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Comment by Frank Carr on March 26, 2016 at 4:17pm

You won't get much of an upgrade unless you move up to sealed tuners.

The main advantage of the more expensive sealed tuners is that they don't have their gears exposed and are less vulnerable to bumps and damage. Also, usually, their gear ratio is higher and the action is smoother, resulting in an easier time keeping it in tune. Of course, you trade off some of the vintage look for a modern look.

I've found the Gitty economy tuners to work pretty well. I've got some on CBG's and diddley bows I leave at our antique mall booth. They're almost always still in tune when I check on them. The same is true of similar open gear tuners I've ordered direct from China on eBay. The only complaint about them is that the plastic button can break/chip off rather easily, requiring the whole tuner be replaced.

Comment by jeffrey ross on March 26, 2016 at 6:48am

I have found all the tuners I bought at Gitty to be fine. The more expensive ones are nicer looking and perform well. Another good source is Craigslist. I like finding people with collections of old guitars that they are selling off cheap. I then scrap all the parts off that I can use and resell the rest. I actually got a nice set of Grover tuners that someone had upgraded to then sold the guitar in a bundle of three for $50.