Bryan or you other experts: I have a great '93 D2H. It has Kluson tuners that are a little loose (you don't really notice it when the string is under full tension). The strings stay in tune pretty good with the low E more prone to go a little flat. Should I replace them with Waverleys? Would this adversely affect the "original" condition of the guitar? Any impact on tone? I just want the best for the guitar and don't mind spending the money to upgrade if it's really worth it. Thanks, Chuck

Just get new ones from StewMac: http://www.stewmac.com I like the ones with the "scalloped" buttons- easier to turn.

Waverlies will not cover the old footprint and have different screw hole locations. You can use a small needle file and hog out the tuner holes, rather than re-drill the peghead, but you're still not going to cover the old "cookie-cutter" footprint. I considered putting Waves on my CW, and went with gold Klusons instead.

Bryan Kimsey
http://www.bryankimsey.com

Bryan,

You must be talking about the Gotoh vintage tuners that look like the old Klusons. They look like great replacements and they are a lot less expensive than Waverlys. Are they just as good a tuner?

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Guitar,_solid_peghead/Gotoh_Tuners.ssc

The link you gave points to the tuners. Those are pretty much the same tuner (might BE the same, but I'm not positive) that came on pre-93 Collings. They work pretty good. As I've explained, I'm not picky about tuners- I turn the knobs, the guitar goes in tune and I'm done. I have Waverlies on my Proulx and Martin D-18 GE (and had them on the modified '74 D-18) and I have the scalloped button Gotohs on my "Modzilla" D-28. It really doesn't make a bit of difference to me- they all go in tune and stay there. I might be more used to working with vintage instruments than many of you and vintage guitars with vintage tuners have a LOT of slop- you might turn the tuner 1/8 turn or more before anything happens. Oh, well....you can still tune. I do like the Gotoh Kluson copies, though.

Another good tuner is the Schaller open back. Still not Waverly quality (nothing is), but a nice, well-working open back tuner for about $35.

And finally, although they're not on the market quite yet, I understand that Grover re-vamped their open back offerings and _nailed_ it this time.

Bryan Kimsey
http://www.bryankimsey.com

Thanks Bryan. I'll probably just live with the "slop" for now since the guitar stays in tune pretty well and that's the objective anyway. Chuck