sbpark Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 (edited) Never heard of the "Supreme" 3 on a plates and have always gone with the Deluxes. Just received a set of the Supremes in the mail that I will be using to swap out the tuners on another J-45 Standard. Just waiting for the StewMac conversion bushings to be delivered. The Supremes have an 18:1 gear ratio compared to the 15:1 ratio of the Deluxes. Aside from that and saying "Supreme" instead of "Deluxe" on the dust cover, they're identical. Once I get them installed I'll post some pics and give impressions. Edited February 22, 2021 by sbpark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 Look forward ^ in fact just researched StewMac 5 mins ago for some replacements for my better and better and better 2010 J-45 Std. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbpark Posted February 22, 2021 Author Share Posted February 22, 2021 (edited) 9 minutes ago, E-minor7 said: Look forward ^ in fact just researched StewMac 5 mins ago for some replacements for my better and better and better 2010 J-45 Std. Nice! I'm sure you've seen the thread I put up a bit ago about replacing the Rototmatics on a Standard with Klusons and how it came out. In all honesty I've never had any issue with the Deluxes, but randomly came across the Supremes for the same price and figured why not? Just get the StewMac conversion bushings, slowly ream the holes until you just have to use a little bit of elbow grease to press them into place and you're set. The Kluson 3 on a plate tuners cover the holes left by the Rotomatics and you'll quickly forget they were even there. Lightened up the guitar noticeably. Bob Colosi bone pins also arrived today. I'm not one to be a firm believer that bridge pins make a huge difference in tone, however I just don't like the look of the Tusq pins. They're also kind of flat/smushed looking and sometimes are a pain to remove. Have an appointment in March to have a bone saddle made to replace the black Tusq, again mostly cosmetic since the second you fret the note the argument of what nut material is better goes out the window. Guy is booked out a month right now which is fine and will give me time to get all the other things done myself first. Also have a couple pick guards coming from Greasy Groove. Ordered both the basic Gibson teardrop shape and the larger J-50 style guard to see which I like best. Never had a Gibson acoustic with that larger sort of batwing shape and this may be the time to try it out. Sort of bummed because I've made my own nuts and pick guards in the past, but between working and full-time grad school I just don't have the time to do all that right now. The Greasy Groove pick guards were very cheap even with shipping from Canada, so I don't have high expectations for them, but figured it was worth a shot to see how they are. Edited February 22, 2021 by sbpark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 8 minutes ago, sbpark said: I'm sure you've seen the thread I put up a bit ago about replacing the Rototmatics on a Standard with Klusons and how it came out. No, but will find it soon. Searching a bit here and there just brought me to this 2014 thread. Going for chrome ovals and if I decide to move it won't be the first switch. Done it on a Dove, which got aged golden Kluson waffles and on a Mart. D-18 not so long ago. Also aged nickel Waverly ovals went on that one. Big pleasure in both cases - haven't looked back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted February 22, 2021 Share Posted February 22, 2021 P.S. - never underestimate the effect of different pin materials. Science can hear it, , , hmmm, so can I. The saddle of course plays a huge role, but, , , again don't underplay nut material either. I know from experimenting with 4 or 5 variants on my 1963 J-45. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbpark Posted February 22, 2021 Author Share Posted February 22, 2021 (edited) Edited February 22, 2021 by sbpark 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbpark Posted February 23, 2021 Author Share Posted February 23, 2021 2 hours ago, E-minor7 said: P.S. - never underestimate the effect of different pin materials. Science can hear it, , , hmmm, so can I. The saddle of course plays a huge role, but, , , again don't underplay nut material either. I know from experimenting with 4 or 5 variants on my 1963 J-45. Sure, whatever works for you! Not saying it does or doesn't, it's jsut that these days I don't really care as much and don't nit pick my tone. I just put more emphasis on playing my guitars and enjoying them and less into going down rabbit holes and being a tone junky. Dont really care anymore and what I've found over the years is the one consistent thing that had made all my guitars sound better is actually practicing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 2 minutes ago, sbpark said: Sure, whatever works for you! Not saying it does or doesn't, it's jsut that these days I don't really care as much and don't nit pick my tone. I just put more emphasis on playing my guitars and enjoying them and less into going down rabbit holes and being a tone junky. Dont really care anymore and what I've found over the years is the one consistent thing that had made all my guitars sound better is actually practicing. There are a lot of factors in play. It's up to the individual judgement to find out where the limits go. On all parameters. If life seems too short to spent/waste time on the differences between tusq, plast, bone and horn, then fine. What does the next player care. The whole fun is to figure out and adjust all these factors - including tuners - yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbpark Posted February 23, 2021 Author Share Posted February 23, 2021 (edited) 10 minutes ago, E-minor7 said: There are a lot of factors in play. It's up to the individual judgement to find out where the limits go. On all parameters. If life seems too short to spent/waste time on the differences between tusq, plast, bone and horn, then fine. What does the next player care. The whole fun is to figure out and adjust all these factors - including tuners - yourself. Well said. I just prefer the aesthetics and feel of the tuners. I've done this swap before and can say confidently it made zero change in the sound of the guitar, but gave me the aesthetic I prefer. The next guy might swap out the Rotomatics and gush over how much more open and resonate it made their guitar. To each their own. Edited February 23, 2021 by sbpark 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbpark Posted March 3, 2021 Author Share Posted March 3, 2021 (edited) Hoping the conversion bushings get delivered today. It's been well over 2 weeks and the package wax apparently lost by the carrier, so StewMac sent out replacement bushings via 2-day FedEx. An interesting side note...I weighed all the parts I pulled out of the guitar (stock pickup and Rotomatic tuners) and weighed them. Then I weighed the Kluson tuners and the stock bushings that came with them (in place of the conversion bushings I'm waiting to be delivered). The difference was pretty impressive: Stock pickup & tuners: 13.7oz (387g) Kluson tuners 5.2oz (147g) Weight savings: 8.5oz (240g) That's a weight savings of over 1/2 pound. Now I'm just waiting for the replacement pick guard to be delivered. This guitar has the thick "flubber" guard, but I'm replacing it with a 50's style guard, so probably won't save any weight with that swap. Edited March 3, 2021 by sbpark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted March 4, 2021 Share Posted March 4, 2021 3 hours ago, sbpark said: Hoping the conversion bushings get delivered today. It's been well over 2 weeks and the package wax apparently lost by the carrier, so StewMac sent out replacement bushings via 2-day FedEx. An interesting side note...I weighed all the parts I pulled out of the guitar (stock pickup and Rotomatic tuners) and weighed them. Then I weighed the Kluson tuners and the stock bushings that came with them (in place of the conversion bushings I'm waiting to be delivered). The difference was pretty impressive: Stock pickup & tuners: 13.7oz (387g) Kluson tuners 5.2oz (147g) Weight savings: 8.5oz (240g) That's a weight savings of over 1/2 pound. Now I'm just waiting for the replacement pick guard to be delivered. This guitar has the thick "flubber" guard, but I'm replacing it with a 50's style guard, so probably won't save any weight with that swap. That's an impressive number, and it isn't surprising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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