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Fender Squier Tele - Replace old tuners with Klusons
This is one of the old Squier Tele's made in Japan and a high quality guitar, but the tuners, which were pretty bad, were loose and didn't hold tune very well.
The customer wanted to keep a traditional look to the guitar, so he decided to have me install Klusons.
The issue was that the old tuners diameter was a fair bit larger than the Klusons, so the only real solution was to dowel the tuner holes and redrill them to the proper size. Of course I couldn't use a dowel any larger than the Kluson retainer sleeve, which fits in the hole on the front of the headstock, or the dowel would show, and the hole was already just a hair smaller than the retainer sleeve, so that meant I had to match the current holes exactly, which I did with a 7/16" dowel.
I glued the dowels in with Titebond®, trimmed them with a special flexible saw that doesn't mar the finish, then shaved them flat with an Exacto® flat blade. I added a little super glue on the back to be sure they were solid. I then sanded the entire area on both sides with a 800 grit sandpaper to even it out.
Next I mapped out exactly where I needed to drill the new holes using my trusty digital calipers. I also measured every hole to be sure. Measure twice, cut once. I used a Brad drill bit on the drill press to make sure I was right on the money, as any discrepancies would surely show once I was finished. I seated the headstock in my 3-way adjustable vise for precision, with a block of wood underneath it, and cork on the sides to protect it. Each hole had to be checked and rechecked before I made the cut.
Once the tuner holes were finished I installed the sleeve retainers on the top. A small amount of hand filing was necessary to make them seat without being too tight. They covered the dowels exactly.
I decided to dowel the old tuner screw holes, being that they showed with the new tuners in place, and it simply didn't look very good. I followed the same procedure doweling these holes as I did with the tuner holes, first drilling it out, then putting some glue in the holes, then tapping the dowels into place with a hammer, and cutting and trimming them until they were flat. Then I sanded again with 800 grit paper, but this time I also moved up grits to 1000, then 1500, then 2000. Then I used micro-mesh sandpaper up to 12000 grit. I then broke out the rubbing compound and polish and went over the headsock with the polishing bit on my drill until you could see yourself.
Once the headstock was finish I installed the Klusons. They were a tiny bit too big and not aligning properly, so I ground down ever so slightly the sides of the tuners that touched each other. After that they installed perfectly. I aligned the tuners with a straight edge as I marked out the new screw holes. I drilled the new screw holes and installed the tuners without a hitch. The tuner retainers covered up the dowels on the front, so it looked like a factory job. Once strung up the tuners performed flawlessly, were perfectly aligned, and nice and tight. Another repair well done!
A rousing success!
With the tuners in place you can't even tell any work was done except for the tell-tale old doweled screw holes, but they're on the back and you have to look up close to see them. It strung up cleanly, and the tuners were aligned properly and worked perfectly. The customer was extremely happy. In his own words...
Dear Fren,
I want to thank you for your outstanding work on my Squier Telecaster (and my other guitars you've worked on). Your attention to detail and committment to excellence is satisfying to see. You have a genuine feel and serious talent for this. I'm looking forward to your repairing and modifying my other guitars, some of which you haven't seen yet.
Thank you, Jon, for the kind words. |
Other mods, repair, and custom work available
as well.
To find out more, email me!
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