Kluson locking tuners

KennyLusk · Post by **KennyLusk** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 1:46 pm

I rarely post anything about new products I try out but for those of you who love the elegance of original Kluson tuners on your Strat: the company that's producing Kluson replacement tuning machines is now offering Kluson style tuners that have a locking mechanism. The tuners are actually made by Gotoh and are quite impressive.

I took a chance and ordered a set of these locking Kluson tuners for my new strat neck from warmoth ('59 roundback profile), installed them, and have been using them for 2 weeks now with excellent results. The only pain in the butt was installing them on a new neck which required pre-drilling the holes and very carefully installing the new screws. But if you're replacing existing tuners, of course, there's no drilling involved and installation is a lot less "precarious".

They're absolutely beautiful and the locking mechanism works like a charm. One word of advice though (IMO) would be to use sturdy screws from another supplier like maybe Callaham. I wasn't impressed with the screws that shipped from wdmusic so I used screws from another manufacturer.

Here's a link if you want a look-see: http://www.wdmusic.com/vintage_locking_ ... 3_prd1.htm

inverseroom · Post by **inverseroom** » Sun Oct 29, 2006 2:07 pm

Thanks dude! I agree that Kluson's screws are crap. I have broken the heads off many times.

Callaham is my hero.

mingus2112 · Post by **mingus2112** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 5:49 am

I see they also offer the 3+3 Kluson style for Gibson guitars. Unfortunately, it looks as if they only come in gold? I just got a Tokai Love Rock (i'm a fender guy and never thought I could fall in love with a Gibson!) who's tuners have barely enough pole for one wrapping. So WEIRD. These would be nice if they had nickel! (or chrome)

I'm Painting Again · Post by **I'm Painting Again** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 10:01 am

locking tuners are awesome..

KennyLusk · Post by **KennyLusk** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 8:50 pm

mingus2112 wrote:I see they also offer the 3+3 Kluson style for Gibson guitars. Unfortunately, it looks as if they only come in gold? I just got a Tokai Love Rock (i'm a fender guy and never thought I could fall in love with a Gibson!) who's tuners have barely enough pole for one wrapping. So WEIRD. These would be nice if they had nickel! (or chrome)

The Kluson's only wrap 1 turn or less too but that's how they're designed to function. They grab onto that string and don't let go. At first I thought "no way this is gonna work", but my strat stays totally in tune now. To me it's weird.

How do you like the Tokai mingus? I've heard great things about their tone and feel. To me it looks like the kluson style tuners that come with the tokai's are gotoh tuners. Do they stay in tune for you?

IR, you're right man. I had 2 of the kluson screws break off during installation and had to painstakingly extract them and upgrade to better screws. Live and learn.

inverseroom · Post by **inverseroom** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 4:45 am

Kenny, how did you extract them? I ended up drilling through mine and putting in larger screws...one just never want all the way in, and the tuners are installed slightly lopsided. It pisses me off every time I see it...

KennyLusk · Post by **KennyLusk** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 12:50 pm

inverseroom wrote:Kenny, how did you extract them? I ended up drilling through mine and putting in larger screws...one just never want all the way in, and the tuners are installed slightly lopsided. It pisses me off every time I see it...

I tapped a starting point with one of those weighted automatic center punches, carefully-slowly-patiently drilled into the embedded screw with a 1/16" DeWalt titanium split point bit, and a #1 black & decker screw extractor. I was able to use standard tuner screws I bought from tubesandmore.com which is a local vendor here in Mesa. (actual name is Vintage Electronic Supply).

I wanted to use callaham screws but couldn't wait for delivery. Yeah, I was pretty pissed considering this was a virgin custom strat neck from warmoth but rescued the situation with a little patience and luck.

nlmd311 · Post by **nlmd311** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 4:27 pm

Just remembered this topic as I am now trying to find a set of these locking Kluson tuners for my Telecaster. Looks like: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Guit ... ml#details

has the best deal on them currently. Just wanted to bump this up and update it a bit in case anyone else was interested.
I can't wait to get them!

Thanks for starting this topic, KennyLusk. Up until you had I didn't know there were locking Kluson-type tuning machines around and was about to replace mine with just some standard replacements.

-Darrill

KennyLusk · Post by **KennyLusk** » Sun Jan 28, 2007 11:31 am

nlmd311 wrote:Just remembered this topic as I am now trying to find a set of these locking Kluson tuners for my Telecaster. Looks like: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Guit ... ml#details

has the best deal on them currently. Just wanted to bump this up and update it a bit in case anyone else was interested.
I can't wait to get them!

Thanks for starting this topic, KennyLusk. Up until you had I didn't know there were locking Kluson-type tuning machines around and was about to replace mine with just some standard replacements.

-Darrill

Damn! That's alot less than what I paid for them at WDMusic. Granted, they were an exclusive product when I bought them but there's a big difference between $99 and $57. You got a killer deal through stewmac. They're so elegant, I love 'em. And they phreakin stay in tune. They definitely do the job as advertised. Glad you found em.

nlmd311 · Post by **nlmd311** » Sun Jan 28, 2007 11:37 am

Awesome.
That is why I had to post this. A few more people are carrying them now other than WD, but most of them are charging about 20% or so above what they are. I was glad I kept looking though and found the StewMac deal. I was just about to go ahead and buy them through WD but they didn't have the Nickel in stock and I really didn't want the black or gold.

So get back up there, topic. Let the people know!

-Darrill

PT · Post by PT » Mon Jan 29, 2007 2:19 pm

Hey, does anyone find that the string break over the nut with these tuners on a Strat or Tele is just not right? I seem to remember getting these tuners from Stew Mac a few years ago, but they wouldn't work right on the guitar I was building. The 5th and 6th strings, especially, had barely any break and would pop out of the nut while playing.

Maybe these are different tuners? But I seem to remember getting "vintage" style locking tuners.

UXB · Post by **UXB** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 3:20 pm

PT wrote:Hey, does anyone find that the string break over the nut with these tuners on a Strat or Tele is just not right? I seem to remember getting these tuners from Stew Mac a few years ago, but they wouldn't work right on the guitar I was building. The 5th and 6th strings, especially, had barely any break and would pop out of the nut while playing.

Maybe these are different tuners? But I seem to remember getting "vintage" style locking tuners.

Hmmm...No string tree? I assume you are speaking of the B and High E strings?

If you are trying to go without a string tree, 2 things can help:
1. Make a new nut, and cut the slots precisely with graduated files, making sure the break angle is just right. These edge cut files make a very nice slot which holds the string well.

2.Someone once made a wedge shaped shim which went between the tuners and headstock, thus chaging the heights of the tuning machines on the front. I'm not a fan, but I know it existed once.

Best,
H

KennyLusk · Post by **KennyLusk** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 6:01 pm

I installed a string tree and haven't had any problems at all. I don't bend the high E very much but do bend the hell outta the B and G string but I have a fresh new nut on a new neck from Warmoth.

PT · Post by PT » Tue Jan 30, 2007 12:13 pm

UXB wrote:
PT wrote:Hey, does anyone find that the string break over the nut with these tuners on a Strat or Tele is just not right? I seem to remember getting these tuners from Stew Mac a few years ago, but they wouldn't work right on the guitar I was building. The 5th and 6th strings, especially, had barely any break and would pop out of the nut while playing.

Maybe these are different tuners? But I seem to remember getting "vintage" style locking tuners.
Hmmm...No string tree? I assume you are speaking of the B and High E strings?

If you are trying to go without a string tree, 2 things can help:
1. Make a new nut, and cut the slots precisely with graduated files, making sure the break angle is just right. These edge cut files make a very nice slot which holds the string well.

2.Someone once made a wedge shaped shim which went between the tuners and headstock, thus chaging the heights of the tuning machines on the front. I'm not a fan, but I know it existed once.

Best,
H

No, I'm talking about the low E and A strings. On those strings, the wraps down the post give you the break angle you need. But on the locking tuners I had, since these only wrapped the string around like half a turn, the angle from nut to where they went through the locking post was not right. It seemed that the posts on the tuners needed to be shorter to make the strings break properly over the nut.

So on the tuners I had, I would have needed that shim to make the posts not come through the headstock as much. But that seems to be too much complication for the convenience of locking tuners.

But tell me, these vintage-style locking tuners; the low E and A string are looking fine on your Strats and Teles?

KennyLusk · Post by **KennyLusk** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 4:11 pm

Yeah, for me, it was kind of weird to get tused to only having 1 wrap/turn or less on the tuners but that's just how the locking mechanism is designed and it does hold true as it's designed to do.

No problems with the angle of the strings for the low E and A string with these tuners for me so far (3 months+). Looks like a normal angle to me and I've had no problems at all.

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