receive here. Fusteros come in (2?) diffrent sizes and specs, so you will avoid anyone giving you numbers which are innocently beleived to be standard when they really are not.
I would also suggest asking the filling query to LMI.
com'n don't be lazy now.... write the e-mail....and let us know the outcome, of course. ciao
My tuners are 14:1, the Rubners are 15:1 and the Fusteros are 16:1.
I'm waiting to hear back from the website if they deliver to Canada. The listed shipping rate doesn't seem right. Americans always try to hose us Canadians on such things.
I'm thinking, once I start work again, I'm going to get Jeff to finish one of those two-tones for me, sort of as a banger. I've been dreaming about it. It almost makes me want to go and find a job.
Note these are not the higher end gold plated fusteros that go for around $300 US bucks, the post does not go all the way through the button. These are the cheaper ones, not hand engraved, but a good price nevertheless if this is what you want.
PS if you get shipped to Point Roberts, for example through www.thelettercarrier.com, then you won't get ripped off on the shipping, but you have to cross the border yourself to get them. Also, if you decide to ship to Canada then make sure it is shipped by US Postal. The private carriers like UPS or FedEx will rip you off with border processing fees.
Being Canadian, in a world where the USD affects prices is sometimes not fun. If I look at book prices (in a book store), they show an American and Canadian price. Yet even when we were over $0.20 smaller than the USD, the Canadian prices were always higher than they ought to have been. Then, when the CAD started gaining, it became really annoying.
It often seems whenever someone standardises a shipping rate to Canada, it's always a bit high (especially on eBay, where everyone tries to cheat ebay out of money by charging excessive shipping).
It's enough to make a guy hypersensitive.
I'm on employment insurance, so I have income. Not as much as usual, but I can still afford to splurge now and then.
Tom what are you selling those sets in your attachment (mother of pearl buttons) for?
Hi gj, I don't actually sell tuners. I use Fustero on the guitars I build. When I get to a point were I start selling my guitars, they will come with Fusteros.
What would you guys think would look sexier on a honey coloured blanca, with rosewood bindings and head with an ebony fingerboard:
Black nickel or brass?
Hauser style plates or more of a straight style with no lyras?
I concur with Taranto’s stern dismissal, I too find that whim – the lyre- quite distasteful.
I find that black nickel or silver plates would more suitably blend with the dark tones of a rosewood guitar. In my chromatic view of the world, blonde cypress screams golden plates, generally.
However, a question remains as to whether the button should/could be white (bone or mother of pearl) or black (ebony or mother of pearl). I just converted my GV Rubio blanca from pegs to machine heads, and chose fustero whitish bone buttons.
However, these black ebony buttons, would look very sexy and “Spanish” (except that price may be a deterrent):
Yes. Rubner. Buying directly from them will be cheaper than buying any other comparable brand. You also have the choice of buttons and rollers.
I'm not as happy about the gear ratio... obviously, I want as high as possible. But I love German craftsmanship (I'm 1/4 German, raised in a city that was at one time named Berlin, so it may be an irrational bias, but all the Old World craftsmen I knew took such pride in their work that I'm sure it must bring good juju with it, LOL).
My guitar was meant for someone else, with wonderful materials. Frankly, the Gotoh 620 tuners are the only thing about my guitar that strike me as less than perfect or cheap. Despite always having been dependable. How's that for shallow and vain?
I don't care. So.. next to aesthetics, I have to wonder, are the hausers heavier or lighter than a straight plate style? I seem to recall that we should try to keep the flamenco light.
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Exitao, we are bound for criticism as shallow and vain if if press this subject. Yet i really appreciate the issue, which i as well enjoy dwelling on.
Ok, here's some criticism... Tuning machines should sell for no more than $20.00. It's a simple mechanism with some gears. You turn the knob (button, whatever) which through some reduction gearing spins a roller which tightens the string. Not rocket science! I can't believe the prices these people are charging for a device that's not as complicated as a can opener. I refuse to use these expensive rip-offs. We use a brand manufactured in Taiwan that is very comparable to Gotoh. They work beautifully and are manufactured to very tight tolerances. We guarantee them for life unconditionally. The most important part of tuning machines is drilling the holes precisely and making sure the side of the head is perpendicular to the top, without that those $300.00 beauties will squeak and pop just like the $4 ones.
Exitao, we are bound for criticism as shallow and vain if if press this subject. Yet i really appreciate the issue, which i as well enjoy dwelling on.
Ok, here's some criticism... Tuning machines should sell for no more than $20.00. It's a simple mechanism with some gears. You turn the knob (button, whatever) which through some reduction gearing spins a roller which tightens the string. Not rocket science! I can't believe the prices these people are charging for a device that's not as complicated as a can opener. I refuse to use these expensive rip-offs. We use a brand manufactured in Taiwan that is very comparable to Gotoh. They work beautifully and are manufactured to very tight tolerances. We guarantee them for life unconditionally. The most important part of tuning machines is drilling the holes precisely and making sure the side of the head is perpendicular to the top, without that those $300.00 beauties will squeak and pop just like the $4 ones.
Of course real flamencos only use pegs .
I agree they're overpriced in general. As I'm researching these things, it seems that the engraving details of the plate make a huge difference, and I can understand that. But if they were simply machine stamped and all parts made by automated assembly, I don't see how they can charge what they do.
Then again, I've seen some Rubners for less than 10 euros. Plani plates and etc. But more honest.
Indeed Exitao, that was a sarcasm: Alessi may be too heavy for a flamenco guitar. Why upsetting the balance achieved by the maker? I like that part about Fusteros, they are light without being plastic or tin-foil.
I agree that it should be pegs. After my injury however, I will gleefully subscribe to tuning machines.
If I may dissent with your opinion, John, why shouldn’t one invest in a beautiful set of tuning machines after investing so much on a beautifully crafted guitar, perhaps handmade, and often dearly priced? There should be some proportion of course. A set of Rodgers would appear misplaced and ridiculous on a student model. But on a $10,000.oo instrument? My Fusteros do their part nicely, but I would not find it so disagreeable that someone invest more on machines. For the handmade sets there is a handful of artisans left. I believe Alessi an Rodgers being two out of such minute minority. Hence the pricey bill. But i too wish they could cost 20 dollars....
True, Francisco... with some very minor exceptions, if you wil allow me:
Paco de Lucia, Vicente Amigo, Tomatito, Gerardo Nunez, Moraito, Pepe Cepero, Richard Marlow, Oscar Herrero, Rafael Riqueni, and a handful of other similarly inconsquential names who sacrifice the true spirit of tradition on the altar of "convenience" !!!
I would have chosen pegs, had it been my specs to which the guitar was built. My next will certainly have pegs.
But if must needs be I suffer with these unsightly tuning machines, I feel that I have an obligation to do so in style. Substance was not one of the gifts the Lord gave me, so I (over)compensate with Style.
So, any guesses, between straight style plates which should weigh more? I think that straights would be thinner...
It also occurs to me that nickel should be lighter than brass. (Which is why I asked about nickel before.) So.. a black nickel might not be a bad choice.
It might make sense for me to chose 3 models and just ask for individual shipping weights.
I still wish I could find an affordable maker with a higher gear ratio. Guitaraffecs (link above) never emailed me back. I was intrigued by how the cheaper set said they had 17:1 ratio. But I don't want to be cheap ones if it means I'll replace them again.
All said and done, I might just buy the top line Gotoh's just so I don't have to make new screw holes. However, they do look heavier.
oh, and i somewhat like the lyre style. would it not look weird with that extra space?
you should ditch the straight plate style. it looks really plain and boring to me. unless you sit traditional style, i don't think it will offset the balance that much.
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