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Single String Headless Tuner Design

#201
2groggy said:
How about a TB kick-starter campaign? When you know the price, come up with a proposal to accept pre-orders to fund the appropriately sized production run.

You are a commercial user, after all.
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That's a very kind thought - thanks so much for the implied praise!

For the purposes of this thread I am focused on sharing the design, as well as the progress of my "journey". There is a ton of information on the net, and here on TB, about building your own headless systems from scratch and my intention in writing about this is to add to the discourse so that others can benefit from my successes and failures. If anyone wants to avoid the hassles inherent is making your own and wants a set for their own usage please feel free to PM me and I will do what I can, within reasonable limits, to help you out. I am not planning to try and market and sell these tuners as a "product".

I personally consider this tuner design to be a sub-niche item. It fits my needs perfectly, but I have a hard time believing it would be a good fit for most builders pursuing headless designs. I also have a personal investment in this design...I like building basses where many of the components are of my design, or made from "scratch".
 
#203
I agree. I believe this idea is unique enough, amply well considered, and has passed through enough R&D to merit further design consideration, and to be marketable to the "general public". :D
Perhaps it's time to step up to general consideration and appeal, and possibly benefit from mass user feedback.
Maybe press the sale as a "beta" test of sorts, simply to "pre-test" the waters of market appeal, usage/function, and desirability. Request field data from buyers/users, get them involved in "the design club" - if half or so submit info...
Lots of real-world data combined with some capital for possible "improvements", production costs, etc.
Can't be all bad. ;)
 
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#205
I received a preliminary quote and it was more expensive than I expected, but still far less expensive than tuners of a similar ilk such as the ABM tuners. The machinist needs 4 weeks lead time to deliver after the order is in, which seems reasonable since they are doing this for me outside of their regular work. These guys don't do machining work for third parties, and I am a "special case". I did have a small bit of sticker shock as they were more expensive that I had originally thought, but the price is more than fair, and includes them being anodized.

All in all I am very pleased. I have a somewhat unique design that scratches my itch, and the cost is more than reasonable at about $16 per tuner when set screws, hex cap screws, and mounting screws are factored in.
 
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#209
Since they will be anodized, have you thought of departing from the quite boring colors that are normally available for bass guitars? I'd love to see them in blue, red or purple as those available for guitars. They'd make a powerfull diferentiator (that is, on top of your design particularities).
I'll be following this as I'm also quite interested in the outcome.

Good job!
 
#210
octaedro7 said:
Since they will be anodized, have you thought of departing from the quite boring colors that are normally available for bass guitars? I'd love to see them in blue, red or purple as those available for guitars. They'd make a powerfull diferentiator (that is, on top of your design particularities).
I'll be following this as I'm also quite interested in the outcome.

Good job!
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Personally I am focusing on black, though I am going to get a few silver as well. I ordered 90 black and 10 silver for the first run. That will keep me in tuners for quite a while, even if I suddenly found that my build commissions all wanted them installed. Thanks so much for the kudos! I will keep the thread updated as news develops, but it's going to be 4 to 6 weeks before I have finished product in hand.
 
#212
rondodunbar said:
GAS! :hyper: For those following this and the Rhiannon/Galadriel build thread, I chose to go with Michael's design even though it will add several weeks to receiving the first of the two basses. The tuners are that awesome!
Rondo
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You are too nice - thanks! If I can get work to calm down enough to let me get into the garage I can use a set of prototypes to get things drilled and moving. ;) I am hoping to have both basses completed sans tuners before they arrive.
 
#216
Michael,
I'm doing some design work this weekend on the 8string I told you about....
& without your tuners in hand I am going to have to rely on specs.
I know you have gone through a couple of design changes ....so just to confirm, are the ones you are sending me identical to this spec. sheet you posted back in the middle of this thread?
Thanks man.
C__Data_Users_DefApps_AppData_INTERNETEXPLORER_Temp_Saved Images_mrc-headless-tuner-v2.png
 
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