Will the old drill holes be covered with new tuners?

Depends on the tuners you got and the tuners you’re changing to.
This forum constantly blows me away with their knowledge of technical specs so if you provide more details possibly pics I’m sure you will get very specific and detailed help.
I recently changed Squier vintage tuners to Hipshot open gear locking tuners and one of the former screw holes was left exposed, it’s small and on a rustic finish guitar so it doesn’t bother me in the slightest.

 

Now seeing a pic, you will have to put in additional screws for most vintage style sets.
If you can get a spec sheet on the new ones and measure the old ones you should be able to determine if it will cover or not. I will now shut up and defer to the experts.

 

Borrow a vintage tuner and try it for size. It may need a thicker than normal 'converter' sleeve to support the shaft.

 

Several places on line ( Stewmac and others ) have real accurate drawings with real measurements on them. How about that ?
Im quite certain that you will need to fill in the old holes , if those are your tuners anyway.
It will still be worth it , IMO. Old school tuners are much more cool in use , when restringing etc.
You will also loose up to a quarter of a pound .......Im a fan !

 

Ojjjj , didnt see this was your first posts !

Welcome to the forum !

 

Assuming you're looking at 50's style Kluson type tuners...here are the problems you'll run into.

The holes for the current tuning pegs are most likely going to be wider. There are conversion bushings that will take care of that. Odds are you'll need the bushings that converts to 10mm. They're not hard to find.
The existing screw holes won't be covered since the vintage style screws in at the top & bottom.

This video covers most of the installation process you'll encounter.


Pushing the bushings in can be difficult, I use one of these.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079H85767/?tag=tdpri-20
it will squeeze them in nicely w/out damaging the bushings just place a piece of soft fabric on the backside where the clamp meets the backside of the neck to protect the finish.

 

No, the Kluson type wont cover those holes. The tuners you have usually work fine!

 

Be careful pushing in the bushings - they should squeeze in with firm finger pressure or very little more. Otherwise you risk splitting the headstock. Use a taper reamer to ease the holes if necessary. Really cheap ones available and are fine for occasional use.

 

Nope.

I'd replace with Schaller using same holes.

 

Honestly it's not that hard...just go SLOW. I've done a lot of tuner installs on my guitars. From installing Grovers in place of vintage..and vintage in place of modern. The trickiest thing about the vintage install is keeping the tuners straight when drilling guide holes...a clamp with a straight edge will make that easy. I didn't do that the first time I installed Klusons on a replacement neck...thankfully it wasn't that off.

 

If you don't already have the tuners, have a look at these:
ClassicGear™ Tuning Machines
https://shop.fender.com/de-DE/parts...s/classicgear-tuning-machines/0990802100.html

the shipping costs for some flimsy bushing drives me nutz
these will drop right in ( except for the pilot pins)