Double Bass Replacement for Sloan Machines?

[the_Ryan]

I’ve noticed my Christopher ply is said to have Rubner gears. I looked on the Rubner site and didn’t see them, but they’ve worked just fine on the bass, and never seemed heavy.

You can see them side by side in picture 1. But I notice the posts are set opposite than on my Tosca. Notice in pic 2 the G string post on the Tosca is the closest to the nut, on the plywood it’s the second one from the nut. Is this something that will complicate things?View attachment 5198928View attachment 5198929

Some shops/luthiers “reverse” the tuning pegs by having the G be the lowest instead of the E (I think to decrease the break angle on the E string as it comes out of the pegbox?), but it shouldn’t make replacing tuners difficult.

 

[Brent Nussey]

I don't think it matters about the position of the tuning machines. That picture you posted is helpful though, it seems like you have the aluminum posts already. The part where you can see the end of the post sticking through the scroll cheek looks to be a silver/grey color. That's aluminum. Brass posts would be brass colored, like the rest of the tuner.

I hate to be pessimistic about your idea, but I don't think you'll find a drop in replacement for the Sloanes. For the tuners to work without binding, you'll need them to fit well into the holes in the pegbox. Different tuners have different post sizes, and most (including the Rubners I mentioned) are tapered. The Sloanes aren't, I'd guess for ease of installation. There just isn't the kind of standardization that electric bass tuners have. Maybe you could have a new set of posts made for the Rubner hat-peg tuners with the right size non-tapered shafts, but that's getting into more trouble than it sounds like you're looking for.

My lightweight travel bass has the Sloanes, and the balance is a bit different than some other basses, but I got used to it. You might find you could too, I think I'd give it some time. Maybe it bothers you too much. But on the other hand, having tuners that haven't been really properly fit and start binding or not tuning smoothly (I have experience with this too, on another bass) is even worse.

 

[edfriedland]

I don't think it matters about the position of the tuning machines. That picture you posted is helpful though, it seems like you have the aluminum posts already. The part where you can see the end of the post sticking through the scroll cheek looks to be a silver/grey color. That's aluminum. Brass posts would be brass colored, like the rest of the tuner.

I hate to be pessimistic about your idea, but I don't think you'll find a drop in replacement for the Sloanes. For the tuners to work without binding, you'll need them to fit well into the holes in the pegbox. Different tuners have different post sizes, and most (including the Rubners I mentioned) are tapered. The Sloanes aren't, I'd guess for ease of installation. There just isn't the kind of standardization that electric bass tuners have. Maybe you could have a new set of posts made for the Rubner hat-peg tuners with the right size non-tapered shafts, but that's getting into more trouble than it sounds like you're looking for.

My lightweight travel bass has the Sloanes, and the balance is a bit different than some other basses, but I got used to it. You might find you could too, I think I'd give it some time. Maybe it bothers you too much. But on the other hand, having tuners that haven't been really properly fit and start binding or not tuning smoothly (I have experience with this too, on another bass) is even worse.

Well, I’m not into creating a hassle or spending a lot of money on this. The balance of the bass does bug me, but if it’s too much of a thing, I’ll deal. They are great, but honestly… those thick paddles combined with the 50:1 gear ratio makes tuning it up from slack a drag. I’ve got a couple of other people to quiz about this, but I may just move on to finding a better pickup situation.

 

[Brent Nussey]

Yeah, the gear ratio is a drag! You can actually detach the paddles and turn the posts by hand, but that's not really that much labor savings, you really need a correctly sized string winder. I hope you find a solution that works for you.

The size and weight don't bother me much, but here's the tuners on my other bass

 

[edfriedland]

Yeah, the gear ratio is a drag! You can actually detach the paddles and turn the posts by hand, but that's not really that much labor savings, you really need a correctly sized string winder. I hope you find a solution that works for you.

The size and weight don't bother me much, but here's the tuners on my other bass

View attachment 5200289

Those paddles look much easier to deal with. Mine are the chunkier standard model.