Machine head restoration on Fender 1000

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Joseph Harvey-Whyte
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Machine head restoration on Fender 1000

Post by Joseph Harvey-Whyte »

Hello steelies.

I've got a favour to ask....

I'm currently restoring a Fender 1000 and I'm looking for a single line, plate-mounted set of 4 Klusons. The side I need are the ones furthest away from the player.

Here's a photo:

Image

In actual fact, I only need the one machine head but thought it would be a long shot for someone to have one of these on their own.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Joe.
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Jeff Mead
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Post by Jeff Mead »

They are exactly the same tuner pans as the later model Stringmasters.

As someone who has spent a lot of time looking for parts for these, I can tell you that they don't come up very often and, when they do, they are really expensive! If you find a set for a reasonable price and you only need the top 4, I'll have the other 4 off you!

There's a thread here about how WD are going to re-issue them so you may be in luck!
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... ec10e411a6

While you're waiting for either of the above to happen, you could apply a temporary fix by just fitting 4 individual vintage Kluson (or Kluson clone) tuners. They are just held in place by the pan and don't need to be mounted on a strip. You just have to drill a hole in the shaft for the string to thread through.

Image

Image

For the bass side, you can just use regular tuners but for the treble side (as per your picture) you'll need a left handed set (or take the tuners apart and put them back left handed which I know Basil Henriques has done and even posted a video somewhere).
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Joseph Harvey-Whyte
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Post by Joseph Harvey-Whyte »

Thanks a lot Jeff!!

Good tip.

I'll have a dig around for some lefty tuners.

I'm sure I have some laying about somewhere.

Best.
Joe.
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Dennis Montgomery
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Re: Machine head restoration on Fender 1000

Post by Dennis Montgomery »

Joseph Harvey-Whyte wrote: I'm currently restoring a Fender 1000 and I'm looking for a single line, plate-mounted set of 4 Klusons. The side I need are the ones furthest away from the player.
You should try the Fender Pedal Steel facebook group...there's a bunch of people there that restore and repair these old beasts so you might get lucky ;-)
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Hear my album, "Armistice" featuring Fender 400 on every song:
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Hear my Pedal Steel Only playlist featuring Mullen G2 SD12 on covers like Candyman, Wild Horses, Across the Universe & more...
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Joseph Harvey-Whyte
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Post by Joseph Harvey-Whyte »

Will do!
Thanks Dennis.
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Joseph Harvey-Whyte
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Post by Joseph Harvey-Whyte »

Jeff!

Thanks for your advice.

I got 4 left handed individual machine heads and drill the second holes as you suggested.
It worked a charm!

Come by the shop soon and have a play if you're free.
I still need to return your data key
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Jim Sliff
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Post by Jim Sliff »

You don't need a left handed set.

2 sets of 3+3 Klusons (as used on Gibsons) work fine with 2 spares for each side left over.

I've replaced many with standard 3+3 Klusons. In fact, I rarely use the 6-in-line type as most sets available have Fender-style split shafts for 6-string, which are not the type you want on a steel.
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Jeff Mead
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Post by Jeff Mead »

Jim Sliff wrote:You don't need a left handed set.

2 sets of 3+3 Klusons (as used on Gibsons) work fine with 2 spares for each side left over.
As the OP only needed to replace the 4 on the treble side, surely a set of 6 left handed ones is better and cheaper than 2 sets of 3+3 (with 8 "spares")?

In fact he bought 4 individual lefties - exactly what he needed - so better still.
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