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Tuner replacement


jeff5341

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I have always liked Kluson Deluxe tuners with the tulip knobs on a Gibson. I am thinking about replacing the gold Grovers on my Songwriter with Klusons. Has anyone seen a Songwriter with Kluson's and did it look good? Also does anyone know, are the peghead holes on the Songwriter the right size for Kluson's or will I need to ream them out?

Cheers

Jeff

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The newer Korean made Klusons have screw-on bushings that should match the holes left by the Grovers. I can't say for sure about the small mounting holes... obviously the Klusons have two and the Grovers one, but the one common one might line up, which would be nice.

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Well, they are Kluson "brand" but real Klusons haven't been made in the US for years. The name was shifted to a Korean company. Ditto with Grover. Grover makes a good keystone/Kluson type as well. Schaller (Germany) started the whole repro thing in the early 80s with their copies of the old Klusons but with screw on bushings. They weren't 100% spot-on but they were a good (very good) tuner that looked right from 5 feet away.

 

Nothing wrong with the new Korean ones by the way. I have Korean Kluson replicas on my Fender Villager 12 string and aside from being and looking "new" I defy anyone to tell the difference. They fit perfectly and work fine.

 

Edit: I went looking for Klusons with screw on bushings and maybe they don't offer them after all. I thought sure they did. Maybe it's only Grover brand... they may even be made in the same factory, who knows?

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I just replaced the bean shaped GOTOH tuners on my Crow with the tulip GOTOHs. Looks much better IMO. Be aware that AFAIK the new tulips are only available in the pale green color. Some photos on the net have they looking ivory.

 

Cheers,

Les

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StewMac has the Grovers you were talking about with the modern screw in base, it even looks like the nickel one has white keys. Elderly also sells a bushing that can be used with vintage tuners 11/32 but still use the 13/32 hole without reaming. So now I just need to decide whether I want to go for the full vintage look or the hybrid Grover. Thanks for everyone's help.

Cheers

Jeff

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I would take off a tuner and measure the hole

 

 

 

you can either tap in a bushing in the oversize hole that's been grover'd , and the bushing id should accomodate a standard 1/4 tuner....or

 

go with something like this.....

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Tone-Pros-Kluson-TPKB3-C-3x3-Tuners-15-1-Chrome-NEW_W0QQitemZ110267027307QQihZ001QQcategoryZ41434QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262

 

I changed out the heavy gold grovers on my wm-45 to tuners like these, only with white buttons

 

 

they work very well...... I only had to add the top hole as the grovers had only one hole on the bottom , and it lined up ok.....

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