Favorite vintage-style strat tuners?

[LushTone]

I’ve pretty much decided on buying either Gotoh SD91 or Kluson brand...
Any favorite between the two brands?

(I know Kluson offers an 18:1 or 15:1 like the Gotoh... I’m not so sure this is necessary for a classic strat build..)

 

[mayfly]

my preference is Gotoh.  High quality Japanese manufacturing, always great out of the box. 

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

+1 on the Gotohs.  Have never had a bad Gotoh part, and I only recently replaced the Gotoh Floyd on my TFS6 after 25 years because the knife edge had worn from so many years of extensive use.  I would say that is a pretty good track record.

 

[Rick]

Another one for the Gotoh over the Kluson's.

 

[DuckBaloo]

Saf-T-Post tuners are my long-time favorite. I been using the Kluson Supremes, just for the better 18:1 ratio.

But I can't argue with all the posts about Gotoh quality though.

 

[bagman67]

If you can still find 'em, TonePros was making a Kluson-style tuner for a while for a 10mm ream.  They're solid parts, but I think they were discontinued.  Probably a matter of Gotoh and Kluson hogging the market and difficulty displacing them from sufficient share to make it worthwhile.

 

[Strat Avenger]

:headbang4:I have a set of Gotoh vintage-style tuners on one of my guitars. They have the vintage appearance, but are staggered heights.

 

[frown]

Gotoh SD91’s for me too. With staggered posts or white button and nickel finish variations available, it’s easy to select ones that suit your build.

I even replace the locking versions with the standard split post ones.

 

[Rick]

I was just thinking about this, I think my favorite would be hipshot tuners, but swap out the knobs for something vintage looking like a mini butter bean.

 

[LushTone]

Thank you for the recommendations!
:yourock:

I’m picking the Klusons for a more functional “notch” reason. I currently have a new MK neck that I had shipped with the gold Kluson deluxes, but am putting the neck on a nickel hardware strat instead (Callaham bridge..). They are quality 15:1 gears, and what I prefer to the SD91 is the notch goes down to the center of the post/bevel. This makes stringing far easier and the wound strings don’t fight the break angle. (This is a superior design to me as a tech, not sure why Gotoh has such a shallow notch that only goes to the start of the bevel)

I’ve used the Gotohs on guitars before..I’ve had the SD91 with good results and tried unsuccessfully to use the staggered ones on a guitar (which have the deeper notches strangely enough :icon_scratch. But those staggered seem to prefer the slightly thinner headstock that is on the Eric Johnson strat and some other vintage style Fenders.

 

[AcrylicSuperman]

Kluson Revolution. They are vintage mount but a tad more modern looking. Have a 19:1 ratio too.