Waverlys on a J-35?

[blindboygrunt]

Glad I read this thread

Was close to clicking on a set of golden age tuners

 

Will keep my money

[MorrisrownSal]

While I can’t fault Boyd for his words, the GA tuners are in my J50. They are not That bad at all. Mine were stiff at first as well. They are less stiff now.

 

 

I just greatly prefer the Klusons I talked about earlier in the thread.

[j45nick]

The base problem is that the Golden Age tuners are poorly designed and built. They look nice but just don't operate smoothly and no amount of lubricant is going to fix the problem. The gear ratio isn't high enough and there's a lot of friction. Really pleased with my 2008 J-50 and the Klusons now. :)

 

I have one set of those. They were better after I gave them a shot of Tri-Flow, but are still fairly stiff. Pretty sure they are 15:1, which I think is the same as the modern Klusons.

[Boyd]

Just to be clear, these are the Golden Age tuners I am talking about:

 

http://www.stewmac.com/Hardware_and_Parts/Tuning_Machines/Solid_Peghead_Guitar_Tuning_Machines/Golden_Age_Restoration_Tuners_for_Solid_Peghead_Guitar_with_Bell-end.html

 

They have been on my 2008 J-50 since April 2014, I tried oil, grease and silicon lubricants on them and the improvement was slight. The Klusons are much MUCH better. Really no comparison at all, it's like night and day. They feel like a higher gear ratio, but maybe it's just a quality issue. I've had the Klusons on my 1965 J-50 for about three years so it has been easy to A/B them with the Golden Age. Anyway, they looked great but just never operated smoothly. Four years was long enough.... good riddance! :)

 

And the shorter shaft on the buttons is also a bit of an annoyance. The top button is very close to the headstock.

[j45nick]

Just to be clear, these are the Golden Age tuners I am talking about:

 

http://www.stewmac.com/Hardware_and_Parts/Tuning_Machines/Solid_Peghead_Guitar_Tuning_Machines/Golden_Age_Restoration_Tuners_for_Solid_Peghead_Guitar_with_Bell-end.html

 

They have been on my 2008 J-50 since April 2014, I tried oil, grease and silicon lubricants on them and the improvement was slight. The Klusons are much MUCH better. Really no comparison at all, it's like night and day. They feel like a higher gear ratio, but maybe it's just a quality issue. I've had the Klusons on my 1965 J-50 for about three years so it has been easy to A/B them with the Golden Age. Anyway, they looked great but just never operated smoothly. Four years was long enough.... good riddance! :)

 

And the shorter shaft on the buttons is also a bit of an annoyance. The top button is very close to the headstock.

 

 

If you are using the relic'd versions, that might be part of the problem. This looks like some kind of acid treatment to artificially age the surface. If the pinion and worm gears get this treatment, they will also be "aged" and there is no way they will run smoothly, as the surfaces are artificially roughed up. I have the bright nickel plain-end version, and the gears are visually smooth, and run pretty well after lubrication.

 

Imagine what would happen to a ball bearing if it got this treatment, and you'd see the idea.

[Boyd]

If you are using the relic'd versions, that might be part of the problem.

 

Good theory, but no, I have the bright nickel plated versions too. I posted a photo on the previous page.

 

 

Hey, I am just reporting my personal experience. Your mileage may vary. :)