Replacing tuners on a Gibson J-35

[pjmacd]

I've recently acquired a Gibson J-35, and I like everything about this guitar... except the tuners. I understand (correct me if I'm wrong) that the tuners are Gotoh copies of a Kluson design. They have the white tuner buttons, which I really don't like.

What I would like to do is replace the current tuners with something that has "keystone" buttons, something like this:

http://www.stewmac.com/Hardware_and_..._Machines.html

Does anyone know if these would be a drop-in replacement? I've measured the distance between the screw holes on the current tuners with my micrometer, and they seem to be 23.77mm, as described on the StewMac website. Any advice is appreciated.

[Blueser]

Did you call Stew Mac? They've probably had this question hundreds of times.

[Brucebubs]

The ferrules are a push fit.
If the string shaft of the new tuners is a nice fit in the original ferrules then just leave them in.
Otherwise it looks like a nice easy swap.

[Wade Hampton]

PJ, if I understand you correctly, you don't have a problem with the tuning functionality of the existing tuning gears, you just don't like the white plastic buttons, is that correct?

Nothing wrong with that. I replaced some perfectly functional nickel Gotoh Kluson copies with butterbean buttons on my Gibson AJ simply because I wanted to dress the guitar up with some black Gotoh Klusons with white pearloid buttons, which the guys at Japarts custom ordered for me. So I understand the impulse, believe me.

One thing you might want to check before ordering any replacement gears is whether the tuners on there are, in fact, Gotohs. Guitar manufacturers change vendors all the time, so they might not be.

The way you can tell is the next time you change strings on the guitar, unscrew one of the tuners, pull it off the guitar and look at the plate on the underside of the gear box: if it's a Gotoh, it'll have "Japan" stamped there.

I just double-checked this on a few sets of Gotoh Kluson copies I have on hand, and they all have that.

Not that that matters, necessarily - so far as I'm aware, all the Kluson copies regardless of manufacturer should have the same mounting screw spacing. (If I'm wrong about that, though, someone who knows for sure should step in here and correct me...) But whether they're Gotohs does matter from a quality standpoint, as the Gotoh Klusons do seem to be the most accurate Kluson-style gears available.

Anyway, you've got some options.

The least expensive would entail getting some replacement keystone buttons, removing the original white buttons that you dislike, and melting the keystone buttons onto the tuner shafts in their place.

There are tutorial videos on YouTube that will show you how to do this, and while I'm glad that that information is so readily available, it's far more work than I would ever want to deal with, frankly.

Your other option is the one I'd recommend, simply getting a replacement set of tuners with the buttons that you want on them. That way you'll have the old tuners intact to use as trading stock, should the occasion ever arise.

I'd also recommend that, whatever brand the original tuners turn out to be, that you do replace them with Gotohs. A lot of us became very interested when we heard that a Chinese firm had purchased the Kluson brand name and was now manufacturing actual Klusons rather than Kluson copies, but everyone I've talked to who's bought a set has been disappointed in their performance: they're just not as good as the Gotoh Klusons are.

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

The ferrules are a push fit.
If the string shaft of the new tuners is a nice fit in the original ferrules then just leave them in.
Otherwise it looks like a nice easy swap.

Yes, they are a push fit, and you're right, it's easier to just leave the originals in place. I've done that more than once when the replacement gears have had the same finish as the originals.


whm

[pjmacd]

WH, BB and Blueser, thanks for your help!