Kluson Tuners

[HonketyHank]

It seems that all the buzz about mandolin tuners seems to zip right on past Kluson. I know they look kinda clunky, but is anybody using them? What are their strong and weak aspects?

On a related note, it looks like they have a little bitty hole in the box over each gear. I presume that would be for lubrication, but I wonder what exactly one does to lube these guys. Squirt wd-40 in there? Use a ittybitty grease gun until clean grease comes out the sides?

Just curious. I have seen a fair number of new Kluson sets on ebay lately, but I don't see any builders installing them (or do they?). I might be willing to try a set if they aren't too awful.

[MikeEdgerton]

They make reproductions these days that are available but after seeing the way they were built I'm a bit of a non-fan. Take a look at this thread. Until Paul posted this picture I had never seen the insides. They've been around for years, they are historic but given my choice I'd go elsewhere unless it was a restore for historical purposes.

[lenf12]

One of the weak points is their weight; too heavy for a mandolin which is already a bit neck heavy to begin with. I replaced the Klusons on my '56 F-12 with a set of Gotohs and am much happier with the outcome. I do have Kluson (repros?) on my Telecaster though.

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

[MikeEdgerton]

I have them on my Tele as well.

[mandroid]

My old A 40 had some with the rotten button deterioration syndrome..

[Willie Poole]

I also replaced them on an F-12, and on another custom build mandolin, couldn`t wait to get rid of them, even gave them away free of charge to a another Café member that was looking for a replacement knob...I just didn`t like the looks of them, they seemed to operate OK but as stated they are a little heavy also and when using the scroll to hold the strap the mandolin seems to be out of balance or "neck heavy"

W.P...

[tomttomttomt]

I have a set on my Benko A style (1967). A previous owner removed the original Klusons and replaced with Grovers. I put a set of new Kluson supremes on it to be more original. Same design and size as originals but with new 18/1 gearing. A little heavy but very smooth.
I like them better than the Grovers.

[Billy Packard]

I recently had a set of Schaller GrandTune installed on a mandolin and they are as good as could be.

[HonketyHank]

I took a chance and bought a set to replace a set of generic economy Stew Mac tuners. Unfortunately the Klusons are not a 'drop-in' replacement. The Kluson posts are larger diameter than most and won't fit through the Stew Mac bushings. The bushings supplied with the Klusons are larger outer diameter than the Stew Mac bushings, too large for the peghead holes. I could get a reamer and enlarge the holes, but given that this was supposed to be a 'try it out' thing, I don't want to end up with loose bushings should I not want to use the Klusons.

Oh, and a Stew Mac peghead reamer is worth more than the Klusons. Harbor Freight has one for $2.99 that might be OK for a couple of uses, but ...

This is all too iffy for me at this point. Oh well.

[MikeEdgerton]

I bought the $35.00 reamer for installing Waverly tuners from Stewmac. It never occurred to me to look at Harbor Freight. Probably a $5.00 item.