Quote:
Originally Posted by Telemarkman
Welcome and congrats on an absolutely great guitar  ... I'd say you have reached the top right there  ...
As to your question: The '52 RI has Gotoh tuners (as all American Vintage models), while the MIM vintage style models have Ping. |
The Jimmie Vaughan sig is the only MIM with the better, Gotoh "klusons", the Cray, all the Classics including the Baja, those are all the cheaper Pings.
All the USA AV guitars use the better Gotohs.
The performance difference is subtle; a lot of it has to do with hand feel, aesthetics, and long term durability. Sometimes a batch of Pings will be spot on and the difference will seem very small on a new guitar. Out of the hundreds of Gotoh "kluson" machines I have, 2-4 are not perfect. Pings are getting better, I think.
I have changed out the Pings on 7 or 8 MIM guitars and replaced them with Gotoh "klusons" as I really do prefer them. Not especially easy as the shaft sizes and bushing sizes are different.
Tell them apart by examining the shape of the button, and notice how the no business end of the button shaft sticks out a 1/16th on the Ping, but is close to flush on the Gotoh.
Enjoy that rig.