Kluson vs Wilkinson 3-on-plate

[guitarisrshevy]

So i have a slightly odd one.

I went to change out the Wilkinson 3-on-plate tuners on my Epiphone Inspired Century.
I brought Kluson Supreme as i wanted the 18:1 ratio and they are the original vintage plate tuner.

I swapped the bushings and the screw holes line up nicely but, the tuning posts are at least 5/32 shorter so that i reckon a max of 2 string wraps would fit before the string would have no where to go.

I've done some checking and most replacements have a 1 inch post height so would seem to have the same issue.

Do i live with the fewer windings and risk tuning instability or do i have to find a way to thin the headstock thickness to allow more tuning post to come through?

Apologise for no photos but i was in the middle of restringing and so put back the original Wilkinsons and strung up.

Regards

[hubcapsc]

find a way to thin the headstock thickness

I've changed out the tuners on two of my guitars
recently.

I looked a long time and found tuners that didn't require
any change to the guitar.

When you change strings again, maybe you could put
the Klusons back on on one side or something and
take a picture. A bunch of people on here might
have valuable opinions based on that...

A picture with the old ones on one side and the new
ones on the other, with the focus on the detail that
concerns you...



-Mike

[pickinray]

Originally Posted by guitarisrshevy

So i have a slightly odd one.

I went to change out the Wilkinson 3-on-plate tuners on my Epiphone Inspired Century.
I brought Kluson Supreme as i wanted the 18:1 ratio and they are the original vintage plate tuner.

I swapped the bushings and the screw holes line up nicely but, the tuning posts are at least 5/32 shorter so that i reckon a max of 2 string wraps would fit before the string would have no where to go.

I've done some checking and most replacements have a 1 inch post height so would seem to have the same issue.

Do i live with the fewer windings and risk tuning instability or do i have to find a way to thin the headstock thickness to allow more tuning post to come through?

Apologise for no photos but i was in the middle of restringing and so put back the original Wilkinsons and strung up.

Regards

I had a similar issue when I changed the tuners on my Martin OM-16 from the stock Martin branded tuners (which I believe are Pings) to Hipshots. I chose the Hipshots because they are 18:1 and they do not require any irreversible modifications to the guitar. The Hipshots have shorter posts, so I can only get about 2 wraps on the low E and A strings, instead of my usual 3-4. However, I have had no problems with tuning stability. The Hipshots hold tuning very well, even with fewer wraps. So I would just live with it. Trying to reduce the thickness of your headstock is major guitar surgery and could be very risky.