Fender Vintage Tuners, Nickel (Set)

Modeled on the Kluson Saf-Ti-String tuners used by Fender in the 1950s. There are several manufacturers that make this style of tuner - including the resurrected Kluson brand, but the ones you want are made in Japan by Gotoh. They are the best ones on the market in our opinion.

For the last couple of decades, if you bought a US Vintage Reissue Strat or Tele, or anything from the Custom Shop that used this style of tuner, they were Gotoh.

We buy these tuners from Fender, and we've stocked them for years. Most of that time they've been Gotoh, but not always (Fender has been known to suddenly start shipping a different manufacturer's product, but without switching to a new part number). What we have in stock currently is Gotoh, and if that changes then we'll have to revise this product description! But right now we're getting the good stuff.

These tuners are a joy to use. Cut the string to length, stick the cut end down into the hole in the center of the post, and tune. No string ends to poke your fingers, hence the original Saf-Ti-String trademark. The original patent for this design was submitted in June of 1934 and a US patent was granted in 1936, they were subsequently manufactured by Fretted Instrument Mfrs. Inc. before Kluson acquired the trademark in the 1950s. So they are an old design, but work as well today as they did 90 years ago!

Tip: counting the distance between two tuner posts as one unit, we cut the wound strings 2.5 units beyond the tuner post they'll connect to, and the plain strings 3.5 units longer. Using the A string as an example, we would pull it up to the headstock (pull it taut) and note the point on the string where it passes the A-string tuner post. Then add an additional 2.5 units (since it's a wound string) and cut it there. So that would be halfway between the G & B tuner posts. We find this rule of thumb provides sufficient wrapping to provide tuning stability. Always wrap the strings down the posts, never up, and never haphazardly. Nice, even, side-by-side wraps down the post until you've taken up all the slack.

The tuner ratio is 15:1.