Everyone should take a very close look at their "Schaller" tuners - they aren't what they used to be by any stretch of the imagination.
Since I first begain playing back in the mid 70's, I've always been of the opinion that tuners were a very good first indication of the quality of the bass. Back then, it was harder to tell - provided it wasn't a Fender, Gibson, et al - if the bass was up to snuff but the tuners were a good clue. The Schaller tuners used on the early Fenders through the 70's, Musicman's, and others were a good quality tuner. Look at what Schaller passes off now as a Fender replacement tuner and you'll see something disturbing. Early versions had a full, solid baseplate that ran under the worm gear. The worm gear was held in by 2 horseshoe shaped retainers that had tabs passing through the baseplate and were peened tightly in place from the backside. This kept the worm gear tight against the baseplate, giving you that firm feel when you twisted the tuner. Modern versions aren't built this way. Instead, the baseplate is stamped with a square hole under the worm gear with the upper and lower retainers being loops of the baseplate material without anything under them. So how is the worm gear held in place? By a cheap ass rectangular tab of scrap spring steel with a round hole that fits over the end of the post and is held in place against the baseplate when the spur gear is tightened in place. This retainer tab keeps the worm gear from falling out of the assembly and is supposed to provide the friction necessary for the tight feel a quality tuner has. This design is flawed in so many ways that it's pathetic and you've seen the results but probably tossed them off as the result of it being a "cheap" tuner without realizing that it might have been a Schaller tuner all along. First, the metal tab isn't plated so it rusts and gets rust on the headstock in extreme cases. Second, since the tab isn't plated, the friction from the worm gear wears it's surface to the point that it creates a fine, black metal dust that tends to dirty everything in the area. If you can't seem to get the back of the headstock as clean as you used to, this might be the reason. Third, because of the wearing away of the metal tab, the tuner can loose it's tight feel as the worm gear falls away from it's mountings - Just the thing the tab was supposed to prevent in the first place. And finally, loosing a tab when disassembling the tuners for cleaning or maintenence puts you absolutely out-of-luck because there isn't anything that can be used as a substitute. Try punching a hole in spring steel if you doubt me. So, are there ANY benefits to this design? Actually, there is one that I know of and that is that the tuner can be reversed for left hand use easily, using the same parts. That's it!. Want a real let-down? Compare a cheap tuner from a Rondo SX Jazz to an expensive Schaller BML and you'll see the exact same design - but compare that to a tuner from a 70's Fender or Gibson and you'll see the difference. I don't know when the changes were made but it pisses me off that it's been slipped in under our noses without anyone making mention. Now I've mentioned it.
IMO the finest open gear tuners made today come from Gotoh. They make the full base tuners with the added feature of the allen screw adjustment screw on the bottom of the worm gear to eliminate the loose post problem the Schallers will eventually have. It's a shame but once again, the old standby's have succumbed to "cheaper is better" and we have to pay the price.
