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Post new topic Anybody Know What These Tuners Are For?
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Author Topic:  Anybody Know What These Tuners Are For?
Mark Helm


From:
Tennessee, USA
Post  Posted 21 Jul 2020 4:10 pm    
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OK... Well, I know they're '50s DLX tuners from a '50 Fender guitar... but which one? Never say a 10-string Stringmaster, so maybe an early Fender pedal steel?







They work fine, just trying to figure out who might want 'em. Thanks, fellers!
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Remington Steelmaster S8 w/ custom Steeltronics pickup. Vox MV-50 amplifier + an 1940's Oahu cab w/ 8" American Vintage speaker. J. Mascis Fender Squire Jazzmaster, Hofner Club bass, Ibanez AVN4-VMS Artwood Vintage Series Concert Size Acoustic Guitar. 1920s/30s Supertone Hawaiian-themed parlor guitar. Silvertone parlor guitar.
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Ian Worley


From:
Sacramento, CA
Post  Posted 21 Jul 2020 4:49 pm    
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Those would most likely be from an earlier Fender 800 or 2000 PSG, '63 up until '67ish. 1" center-to-center spacing, 1" long shafts.

Sho-Bud used the same Klusons on the later shelf paper Mavericks w/ recessed key head into the late '70s, probably on the later Fender/Sho-Bud guitars too, but I think most of those had two lines of text on the back cover vs. single inline text in the middle on the older versions like yours.
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Jim Sliff


From:
Lawndale California, USA
Post  Posted 22 Jul 2020 8:20 pm    
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Single line Klusons were made from 1958 - 1963.

The only 10 string Fender Guitars that would have had them installed were the single-neck 800 and double-neck 2000 made from late '63 until mid 1964 or so.

I might need them for an 800 I'm rebuilding as I'm unsure of the condition of my existing tuners (it's not playable at the moment). It just depends on the cost (I'm a fixed income player basically scrounging parts until I know what I actually have).

Email me if you want, or if if you're sure they're in perfect operating condition you could always post them on the Facebook Fender Pedal Steel Page - that's where most of the Fender players hang out nowadays.

Hope that helps -
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No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional
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Rick McNamara

 

From:
Michigan, USA
Post  Posted 23 Jul 2020 3:23 am     Fender Tuners
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PM sent!
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Jack Stoner


From:
Kansas City, MO
Post  Posted 23 Jul 2020 4:05 am    
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I bought a new Fender 2000 in Oct 69. It was the demo steel at Fender's booth at the 69 DJ Convention in Nashville. So they were still making the 2000 in 69.
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Donny Hinson

 

From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
Post  Posted 23 Jul 2020 5:41 am    
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Most references say they were manufactured until 1976. But the "Artist Series" non-cable models built by Sho~Bud took over in 1976-1977, so I'm going to say it was '74 or early '75 when they quit making the cable-operated guitars. The Artist Series guitars did have a similar tuning pan, but I'm not sure what kind of tuners were used on those.
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Jim Sliff


From:
Lawndale California, USA
Post  Posted 23 Jul 2020 9:21 am    
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Jack - they were making the 2000 in 1969, but the single line Klusons were only made until 1963.


They were "catalogued" until 1976, but according to old time Fender employees few - if any - were actually made after around 1970. The Fender design was considered very dated by that time, although many players have since discovered many advantages - ease of copedent change, zero cabinet drop, and rich, full tone.
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional
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Ian Worley


From:
Sacramento, CA
Post  Posted 23 Jul 2020 1:39 pm    
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The topic has drifted a little, but it's worth noting/clarifying a couple of things for posterity.

The 5-on-a-plate Klusons were used in the Fender 10 string guitars until at least ~'66-'67 and on Sho-Buds until at least 1980. I've seen at least one 800 (with 6646 date code on the pots, so probably a '67) that had different tuners, individual units with the Fender script "F" on the back covers, the back plates are a parallelogram shape. The knobs on those are slightly larger and more squared off on the ends compared to the Kluson butter beans. Fender contracted with Schaller to make the "F" tuners starting sometime around '66-'67, the ones in the 800 looked the same as the ones used on Teles and Strats of that era but with the smooth shaft. The PSG photos in the 1970 Fender catalog still have the smooth butter bean knobs like the Klusons though FWIW.

Sho-Bud used the same 5 on a plate Klusons on the shelf paper Mavericks in the late '70s-'80s, they are identical in every way to those used in the earlier Fenders except that the text on the back covers is slightly different. I have a key head from a '80 Maverick, SN 15412, that has them. I used the bass side set to replace the set in my 800 that had a bad one. Anything is possible, but in the absense of actual evidence to the contrary, it doesn't really seem plausible that Sho-Bud was using NOS tuners from the early '60s in 1980.

Some pics from my junk box - broken tuner set from my '64ish 800:



From the '80 Maverick:


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Donny Hinson

 

From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
Post  Posted 23 Jul 2020 1:42 pm    
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Ian Worley wrote:
Anything is possible, but it doesn't really seem plausible that Sho-Bud was using NOS tuners from the early '60s in 1980.


random thoughts...

Well, Fender bought in bulk, big time. It wouldn't be hard to imagine that Sho~Bud was using lots of left-over Fender-supplied stuff from 1976, from the Fender Artist contract. It would also be logical to assume that's why they redesigned their Maverick guitar, so they could take advantage of the left-over Fender parts and tooling.
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Ian Worley


From:
Sacramento, CA
Post  Posted 23 Jul 2020 3:27 pm    
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Donny Hinson wrote:
...It wouldn't be hard to imagine that Sho~Bud was using lots of left-over Fender-supplied stuff from 1976, from the Fender Artist contract. It would also be logical to assume that's why they redesigned their Maverick guitar, so they could take advantage of the left-over Fender parts and tooling.

That's definitely possible Donny. Sho-Bud built a metric F-ton of shelf paper Mavericks. It also wouldn't be too hard to imagine that Kluson was still making those tuners on contract in the '70s since there was a market for them.

It was stated above as fact that they weren't made later than '63. Not knowing what it's based on, I'm just skeptical of that claim
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