Dude Adkins Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 hi, i've got a 1970 gibson j160e that my buddy and i are fixing up, it was my grandpa's guitar and my grandmother gave it to me as a Great gift. the tuners on it are Gibson Deluxe tuners with nickel buttons. I have found some new ones just like them with pearl buttons, but i don't want pearl buttoned ones, anyone know where i can get new nickel buttoned or maybe could tell me how i could re-gear or rebuild the ones i have on it? they don't slip but the buttons are very wobbly, (at least i don't think they slip that bad). i'll tell ya more about my guitar later, we've been working on it and im going to pick it up from him tomorrow, im soooo excited Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimt Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Hi,, Stew mac will have replacements... they are a Guitar parts Store... And Not bad either... Im taking , your looking for Chrome Tulip Buttons , theyll have those in a set.. are these something like you are after? http://www.ebay.com/itm/KLUSON-DELUXE-WAFFLEBACK-3-SIDE-GOLD-TUNERS-GIBSON-/120833931508?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item1c224378f4#ht_1696wt_754 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dude Adkins Posted December 27, 2011 Author Share Posted December 27, 2011 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kluson-Vintage-Gibson-Style-Tuners-3x3-Pearloid-Button-Nickel-Housing-NEW-/120777683571?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item1c1ee93273 yess, those are sort of what i am looking for. the ones above are closer to what i am looking for, but with nickel buttons as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorod Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kluson-Vintage-Gibson-Style-Tuners-3x3-Pearloid-Button-Nickel-Housing-NEW-/120777683571?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item1c1ee93273 yess, those are sort of what i am looking for. the ones above are closer to what i am looking for, but with nickel buttons as well Hey Dude, I googled and looked around for some like you want/have. I found none of the newer Klusons with the metal tulip knob. I found these vintage ones on Ebay. I assume these are whats on it now....? http://www.ebay.com/itm/110798933828?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 There are other brands and body style tuners that have the metal tuner knobs, but then you would have to worry about drilling new mount holes and shaft to hole diamaters...etc. . Personally, I prefer the looks of the plastic tulip knobs. That is what was original to J-160E's prior to 1970. Perhaps you can get your old ones functioning. Not sure what to do about a wobbly metal button. Send us some pics of the guitar Rod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slim Chance Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 If all else fails, give Steve Kovacik a shout, he's got plenty of vintage tuners ... My link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorod Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Good Gawd Slim! That guy must be a tuner thief! I betcha if you bought a vintage guitar from him, it would have replaced tuners installed....BwaaaHa-ha But seriously (and I am)...If the original tuners on a vintage guitar are so bad that they need replacing, then what would be the purpose of putting them on another vintage guitar...Jes' Sayin' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dude Adkins Posted December 28, 2011 Author Share Posted December 28, 2011 hahah, well, i had an idea, but i think i'll just try to tighten up the ones on it, just get them open with the two little tabs holding it on, and see how everything in them are. they aren't really that bad, but it just bugs me that the knobs are loose and jiggly. i had an idea about getting new Gibson Deluxe tuners, and getting some nickel waffle backs with the nickel buttons, and swapping the covers, or just polishing up the covers on my existing ones, but for now, i think i'll just do with what i got, unless the get bad. And for pictures, i have the neck glued back on, and am going to polish it and buff it and make it loook gooooooood as soon as i get her unclamped and back in my hands. still at my buddy's house, until monday. cant wait!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorod Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Hey Dude, If the shaft is loose or wobbly it will most likely tighten up with string tension. Here is a link to look over... http://www.doctorvintage.com/tuners/50s_klusons.html Rod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 Retrorods's post and link are invaluable. Slop in the tuner when it is not under string load is normal for Kluson tuners, and does not indicate a problem unless you also find string slippage under load in use. I recently went through the replacement tuner exercise on my 1947 L-7, which had one replacement odd-ball Kluson, and five original single-line, single-ring, no oil hole, "pat applied for" tuners. Although the originals cleaned up well, I decided to use modern re-issue single-ring Kluson DeLuxe tuners, which look the same and fit the same footprint and screw holes. These new versions have a 14:1 gear ratio rather than the original 12:1, so they fine-tune better. The Kluson version (not the Gibson DeLuxe) also has the same diameter string post, so the tuners fit the original ferrules (post bushings). To the best of my knowledge, the Gibson DeLuxe modern tuners that look like the original Klusons have a slightly larger string post, and may not fit the original bushings. You need to accurately measure the string post diameter on the tuners you have to know which modern re-issues to go for. Measure the post length as well, as there are slight variances in these in some of the modern re-issues. Depending on the model of the original tuners, the outside diameter of the original bushings may be smaller than the bushings you get with new tuners, even the Kluson DeLuxe version, so I didn't use the new bushings that came with the new tuners. The one caveat about new tuners is that the string hole in the post may be very slightly lower on the post, which gives less room for string wraps. This means you have to be careful, when changing strings, to "lock" the string around itself with the first wrap, so that you can use a minumum number of wraps on the low strings. This is not a problem, but you should be aware of it. Even nominal "re-issue" replacements are not necessarily absolutely identical to the orginals. I ended up getting these from Musician's Friend, after looking around quite a bit. It wasn't always easy to know which version of the tuners you were buying looking at websites. Oh yeah. If you replace the originals, save all the old parts, in case some fanatic in the future (like me) wants to restore and re-use them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dude Adkins Posted December 29, 2011 Author Share Posted December 29, 2011 i need 3 bushings and tone and volume knobs, have the original volume knob, but it wouldn't look good with a new and shiny tone knob, so i'll go ahead and go all out. i think i'll just polish the existing tuners to match new bushings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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