Changing tuners on D18

ryanverbena

I bought a used, very beaten up D18 from Gumtree years ago. I absolutely love it, but the previous owner replaced the vintage style tuners with more modern looking chrome schallers. 

Like these:

I used to own a HD28v which had some lovely vintage looking tuners. Can anyone point me in right direction of which ones would be a suitable purchase? 

Like these:

I’m a complete noob in regards to acoustic gear or pros and cons of different tuners, so any wisdom would be great.

Links would be much appreciated! 

BillDL

Generally speaking, because there are exceptions, the enclosed die-cast tuning machines with washers and hex nuts like Schaller, Grover, etc need a 10mm diameter hole for the threaded collar / bushing to pass through from the headstock face and screw into the body of the tuner mounted at the rear.  Most of the open-gear "Waverly" type tuners use push-in ferrules / bushings as post guides that are usually sized externally for 8mm (sometimes 9mm) diameter holes in the headstock and with a centre hole sized for 6mm posts.  This has always been the dilemma with changing old style tuning machines with push-in ferrules (old Fender Kluson style included) to die-cast tuning machines.  After pushing out the ferrules the holes have to be reamed or drilled out slightly to accommodate the threaded collars and if you ever decided to revert to old style tuning machines you would have to buy conversion push-in bushings that fit a 10mm diameter hole but have a 6mm hole in the middle that fits the shaft, like these:

https://northwestguitars.co.uk/products/10mm-conversion-bushings-for-vintage-tuners-6-0mm-internal-diameter?variant=44744925511954

You can buy conversion bushings if you, for example, bought a set of Kluson or Wilkinson open gear tuners that are designed for an 8mm headstock hole:

https://northwestguitars.co.uk/products/kluson-mvv3n-3-3-open-back-tuners-nickel

https://northwestguitars.co.uk/products/3-x-3-wj28n-open-back-tuners-for-gretsch-hoffner-acoustic-guitars

https://www.gluedtomusic.com/products/234/gotoh-se780-tuners-3-x-3-martin-sta-tite-waverly-style-chrome-06m

There are some manufacturers that make open gear tuners that use threaded collars to fit existing 10mm holes, like these Gotoh ones:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/gotoh_sxn510_05m_3l_3r_tuners_cb.htm

What you would need to check is how much of the post protrudes through the front face of the headstock.  If you like the sound and feel of the guitar with the existing tuners, then you wouldn't really want to change this by altering the string breakover angle at the nut by having longer or shorter posts (or more correctly the height of the string hole from the face of the headstock).

I have a set of the Wilkinson WJ28N tuners on an acoustic guitar and they are nice smooth tuners.  The buttons are quite small, but suit old style guitars very well.  I find the 1:19 or 19:1 ratio a bit high for my preference, but everybody has different preferences.

ryanverbena

Thanks @BillDL , that is extremely helpful!

I'll be having them professionally installed so will look into the appropriate conversion bushings should they be necessary. 

Appreciate the wisdom

BillDL

You're welcome Ryan.

ICBM

I would definitely want to see how much damage has been done before choosing new vintage-style tuners. It’s not unlikely that vintage-style ones will never really fit properly and look decent, in which case I might suggest something more ‘in-between’ with a 10mm bushing and front collar but a vintage-type key.