Tuning machines, also called machine heads or tuning gears or simply tuners, are the gear-driven tuners used on guitars and mandolins and such. They use a worm-gear mechanism for stability and precision in the tuning process. Tuning machines are normally sold in sets of six for guitar, four for bass, etcetera, but we sell them individually so you can purchase however many you need for your project, be it a seven-string kerschnozzle or an eleven-string kerschnizzle.

Most tuning machines come in two orientations – left and right. The “left” ones would normally go on the left side of an instrument’s headstock as seen from the front; the right ones on the right side. Many guitars, for example, have three left and three right, while other guitars have six left – that is, six machines in a slanted line along the left side of the headstock. Six right can also be done, but is not common. In practice you can get away with having a “left” machine positioned on the right side of the headstock, or vise verse. However, this may contribute to an unsymmetrical appearance (e.g., a guitar head with three “lefts” on the left and another three “lefts” on the right would look unsymmetrical).

Most of what we sell are individual tuning machines. This gives you the greatest flexibility as to how many tuners to have and how to position them on your instrument. However, some instruments traditionally use six or eight or twelve tuning machines mounted on a pair of brackets – e.g., classical guitars traditionally use two bracket-mounted assemblies of three gears each instead of individual tuners. Similarly, many mandolins use two brackets with four. In addition to our individual tuners, we carry an economically priced classical guitar set.

Our tuning machines come with mounting screws, except the ones that don’t need them. The higher quality ones come with bushings (metal collars that fit around the post to improve appearance and reduce wear), as well as washers as needed.

Back to tuning machines product page