Yamaha CSF3M or Yamaha CSF1M?

[Wellington]

First thing I'd do if I pulled the trigger on one is remove the bridge and put something Martin esq on it.
Interesting little guitars!

[jpricewood]

Just received my CSF3M. It definitely exceeds expectations. It is very easy to play and has great resonance for a parlor/O size guitar. I may have to steal it back from my daughter.

[Duff]

I agree. I have Gotoh 510s' on a couple guitars and the are my favorite tuners.

[gurroz]

There both very nice to play. It depends on your budget. I went with the CSF3M.

[Duff]

Originally Posted by PapaC

I went to Guitar Center to try/buy the CSF1M, I wanted a small travel guitar, but to my surprise they had a CSF3M with a clearance tag on it: $439. That pretty much made my decision for me.

Very very nice.

I would consider Grover vintage open gear style if it has vintage style boxy tuners, but if they are sealed tuners I would go with the Gotoh 510s’. Gotoh is a Japanese company. The Grover open gear tuners are very nice and came stock on my Yamaha A5m.

I really like the Gotoh 510 tuners but Grover also makes some good high quality modern tuners, as does Kluson.

Quality tuners are important to me. Most guitars come stock with less than great tuners; often difficult to turn and not smooth or accurate. My Alvarez af66 solid mahagony top came with very good tuners and they don’t need to be replaced.

I would anticipate that this csf1 might greatly benefit from a set of high quality tuners.

[vintage40s]

Originally Posted by Duff

... I would anticipate that this csf1 might greatly benefit from a set of high quality tuners.

I followed this person's advice and got the Wilkinson tuners. Awaiting an appointment with the luthier to install them.
https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...8&postcount=66

[redi]

I thought the stock Yamaha tuners were actually ok. Did you find a drop in replacement?

[gurroz]

Originally Posted by Duff

Very very nice.

I would anticipate that this csf1 might greatly benefit from a set of high quality tuners.

Why? I've owned several Yamaha guitars and have never had a problem with the tuners. The only modification I made to my CSF3M was to add a pickguard, that was just a personal preference.

[Thx2Pinocci]

I have been holding off buying one as I like to play with a pickguard and wasn't sure if I would have to take it to a luthier or I could buy one myself and put it on. Did you buy an over the counter PG or did you cut one to suit, or did you have a luthier do it? Please post a picture---would love to see what that looks like!

[Thx2Pinocci]

OK my bad, I just noticed that you did post a picture---it looks awesome. However, still wondering what PG you used? Did you cut one or was there one that you could buy that fit?

[gurroz]

Originally Posted by Thx2Pinocci

I have been holding off buying one as I like to play with a pickguard and wasn't sure if I would have to take it to a luthier or I could buy one myself and put it on. Did you buy an over the counter PG or did you cut one to suit, or did you have a luthier do it? Please post a picture---would love to see what that looks like!

My guitar tech ordered a standard pickguard, it cost about $15 installed.

[Duff]

Originally Posted by vintage40s

I followed this person's advice and got the Wilkinson tuners. Awaiting an appointment with the luthier to install them.
https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...8&postcount=66

Although the stock tuners on my recently received new crimson red Csf1m were of decent quality, I replaced them with a set of Grover 102-18c tuners, chrome sealed tuners with 18:1 gear ratio.

I very much like these tuners.

The stock tuners however were not bad and they 'were not' vintage style tuners but were instead sealed tuners with small stabilizing nibs instead of set screws.

The new Grovers are very nice.

In addition I put on new strings. Ernie Ball Earthwoods, 'Rock and Blues' 80/20 bronze. These are ten gauge and have an unwound G string for easy bending.

My Csf1m sounds loud and great thru amplifiers. A preamp is definitely not needed but would be preferable if plugging into something like a powered speaker that does not have sufficient sound shaping capability. My electric guitar amps and Fishman acoustic amp all have sound shaping capability sufficient for me to easily find the sound I want.

In the absence of an onboard preamp or volume and tone controls, a footpedal style acoustic or other preamp might be very handy.

[Duff]

Originally Posted by redi

I thought the stock Yamaha tuners were actually ok. Did you find a drop in replacement?

I put new chrome Grover 102-18c tuners on my new crimson red Csf1. 18:1 tuning ratio tuners. The stock sealed tuners had nibs and I drilled tiny pilot holes for the Grovers' set screws. Otherwise everything fit right into the peg holes without reaming. It was a very easy job to do myself and I am not a professional or expert. I do, however, have a lot of tools and I like to work on things and make things. I enjoyed putting in the new high quality Grovers'.

But the stock tuners were okay, it was my preference. My Yamaha A5m, by the way, has stock Grover open gear vintage modern type tuners.

In fact almost all of my Yamaha guitars have the stock tuners and they are of very good quality, smooth and accurate. The stock Yamaha tuners appear to be of similar design to the great Gotoh 510's. Yamaha is known to make great guitars and it comes down to little details like tuners and the comfortable and smooth necks.

[redi]

Interesting. I think I read that most tuners, certainly the stock Yamaha and Grovers, with the exception of a few (Gotoh, Waverly, Sperzer, a few others), are all made by Ping now. Be nice if they (Ping) would standardize for simple swap.

[Duff]

Originally Posted by redi

Interesting. I think I read that most tuners, certainly the stock Yamaha and Grovers, with the exception of a few (Gotoh, Waverly, Sperzer, a few others), are all made by Ping now. Be nice if they (Ping) would standardize for simple swap.

I don't know about Ping making most of them.

Cast tuners have 'casting marks' on them on the bottom. Sometimes 2 initials like DW or other letters. You can look up these casting marks online and the casting marks correspond and to specific manufacturers. I see a variety of non-ping casting marks. But Ping could have purchased the other companies and their marks.

I suspect that there are a lot of non Ping tuner manufacturers. Not all tuners are made equal. That's for sure!