Firebird tuner question

[banjolandman]

Does anyone know what make the Firebird "banjo tuner" is? I have a banjo from the late 50's that had similar tuners (kluson Sealfast) on it, but someone removed them and replaced with grover rotomatics. Are the firebrid tuner the same foot print as the kluson sealfast?

[Oringo]

Yes, the Firebird tunersd are Klusons, and they are basically the same, but, I believe the banjo had two "left-sides" and two "right-sides," (looking at the headstock from the front) while all six Firebird tuners are "rights," marked "T" for treble. What is the difference between the lefts and the rights? I'm not really sure as I've only seen them in photos.

 

I've seen sets of banjo tuners (4) come up for sale on Ebay, and I believe several bass models had the same tuners as the banjos. Try posting in the bass section.

[Rick]

if i buy a Firebird, can i replace those banjo tuners with some grovers or banjo tuner's holes are bigger than grovers one?

[banjolandman]

Oringo: Thanks for the info. Kluson claim they don't make the tuner anymore, do you know who makes the reissues?

 

Rick: As far as I can tell the grover rotomatic will fit in the hole from the kluson and will use one of the screw holes to mount. So no extra drilling, but i dont think they will fit on a firebird. the tuners on the firebird are mounted horizontally, this would make the grover buttons unusable.

[Oringo]

Banjo- I don't know who makes them for Gibson these days, but they do come up fairly often on Ebay. I even have a few extras lying about, but only 2, I think.

 

Rick- one of the best replacements for the Firebird tuners is the Steinberger gearless tuner set:

 

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Guitar,_solid_peghead_tuners/Steinberger_Gearless_Tuners.html

 

That's a link from the Stew-Mac catalogue. You could order from the US or look for them in a guitar store near you. I've seen them in shops here in Paris. I've used them on one of myguitars and they are very light and work well.