Kluson revolution tuners

**Matt Cushman** · 12-15-2018, 12:43 PM

Has anyone else tried the new Kluson revolution tuners? I put them on my archtop and I have to say these are now my new favorite tuner. They are super smooth mechanically and light in weight. They are also very nice looking.

Kluson revolution tuners-p1010005-jpg

**lammie200** · 12-15-2018, 01:24 PM

I put them on my ES-390. The stock Klusons were pretty sloppy. I actually used the nickel locking version since the originals are nickel. Direct fit replacement. Tiny screw holes were perfectly aligned and I could keep the original bushings in place. Took all of ten minutes to swap them out.

Matt, you're an expert. My 2 cents as an amateur at fiddling with guitars: Hipshot 2 pin lockers for Fender type guitars and these Kluson Revolution for Gibson types. Both are high quality precision tuners with high gear ratios. Pretty wide selection of buttons for Hipshots as well, and no tiny screws necessary to mount them.

**morroben** · 12-15-2018, 01:30 PM

I put the Kluson Revolution for Fender tuners on my thinline Tele. I absolutely love them.

I'm trying the Kluson Supreme on a partscaster that I'm putting together right now. I'll have to report back on those.

**Hammertone** · 12-15-2018, 04:06 PM

I like the look of the screw-on plastic keystone buttons way more than the look of the tuners. Very similar or possibly the same buttons as from Hipshot, which fit Hipshot and Grover Rotomatic tuners. I just replaced the metal keystone buttons on my little Campellone with these, to tip the design hat a bit more toward Gibson, and think they are quite snazzy.

**John A.** · 12-16-2018, 02:19 PM

Originally Posted by Matt Cushman

Has anyone else tried the new Kluson revolution tuners? I put them on my archtop and I have to say these are now my new favorite tuner. They are super smooth mechanically and light in weight. They are also very nice looking.

Kluson revolution tuners-p1010005-jpg

I haven't tried them, but was intrigued enough just now to order a set. My Godin has some sort of Kluson Deluxe clones that
i'm not crazy about (not a fine enough ratio for me, some backlash, and the buttons have some play). I'll report back.

John

**Max405** · 12-16-2018, 03:01 PM

I’m a little torn on the look of the screw that is visible through the middle of the plastic caps.

One thing i am NOT torn about is how beautiful that headstock is. Man oh man Matt. That’s really nice.
I haven’t forgotten about you buddy.

Joe D

**Matt Cushman** · 12-16-2018, 03:27 PM

Originally Posted by Max405

I’m a little torn on the look of the screw that is visible through the middle of the plastic caps.

One thing i am NOT torn about is how beautiful that headstock is. Man oh man Matt. That’s really nice.
I haven’t forgotten about you buddy.

Joe D

Thanks Joe! Decorating the headstock is one of my favorite things to do on any guitar I build.

I know what you mean about the see through buttons, they are a bit too transparent but you can easily change the buttons. If you look closely at the grovers they are also slightly transparent.

**neatomic** · 12-16-2018, 10:49 PM

hey mc, why don't you mill your own tuner buttons?? be way cooler than most out there!

on an arch i still prefer vintagey imperials to those type buttoned klusons...or anything synthetic....aesthetics wise!

i like that they increased the precision, ratios and such and kept a slightly skewed vintage look...but felt it was an amalgam of hip vintagey styles rather than a truly hip style on its own

ok..but

gettin into the minutia here!! haha

beautiful headstock! great job!!!! as always

cheers

**Matt Cushman** · 12-17-2018, 08:54 AM

Originally Posted by neatomic

hey mc, why don't you mill your own tuner buttons?? be way cooler than most out there!

on an arch i still prefer vintagey imperials to those type buttoned klusons...or anything synthetic....aesthetics wise!

i like that they increased the precision, ratios and such and kept a slightly skewed vintage look...but felt it was an amalgam of hip vintagey styles rather than a truly hip style on its own

ok..but

gettin into the minutia here!! haha

beautiful headstock! great job!!!! as always

cheers

Thanks neatomic! I could mill some buttons and I may do just that but for now these will be OK for my needs. I wanted to try something different and to be honest I do not like the look of imperials at all. I very much prefer the styling of the Klusons.

These are also much lighter than imperials. As they say, to each their own.

**Jabberwocky** · 12-17-2018, 01:31 PM

Those Kluson Revolution look great, Matt. Thanks for bringing them to our attention. I have been meaning to save the old Klusons from my 50s Super 300 and ES-150 and 1947 L-12 to preserve originality, and these would do nicely. Those old Klusons don't work so well now anyway.

As an aside, I like your headstock. Really nice with all the curves in the right places.

**Matt Cushman** · 12-17-2018, 02:35 PM

Originally Posted by Jabberwocky

Those Kluson Revolution look great, Matt. Thanks for bringing them to our attention. I have been meaning to save the old Klusons from my 50s Super 300 and ES-150 and 1947 L-12 to preserve originality, and these would do nicely. Those old Klusons don't work so well now anyway.

As an aside, I like your headstock. Really nice with all the curves in the right places.

Thanks Jabberwocky! It sound like you have a good plan. The Kluson name is nostalgic and I like these tuners on a tapered headstock. I like to go a little thin with my headstocks and that is no problem with these Klusons. Some of the other brands need to have the sleeves shortened to fit a thin headstock a real PIA. I posted about these tuners because I liked them and it was a easy way to let you guys see part of my latest build.

**JazzNote** · 12-20-2018, 01:15 PM

Originally Posted by Hammertone

I like the look of the screw-on plastic keystone buttons way more than the look of the tuners. Very similar or possibly the same buttons as from Hipshot, which fit Hipshot and Grover Rotomatic tuners. I just replaced the metal keystone buttons on my little Campellone with these, to tip the design hat a bit more toward Gibson, and think they are quite snazzy.

Does anyone know if these buttons would also fit Grover Imperials?

**Hammertone** · 12-20-2018, 01:30 PM

Originally Posted by JazzNote

Does anyone know if these buttons would also fit Grover Imperials?

If the Imperial buttons are on Rotomatic bodies, these new plastic buttons will fit.
Each set of plastic buttons also comes with a set of Hipshot/Grover thread-compatible screws that are the right length, so I think you can replace any old button style on a Hipshot or Grover Rotomatic body.

**vinnyv1k** · 12-20-2018, 01:45 PM

Nice tuners but can’t take my eyes off that beautiful headstock. Bravo Matt !

**Matt Cushman** · 12-20-2018, 02:37 PM

Originally Posted by vinnyv1k

Nice tuners but can’t take my eyes off that beautiful headstock. Bravo Matt !

Thanks Vinny! I'm glad you like her looks. I like to try out new inlay paterns on an experimental builds like this was.

**GNAPPI** · 12-23-2018, 10:03 PM

I was going to change the tuners on my Eastman T-486 to Kluson revolution, except I found that the Kluson body has a neck that extends into the head, necessitating reaming out the back of the head to fit the Kluson.

The base screw holes on the Kluson lined up though. Just a heads up for anyone not replacing older genuine Kluson tuners it's likely not a drop in process for clones. I don't have anyone nearby to trust reaming my git out so I may have use the revolution tuners at a later date.

**neatomic** · 12-23-2018, 10:51 PM

yeah the old school gibson tuners had what comes close to 9mm holes...which was measured in imperial. not metric

the current tuners, like gotoh and current brand name kluson use metric..so 10 mm.. tuner post hole size..so some reaming needed..not a bad thing per se..but just know the 2 are not interchangeable

cheers

**John A.** · 12-27-2018, 08:34 PM

I just installed a set on my Godin Kingpin. The site I ordered from didn't specify whether they were locking or regular, and they turned out to b the locking ones, which I've never had before. Seems like a pretty useful feature, so I decided to keep them and install them. They are direct-fit replacements for the stock kluson deluxe-style tuners on my Godin. I was able to use the existing bushings and mounting screws. They work well, don't seem to weigh any more than the stock ones, and I like the way buttons look. So far so good.

John

**morroben** · 12-30-2018, 09:00 PM

Originally Posted by morroben

I put the Kluson Revolution for Fender tuners on my thinline Tele. I absolutely love them.

I'm trying the Kluson Supreme on a partscaster that I'm putting together right now. I'll have to report back on those.

I realize most folks are concerned with Gibson applications, but I figured I would follow up on this for future searchers.

For Fender applications, the Kluson Supreme are not quite as nice as the Revolutions when it comes to smoothness and precision. Still much nicer than any stock version of that style/look of tuner, but not quite at the Revolution's level. Still, they keep a vintage look and would be direct swaps for certain applications.

I'm still very happy with them and wouldn't hesitate to use them again in the right situation.

**John A.** · 01-30-2020, 12:40 PM

Zombie alert!

So I've had these on my Godin for a while and am no longer a happy customer. They developed some roughness, which I decided to live with. Then yesterday at a jam, the button on the g-string tuner snapped in half and left me with just the shaft and an F# string instead of a G string. I scared up a pair of pliers and got the guitar in tune enough to play, but I'm done with these tuners. I kept the originals, which are going back into the guitar tonight.

John