Vintage tuner options?

[John_H]

I've got an old harmony archtop that I recently modified. I really like the way the guitar plays, and sounds now. The original three on a plate unbushed tuners just aren't very good. They are the standard 1 3/8ths on center, and I've found several available. They are all pretty similar in construction it seems, but the quality must vary.

Any opinions on these?

[Sweetfinger]

Actually, the quality is roughly the same on virtually all the Kluson style repro gears that I've seen. Tone Pros/Kluson has a line of Klusons that are supposedly much better quality than the standard Kluson line. I haven't tried them.

[John_H]

Actually, the quality is roughly the same on virtually all the Kluson style repro gears that I've seen. Tone Pros/Kluson has a line of Klusons that are supposedly much better quality than the standard Kluson line. I haven't tried them.

Thanks for the reply. What I found searching around seemed as though Klusons are manufactured by several different companies, and the prices vary greatly between them. I think the Tone Pros were the most expensive that I saw. The Grovers that I saw didn't look bad. I'm just curious if there are any I should avoid.

[Plucky]

Hi, John

If you want to stick with 3-on-a-plate, then the options are limited, but if you can get them, Gotoh tuners are by far the better of the Kluson repros. Grovers are notorious for blowing up, and often suffer from premature cog-wear. I do a lot of warranty work on Gibson products(tuners made by Grover), and it's common to see even new guitars come in with DOA tuners. Gotohs are usually more solid and less prone to backlash. Good luck!

-Ron