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I have a '78 Musicmaster and the tuners are pretty much toast. On one of them it's the gear that's failed, on another it's the threading on the post. Anybody know of good (any quality, really) replacements for these? I'm not coming up with anything in my searches. I don't really mind having to make new screw holes.

Thanks for any advice!

Chuck

Hey Chuck!

I know of these tuners very well! There is nothing on the
market that is a direct replacement for them, The mounting
pattern is specific to these tuners.
These are hard to find for a right handed instrument and
damn near impossible for a lefty.
The Gotoh GB1 is close, until you get to the string post
diameter. The GB1 string post is smaller and would swim
in the stock hole.
The least evasive replacement would be Hipshot 1/2"
Ultralite tuners. Just need to drill one mounting hole
and this would be covered if working stock tuners are
found to put back on.

Hope this helps!

Bill

Thank you, Bill. That sounds like a good way forward. No wonder I was coming up with nothing. I feel (slightly) less crazy now!

Here's a link to a number of Musicmaster basses on Reverb. Most of then have clover style tuners. Some of them are the style that can be switched to left handed easily. However the 4 shaft hoes in the headstock would have to be drilled larger. No going back later if you ever find originals.
https://reverb.com/p/fender-musicmaster ... gle&page=2

That is Right! I have seen some of the Schaller Fender branded
tuners on some! Here again, none of the tuners on these basses
would inter-change with the other.
Here are a few pictures to look at.
There is a Musicmaster/ Mustang tuner with a Vintage late
60's-mid 70's tuner.
A Gotoh GB1 to compare with
The back of the Musicmaster tuner showing how the key
is attached.

I did have samples of the other two, but not sure where in the
office it is. Sorry!

Thank you!

I'm assuming the Musicmaster tuners are the same as the Mustang right?
There are a few righties up for sale on Ebay, I wonder if they are reversible.
One of my tuners is very hard to turn and I'm considering getting a righty and flipping the tuning post but because those up for sale are also old I'm afrain I'll end up with the same problem.

Your tuners can probably be reworked... I would try this before modding or replacing. I'm happy to take a look at them if you want.

Nice, thanks for the video, I will try that for sure!
I once looked up a way to do that but nothing came up.
Will let you know if it works!

It can't hurt.

Tuners are simple machines... they don't generally wear out to the point of not working. But they need to be maintained.