Best source for fender style bass machines

[Keith VanDen Heuvel]

I have recently been contacted by an old friend who would like me to build him a 5 string bass, and I was doing research on parts and have what I hope is a simple question for the bass builders on the forum. The bass is to have a headstock layout similar to a Music Man Stingray - 4 tuners on top, one on the bottom. I would like the machines to be as traditional as possible - and I prefer to use the Schaller tuners that StewMac sells, but they only come in sets of four. I called them and they indicated that they do not sell individual tuners. I looked at several other sites and it appeared as though the traditional style Schaller tuners with the "elephant ear" or "tulip" styles are not offered, either in a set of five or as a single machine. I have also seen the Hipshot tuners that can be purchased individually that have the same type of appearance from the front of the bass, but do not have the traditional look from the rear. (I could also buy two sets of Schallers for the same price as five individual Hipshots) I was wondering what the builders that frequent this forum use. I want the traditional look, but do not want "cheap" tuners since this build is not for me - I want all of the components to be high quality. I have looked at StewMac, LMI, Warmoth, GuitarFetish, AllParts, and a few other places and none of these appear to have what I am looking for.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Peter Wilcox]

Looks like the Schallers are available in Europe, but with a hefty shipping charge to the US. The only ones I can find here in the US are the cheapies, from $23 a set (4L/1R) to individual tuners at $9 to $14 apiece, available in either L or R. Sorry. I just use cheapies myself, as they have a pretty simple function and don't fail.

[David King]

I don't care much for the Schallers myself. They are heavy and take a special drilling template to install. I'd recommend Gotohs through Allparts or Hipshots through Hipshot. The lower-end Schallers are terrible, they are by far the most failure-prone bass key as any Warwick owner can tell you.