Vintage tuners on Fender Tele/Strat

[Supa V]

Hi all,
I just bought a 2009 fender tele deluxe nashville neck as well as a 2007 strat deluxe players neck off ebay. Both the guitars that these necks were pulled from come with vintage styled tuners - split shaft, hole in the center of the post.

When I bought the necks the tuners were NOT included so now I need to get some tuners...

I see lots of auctions on ebay for (very similar looking) vintage tuners pulled from Fender teles/strats - 52 RI tele, 62 RI strat etc....

Does anyone know if vintage tuners pulled from Fender guitars are all the same spec - i.e. they would fit on the necks I purchased without having to drill new holes or getting new bushings etc...

Thanks!

[Wally]

You will need to get bushings that fit the larger holes of the modern-style necks. Stew Mac. OR.....in some way shim to fit the smaller vintage style bushings.

[Supa V]

Thanks Wally,
I went to the Fender site and noticed that the tuners on the Deluxe Nashville Tele are the same ones on some other guitars.

I found the following guitars all have "Fender/Ping Vintage Style Tuning Machines" listed under "Machine heads" in their respective "Specs" page:

Deluxe Nashville Tele (0135300)
Classic Series 50's Stratocaster (0131002)
Classic Player 60's Stratocaster (0141100)
Road Worn 50's Stratocaster (0131012)
Classic Series '50s Telecaster (0131202)
Road Worn '50s Telecaster (0131212)

So unless they have different types and/or sizes of "Fender/Ping Vintage Style Tuning Machines", I would guess that I could use a set off any of those guitars - though from my past experience in tinkering/experimenting, I know that just because they have the same name, it does not mean it's 100% swappable! We'll see....
:)

The Deluxe Player's Strat has a different machine head listed, so I may be out of luck in finding a simple 'drop in' solution for that one.

Cheers

[Wally]

Okay, I misread the tele part...just saw the 'deluxe' and not the Nashville. PINg? I would opt for Gotoh vintage style or 'Kluson' branded replicas at WD.
The Strat will accept vintage Kluson-types with the oversized bushing you can get at Stew Mac or allParts or WD.....

[Supa V]

The PINGS on my CV Tele hold their tuning well, but maybe they're hit and miss.... thanks for the info/recommendations, will check 'em out

[Supa V]

There is hope for the Deluxe Players Strat neck... this is a reply I got from Fender Customer Relations:

"If you had the vintage style tuners on the instrument before then the Gotohs should work without any mods."

Nice!
:)

[Supa V]

So in the end, Gotoh vintage tuners on both necks - a perfect fit - just a little tape around the bushings to keep them snug and in place.

[ron7co]

If you can spring for the locking tuners, it might make you wonder why you put up with anything else. I have locking tuners on (all but one) of my electric guitars (Gibson, Epiphone, Guild, Ibanez) but I make sure they are correct with the original tuners, so I can replace the original hardware without any headstock evidence of scratching, imprints, etc. The one guitar I keep the factory Pings on is my Nashville Deluxe Tele. I just love the feel of a vintage style round button knob in my hand. It reminds me of every (now) vintage Fender guitar I sold in the 60's and 70's (which I bitterly regret now). Some advice (take it or leave it): learn to trust your ears before investing itoo much in equipment. This probably isn't relevant to your initial issue, but don't get me started. Good tunes!

[Supa V]

Just an update on the Gotoh's....

I've had them installed for 2 months now with a few string changes and they hold their tuning extremely well, feel solid and have a decent gear ratio (I think that's what it's called).

[boris bubbanov]

Supa, how much did you have to ream out the existing bores in the MIM necks to get the 10mm conversions that accommodate the Gotohs to press easily in there?

I don't know why some one at Fender headquarters would gloss over the detail. If one just tried to jam the conversion bushings in there the neck urethane coating would buckle and the maple might split. If you don't use the conversions, the fit is way too sloppy for me.

[Supa V]

They dropped in perfectly with the regular bushings that came with them.

I didn't use conversion bushings since both the necks I bought originally came standard with vintage style tuners, so the tuner pegholes as well as the holes for the securing screws were correctly sized/placed - but I did have to put a little tape around the bushings to keep them from falling out - less than 1 full wrap around of tape.

One set was the regular vintage style, the other was the locking vintage style, both Gotoh, I prefer the regular vintage style (slotted head with hole down the centre) as I can't get use to turning the 'cap' thing-a-ma-jig when re-stringing.

[maches]

Sorry for a little thread hijack, but since there is this recent thread on vintage tuners I thought I'd use it instead of creating a new one.

I bought a set of Gotoh vintage tuners from Warmoth along with a set of 10mm conversion bushing from StewMac for my 2009 MIM Std Tele. The bushings fit in fine, but the tuners don't fit together and there is a gap between all of them. Is this one of those abnormalities like the vintage bridge crack, or misaligned ferrules that make a tele a tele, or is this not normal? I've installed the same vintage gotoh tuners from Warmoth with a set of 10.5mm bushings from StewMac on an Affinity Tele and they butt right up against one another.

[mellecaster]

Sadly..it's just the result of machining tolerances I'm afraid...I done exactly what you described, and had some butt up tight...I've done some Gotoh/Stew-Mac conversions on USA American Series Neck, and the High E tuner is almost falling off the end of the Headstock...It's just not a perfect world....but remember, if this stuff was too easy...Chimps could do it...

[maches]

Damn, I was hoping someone made longer tuners I forgot to order. The main reason I wanted to use the vintage tuners were aesthetics, but since they don't line up on there I might as well keep the modern ones on.

[930vet]

Originally Posted by maches

Sorry for a little thread hijack, but since there is this recent thread on vintage tuners I thought I'd use it instead of creating a new one.

I bought a set of Gotoh vintage tuners from Warmoth along with a set of 10mm conversion bushing from StewMac for my 2009 MIM Std Tele. The bushings fit in fine, but the tuners don't fit together and there is a gap between all of them. Is this one of those abnormalities like the vintage bridge crack, or misaligned ferrules that make a tele a tele, or is this not normal? I've installed the same vintage gotoh tuners from Warmoth with a set of 10.5mm bushings from StewMac on an Affinity Tele and they butt right up against one another.

Are these tuners really chrome plated as described by Warmoth? I thought they would be nickel, and they don't look chrome in your photo.

[birddog01]

Grovers fit nice and tight, it is a Warmoth neck though.


Wally

[maches]

Originally Posted by 930vet

Are these tuners really chrome plated as described by Warmoth? I thought they would be nickel, and they don't look chrome in your photo.

Not sure 930vet, I don't know how to tell. They seem to be of high quality enough for me. The set I put on my Squier are holding up very well.

Those sure look nice Wally, I think it has to do with the hole locations on my neck and not whether they are Gotoh or Grover though correct me if I'm wrong.