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Gladys gets "new" tuners!

Joe Ganzler

Active member
Joined
Jul 18, 2001
Messages
6,911
When I bought Gladys 8 years ago, her original D169400 Patent # Klusons were "crumbled", as MOST D169400 Tuners are; either crumbled to unusability or carmelized/shrunken. I happened to have a MINT set of PAF (Pre-'59) tuners with nice, "swirly" tips that I installed on her; after all, with the tuners ON, they look identical. Meanwhile, I sent the original D169400 Patent # tuners off to Terry Mueller, where he installed a set of early Kluson original tips on them. They were still kind of "loosey-goosey" though, so I just put 'em in a ziplock and threw 'em in the string pocket, choosing to retain the PAF tuners for daily use. 6 years ago, when reviewing fellow Forum member "Burstmeup's" parts stash, he showed me a MINT set of original-tipped D169400 Klusons that he had scored - I immediately coveted them! These are virtually "carousel pony turds" in the World of Burst parts, as most of you "regulars" know - for some reason, the tips on D169400 Klusons almost ALWAYS degenerated - shrunken tips/crumbled tips are "the norm". Well, fast forward to three weeks ago, and Burstmeup contacts me, offering me said tuners. I thought about it for 1/10th of a second and said "I'll TAKE 'em!" After lemon-oiling the fretboard and polishing the frets, they found their way onto Gladys - here's the "before & after":
PAF Klusons:
GladysTuners_003.JPG

GladysTuners_004.JPG

Patent # Klusons:
GladysTuners_006.JPG

GladysTuners_005.JPG


What's interesting to note is that most of the original D169400 tuner tips that *I* have seen are NOT "swirly" - they are more uniform in color/consistency. I've probably seen less than 10 original sets of these in all the Bursts/Goldtops/ES guitars I've ever looked at. I'm MOST happy to have these - Thanks Burstmeup!:3zone
 

BurstMeUp

New member
Joined
Dec 1, 2004
Messages
4,850
... Well, fast forward to three weeks ago, and BurstMeUp contacts me, offering me said tuners. I thought about it for 1/10th of a second and said "I'll TAKE 'em!" After lemon-oiling the fretboard and polishing the frets, they found their way onto Gladys ... I've probably seen less than 10 original sets of these in all the Bursts/Goldtops/ES guitars I've ever looked at. I'm MOST happy to have these - Thanks BurstMeUp! :3zone
Joe forgot to mention that he flew to Las Vegas just to corral these tuners.

I even found a parking spot in the airport 2 minutes from the terminal!

Turned out to be a great day for "hangin' out"!

Too bad you couldn't bring Gladys. I'll have to pay another visit to Dana Point this summer.

And I agree, NO replacement tuners ("premium" or otherwise) look anything like real burst tuners! The real "swirl" is so subtle.

Anyway, it does me good to know they will be on one of the finest bursts on the planet!

One more look ...

1tx.jpg


btuners2.jpg


d169400b.jpg
 

Greco

New member
Joined
Apr 23, 2006
Messages
2,181
Joe,

What is the estimated time that these would take to degrade like other tuners? (assuming that they will??) and is there a way to prevent them from degrading?

P.S. Got any photos of Glady's original tuners?
 

Jumping@Shadows

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 11, 2003
Messages
1,330
Vey cool Joe, great you're obviously so thrilled with that guitar after almost a decade, and even the smaller details still get you going:salude
I had no idea those tuners were rare- i just checked my parts box and ive got a good clean set too:) i just thought of them as single line/single ring Klusons, didn't give much thought to the PAT No or code stamp element. They look identical to yours, though more worn- the tips look right too, and are also 'swirly', though not really translucent nor creamy coloured- kind of tooth enamel coloured i guess..
I was going to give them away to a buddy who's building a replica, thinking they aren't worth much.. It would be rude of me to ask you to reveal what you paid for your set, but could anyone chime in on a ballpark figure for these? I might just buy him a steak dinner if they're pricey!:wah
 

Greco

New member
Joined
Apr 23, 2006
Messages
2,181
Vey cool Joe, great you're obviously so thrilled with that guitar after almost a decade, and even the smaller details still get you going:salude
I had no idea those tuners were rare- i just checked my parts box and ive got a good clean set too:) i just thought of them as single line/single ring Klusons, didn't give much thought to the PAT No or code stamp element. They look identical to yours, though more worn- the tips look right too, and are also 'swirly', though not really translucent nor creamy coloured- kind of tooth enamel coloured i guess..
I was going to give them away to a buddy who's building a replica, thinking they aren't worth much.. It would be rude of me to ask you to reveal what you paid for your set, but could anyone chime in on a ballpark figure for these? I might just buy him a steak dinner if they're pricey!:wah

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1959-BEAUTIFU...QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item19bb098f22
 

TM1

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
Messages
8,349
Nice guys!!Worth the post for us AVH's!
 

tuberide

Active member
Joined
Feb 17, 2005
Messages
1,469
Raw linseed oil will keep that fretboard dark and beautiful. Smells like fish but I like it. I'm a commercial fisherman. :bike
 

53Goldtop

Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2002
Messages
739
Crap, you had to post this, I need a set of tuners too! But, mine need to be not so mint. AWESOME!!!
 

BurstMeUp

New member
Joined
Dec 1, 2004
Messages
4,850
Now, here's where the fun begins ... those tips don't look authentic to me - not by a long shot!

Click HERE to see the tips on another set he has sold. These look "right", plus he sold them cheap!!

Again, because of poor photos, no way to detect individual re-tips ... I won't even mention key-tightness.

Price? If real, he's only about halfway there. He even states a price of $2,000 from other sellers (low) - and he's right. So why are his $700 to $1,100 underpriced??

Well. at least he will accept returns, so there's mimimum risk.

And finally, I know guys in the business for decades that couldn't spot a messed-with vintage Kluson tuner if their lives depended on it.
 

Mcloudnine

New member
Joined
Jan 31, 2003
Messages
529
Joe forgot to mention that he flew to Las Vegas just to corral these tuners.

I even found a parking spot in the airport 2 minutes from the terminal!

Turned out to be a great day for "hangin' out"!

Too bad you couldn't bring Gladys. I'll have to pay another visit to Dana Point this summer.

And I agree, NO replacement tuners ("premium" or otherwise) look anything like real burst tuners! The real "swirl" is so subtle.

Anyway, it does me good to know they will be on one of the finest bursts on the planet!

One more look ...

1tx.jpg


btuners2.jpg


d169400b.jpg

That's really interesting. The tab on one side of your set goes out. I always thought the tabs were bent in. Both of the auctions referenced above have the one tab out and one in. Was this a standard or did it vary from set to set or year to year?
 
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