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Grover vs Gibson Deluxe "Tulip" tuners ?


tsol

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hi

 

what is the difference , besides the design, between the Grover and Gibson Deluxe "Tulip" tuners ?

 

does it affect anything in particular? and is there anything wrong with the Tulip tuners?

 

i noticed all the expensive and "custom" recent gibson guitars comes with Grovers

 

tia

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Many of the "vintage" tuners on new Gibsons are made by Grover.

All the new ones are 14:1 ratio regardless which way you go.

 

My favorite tuner - bar none - is the Grover Rotomatic. They are heavier than all the rest, very tough, very well made.

 

The "vintage" style Grovers are made alot lighter and I've still seen a few come apart.

They are better than the originals, the 14:1 ratio makes them function fine.

I have them on my Custom Shop double neck, SG 61, LP Deluxe and SG 12 string.

They came on my LP Classic, but after I bought my ES-335 with Rotomatics I put them on the LP too.

 

Part of it is tactile, part of it is cosmetic.

I like the way Grovers feel, especially the kidney bean knob, but I think the tulip style looks more classy.

The plastic tuners just look cheapo cheesy to me.

 

Grover makes a mini-Roto that is 18:1 ratio for twelve strings and such.

I was gonna put 'em on my double neck but the vintage ones work fine.

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Note also that there are two styles of "vintage" tulip tuners. Production line guitars have bolt-bushings but the Historic Reissues have press-fit bushings like the old days. There's a subtle change to the appearance of the headstock. I'm not sure what the technological advance of the bolt bushing was supposed to accomplish, but you have to think it holds the tuner body on more tightly (as long as the bolts stay tight). More mass will affect the tone - not enough to notice as a single factor, but cumulative effects of different things here and there on the guitar can make a difference. Many many players swapped their original Klusons for Grovers in the Seventies, and now there's a tremendous economic incentive to rush around looking for the original tuners to restore them to "original" condition because of the effect that modifications have on vintage value.

 

I naively thought that Grovers were my favorite tuners, until I started reading guitar bulletin boards. Silly me, basing my preference on things like smooth function and reliability, as if it was important for a tuner to be able to adjust the pitch of the string!

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I prefer the tulip/green key tuners as well - seems to match well with the Gibson headstock shape. My SG has them and I have no intention to change them...

 

2809589663_029eb2cae4.jpg

 

 

Are the tulips essentially Kluson tuners? Or just based on Kluson look but made by Gibson?

 

 

cheers

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I go for the Grovers because they'll never break in the misfortune of a drop. More importaintly they feel so smooth and precise. They are my favorite of the two hands down. However, I don't plan on putting grovers on my '06. The other tuners do fine for me, but the Grovers feel like an extra luxury, when I want to spoil myself.

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  • 8 months later...

Hi Guys! This is a bit of a longshot but I have a mid 70s 175. The guitar has metal tulip button tuners. On the rear cover they have the word Gibson down the middle, the 'G' of Gibson drops down from the 'G' in 'ORIGINAL' that runs across the top edge of the cover. Under the cover there is a 'Made in Germany' on the actual tuner. I actually need a matching top 'E' tuner cos I only have five!!! Some character replaced it with a green tulip button!!! Cheers!

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I really like Grover tuners; very smooth and precise indeed. They came stock on my 1988 Les Paul Standard and I've never had any (tuning) issues with them.

 

I just prefer them over the stock Tulips on my Standard Faded and Les Paul Studio. I don't like to drill holes into a Les Paul, so I leave the guitars stock........

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does it affect anything in particular? and is there anything wrong with the Tulip tuners?

 

No' date=' they are just tuners and both are good. Some people will say Klusons do not tune as acurately or break or whatever, but that's bullsh|t. Both are good. And I really think it comes down to what you like more, I like how Klusons look with bursts and goldtops, and how grovers look with "solid" finishes (if that's a propper word for finishes of one solid color, like the black custom).

 

 

i noticed all the expensive and "custom" recent gibson guitars comes with Grovers

tia

 

Epiphones also come with grovers...

 

And of course there are expensive gibsons that come with the other (tulip) tuners: reissues and some special editions.

 

 

 

I actually prefer the tulip tuners myself.

 

:D Me too!

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