Taylor 6-string Guitar Tuners 1:18 Ratio - Satin Black

Sharp-looking tuning machines and a pretty good deal for machines produced by one of the leading names in acoustic guitars!Hard to provide you with any sort of qualitative review on the FUNCTION of these tuners as I have nothing to compare them to other than the factory Taylor tuning machines that came with my guitar, and are essentially the exact same design. Suffice it to say, they work and feel precisely as the tuning machines you’ve currently got on your Taylor guitar, therefore I’ll simply speak to color, appearance, and install.I’ve always liked the look of black tuning machines, but that until now, haven’t had a Taylor I’d put them on as I personally don’t believe they look good on lighter guitars or guitars that don’t have a generous dose of black/dark trims pieces, etc.But I recently purchased a Taylor Baritone (326e) and not only did it have the right “look” for black tuners (in my humble opinion), but the factory tuning machines it came with had seen better days!Though not entirely matte finish, what little sheen they have is pretty muted. They feel great to, offering a more smooth, almost silky, touch when compared to the polished nickel or stainless finish that comes on factory Taylor tuners.Installation is a snap! There’s 3 parts to each tuning machine: the machine itself, a small threaded cylinder with a bolt on one end, and a washer. Machine peg goes through the hole thru the bottom of headstock, washer drops over the peg resting on the headstock, and threaded cylinder drops over the tuning peg and through the washer and screws precisely into the base of the tuning peg (and within the holes of the headstock). Took less than 10 minutes to remove the old tuners and install these, requiring just a single monkey wrench or socket wrench (the same as needed to remove your old ones).I wouldn’t call these an “upgrade”, certainly not when compared to a set of Schaller M6 tuners, but considering these were just $50 on Amazon (and ultimately costing around $30 once I sell the old ones online), as a cosmetic and “newness” upgrade... well worth it!

Holds a tuning great much better than the original Taylor's tuners ever did

I'm not a huge fan of gold hardware in general because the fingerprints really show and the finish is not very durable. You usually wind up with a fingerprint etched into your tuner buttons in relatively short time. Most high end acoustics come with gold tuners. I was going to change to wooden tuner buttons or something but that's always a crap shoot trying to find the right ones. The black looks awesome on the 324 Taylors. Once I got used to looking at that, I realized how brilliant it was. It looks awesome, no fingerprints, and the tuners blend in with the headstock overlay better. I LOVE them. Function is perfect. 18:1 is a high enough ratio. These tuners swapped out on my headstock with no modifications, but Taylor has used different tuners on different models and different years, so some are 2 pin and some are 1 pin. Check one of your current tuners before ordering for compatibility next time you change strings.

Authentic Taylor tuners, they look fantastic. Although my box had been opened (possibly a return) with something like this it really doesn't matter because they will last forever!

I bought these machine heads to replace the chrome machine heads that came on my Taylor GS Mini koa guitar.Removing the old machines was surprisingly simple, and installing the new machines in their place was startlingly easy. The whole took perhaps 20 minutes, and I am no luthier!Assessment: my impression is that these machine heads seem to be more stable, have less backlash, and are smoother when turned. For me, this makes tuning easier and more accurate.Additionally, I was concerned that putting black machines on a guitar with dark wood, and with a black headstock, would end up diminishing the appearance of the guitar. Instead, and this is just *my opinion*, the guitar looks really boss now; an improved appearance!