Kluson Round String Tree/Retainer

I know some of the alternative designs are supposed to work better and all......but I prefer round string trees and I cannot lie......

 

It does look identical to the Fender part, yes. Any price difference?

It looks like it's half way between the Rutters 1950 and 1951 versions:

https://ruttersguitars.com/1951-string-tree-2

Only a little less expensive.

I'm a big fan of WD. I had a defective Kluson tuner and they took care of me. I give them as much praise as I can for that. Good business practices deserve being rewarded with word of mouth testimonials.

 

OMG, a Phillips head screw.

 

Cool, I'm not a luthier but I mod things and try not to ruin them. I get the vintage round retainer from Mojotone. Looks similar. I like the look.

 

I’ve always preferred this style too.

 

I prefer the vintage butterfly type, but I've got a round retainer on my CVC, which I think is pretty sturdy. I had it spare, and didn't have the butterfly, I don't even remember buying it either lol.

 

I think sometime design changes are done for the heck of it.

You know some new hire at Fender comes on board and the first day of work nobody knows what to do with the new hire so they say : Let them design a new string tree for the Tele" and the new hire goes to town with their heart and soul. At the end of the week the design is presented and the person in charge isn't aware that a new string tree was requested and not wanting to appear out of touch, and assuming the new person was hired to solve a problem signs off on it........... and so it goes. The round string tree worked perfectly, maybe with some minor tweaks.

 

If someone is making close observations of my non-vintage guitars....and they dare tell me my string tree isn’t period correct...they’re getting the boot.

But on a restoration? Yeah, that’s a good tip OP. Looks identical to the early ones.

I don’t know why, but I’ve always preferred the look of the round trees. I have the Callaham ones because I just do...no particular reason other than vanity and aesthetics. The only butterfly tree I have is on a 72 Custom RI. Really nothing wrong with the old design, IMO.

 

I need to change the cheap butterfly tree on my Bullet Special to one of those. I just like the look. Although I would use a Robertson screw.

 

I like both the round and the butterfly. And just to get this out of the way, not only are these "over engineered", they are ugly:

 

Fender calls them "roller" string trees.

Nothing on them rolls.

There are no moving parts.

 

The one on my Logan must not be Fender. It has moving parts, and it looks much nicer than that picture. I like it.

 

This is a roller that actually rolls.

 

I've read complaints that the two sides don't roll independently.

Seriously.

The internet is a strange place.

 

I liked the vintage round trees. I dont remember mine have the deep countersunk top though. How thick is that thing? what does the underside look like?

There's a guy with a supposed '56 string tree on Ebay, but it's the butterfly type... is that correct? I thought the old trees up until 57? 59? were round? Or what years were they round?