Finally replaced the horrible Klusons on my R8

[Dave P]

Not sure if anyone else has had problems with the WD-made Klusons on their recent Historics, but I have had terrible issues with mine. 3 of the tuners had 1/4 turn of play when the guitar was brand new. To Gibson's credit, they sent me new ones. Problem is that soon after, more tuners started going bad. It was getting frustrating. Never had problems like that when they were using Gotohs. I have well used Klusons from the 1950's that hardly have any play in them. So after dealinfg with this for a while, I got fed up and picked up a set of aged Gotohs and popped them on, they work so much better than the Klusons. No play at all. I'll admit the Klusons looked nicer, but if they don't work, adios...

 

[Red Baron]

When Gibson Custom switched to the WD Kluson's in 2013 it surprised me. They'd taken some big steps forward with spec updates for the Historic line, and a step backwards for their choice of tuners. Gotoh's are much higher quality than the WD Kluson's.

 

[Señor Verde]

I also replaced the stock tuners on my 2018 and 2019 R7 and R8 respectively with Gotohs. I like the ageing of the Gotohs too, not overdone. Much nicer tuners.

 

[seafood]

I have Gotohs too...they look cool and stay in tune !!

 

[Amp360]

Do they make good quality Grovers like the old ones? I would think a ton could be sold if they made some to fit a LP.

 

[LPR6]

That much play is annoying for sure. It’s the same on my R8 but another recent CS SG purchase has tuners with no play. Very odd.

 

[LPR6]

Just checked my R8 and R9, both have at least one loose tuner. I assumed all the tuners were loose like that. However, once I tune up to the right pitch, the guitar seems to stay in tune for hours, so they don’t seem to be slipping.

 

[Dave P]

When Gibson Custom switched to the WD Kluson's in 2013 it surprised me. They'd taken some big steps forward with spec updates for the Historic line, and a step backwards for their choice of tuners. Gotoh's are much higher quality than the WD Kluson's.

I get why they did it, but the WD Klusons are just not as good as Gotohs. I liked the visual aspect of the Klusons, too bad they are junk.

 

[bursty]

thank goodness for MIJ .........

 

[Any Name You Wish]

A couple of the tuners on my R9 have a lot of play, but they do hold the strings in tune. I agree the Gotohs don't look great, and I'm lazy,

 

[bluesky636]

My R8 is from 2014 so I guess from what everyone is saying, the tuners should be crap. Guess what. They work perfectly fine.

 

[Wizard1183]

You changed them. Now the tone is here you want it. Congratulations ?

 

[ADP]

When Gibson Custom switched to the WD Kluson's in 2013 it surprised me. They'd taken some big steps forward with spec updates for the Historic line, and a step backwards for their choice of tuners. Gotoh's are much higher quality than the WD Kluson's.

Where did you hear this from? My 2014 has stayed in tune since the day I got it.

EDIT: The tuners on a 2013-2019 Custom Shop Les Paul are perfectly fine and in my many dealings of owning and selling them for years at retail, I never once encountered a problem with them.

 

[Dave P]

You changed them. Now the tone is here you want it. Congratulations ?

??? I changed them because it was a pain in the ass to tune. I'm not the only one to have issues with those crappy tuners

 

[Red Baron]

Where did you hear this from? My 2014 has stayed in tune since the day I got it.

EDIT: The tuners on a 2013-2019 Custom Shop Les Paul are perfectly fine and in my many dealings of owning and selling them for years at retail, I never once encountered a problem with them.

"Fine" is subjective, and although they do the job that they were designed to do, they are not as good as Gotoh's. Gibson Custom is an ultra premium brand with prices to match, and therefore all of their components should be the best of the best.

 

[djcmusician]

I have had my hands on a couple of recent years historics that had a lot of play in the tuners. I do own a mid-‘23 R9 and early ‘24 R4 and the tuners on those guitars seem to be excellent so far.

 

[AA00475Bassman]

2 of my Historics 2014's both I tune sharp then down = removing slack , all I can say some people can't distinguish the difference between dog turd's & powder doughnuts when dining saying claiming to never have a problem tuning most likely is someone not playing in tune .

 

[MarcB]

removing slack

This is a tried and tested method.. i choose to simply.. stretch each string into tune.. as the guitar was in tune when i last used it..(with each string being normally being around +2 or 3c sharp) and if the guitar wasn’t used recently and the temperature has deviated that much.. then the tune sharp/in tune method is preferred.

People underestimate the value of stretching your strings prior to use..

 

[Wizard1183]

This is a tried and tested method.. i choose to simply.. stretch each string into tune.. as the guitar was in tune when i last used it..(with each string being normally being around +2 or 3c sharp) and if the guitar wasn’t used recently and the temperature has deviated that much.. then the tune sharp/in tune method is preferred.

People underestimate the value of stretching your strings prior to use..

Every time I stretch my string I get this tingling feeling. So I keep stretching it. It does go out of tune after a good bit of stretching

 

[MarcB]

Every time I stretch my string I get this tingling feeling. So I keep stretching it. It does go out of tune after a good bit of stretching

I wouldn’t continually stretch your string for too long as it might eventually just fall off..