Interesting, the most iconic Bursts had their Klusons swapped out for Grovers

JPP-1 · Oct 16, 2019

Jimmy’s #1
Duane’s Darkburst
Greeny’s Burst
Eric Clapton’s “Beano burst”
Paul Kossoff’s ”Lemon burst”
Gary Rossington’s Burst
Mick Taylor’s “Exile” Burst

I’m probably missing a few but that’s a pretty illustrious group.
Greeny’s Burst as we all know was eventually outfitted with sperzels.

Trainkeptarolling · Oct 16, 2019

JPP-1 said:
Jimmy’s #1
Duane’s Darkburst
Greeny’s Burst
Eric Clapton’s “Beano burst”
Paul Kossoff’s ”Lemon burst”
Gary Rossington’s Burst
Mick Taylor’s “Exile” Burst

I’m probably missing a few but that’s a pretty illustrious group.
Greeny’s Burst as we all know was eventually outfitted with sperzels.

Perry Burst (although the grovers may have been original, and Slash swapped them to klusons)

Tom Wittrock · Oct 16, 2019

Trainkeptarolling said:
Perry Burst (although the grovers may have been original, and Slash swapped them to klusons)

Highly unlikely. Is there a Burst that is proven to be original with Grovers? :hmm

Midnight Blues · Oct 16, 2019

It wasn't just Bursts either; both Frampton and Page's Customs (just to name two) had Grovers installed on them as well. IMHO, Grovers were/are better machine heads.

Dave P · Oct 16, 2019

Back when most of those Bursts got their Grovers put on, there wasn't an aftermarket parts market like there is nowdays. You couldn't call Allparts and get some repro tuners. Putting Grovers on was probably more out of necessity than anything else.

roxrob · Oct 16, 2019

I know Jimmy Page said he got grovers fitted because they held their tune better. He said that because Led Zep only had one guitar, any tuning instability would be a nightmare.

Rob

El Gringo · Oct 17, 2019

Tom Wittrock said:
Highly unlikely. Is there a Burst that is proven to be original with Grovers? :hmm

On these iconic bursts , were the tunners swapped because of the plastic tips falling apart or was it the mechanics of the gear where the artist were seeking more precise tunning ?

mistersnappy · Oct 17, 2019

Not a Burst obviously but the Goldtop Dickey played from 70-73 had grovers. Incidentally, the Burst he used during part of that time still had Klusons.

gakees · Oct 17, 2019

Didn't Rossington's have gold Schallers rather than Grovers?

Tom Wittrock · Oct 18, 2019

El Gringo said:
On these iconic bursts , were the tunners swapped because of the plastic tips falling apart or was it the mechanics of the gear where the artist were seeking more precise tunning ?

You'll have to ask the guys who changed them.

J.D. · Oct 18, 2019

It's true that some Customs (both pre-SG and SG body shape) came from the factory with Grovers. I'm not aware of any '50s bursts or goldtops though.

They were likely installed on these iconic guitars mentioned in at least some cases when the plastic tips degraded. They were arguably the best tuning machine available for retrofit back in the '60s.

Midnight Blues · Oct 18, 2019

roxrob said:
I know Jimmy Page said he got grovers fitted because they held their tune better. He said that because Led Zep only had one guitar, any tuning instability would be a nightmare.

Rob

+1.

Grovers were/are adjustable so the tension could/can be adjusted to keep the machine heads from slipping.

djd100 · Oct 18, 2019

J.D. said:
It's true that some Customs (both pre-SG and SG body shape) came from the factory with Grovers. I'm not aware of any '50s bursts or goldtops though.

They were likely installed on these iconic guitars mentioned in at least some cases when the plastic tips degraded. They were arguably the best tuning machine available for retrofit back in the '60s.

Grovers also have a lower gear ratio for finer tuning of pitch (higher numerically).

Schallers were the other popular tuning mod back in the day.

Interesting, the most iconic Bursts had their Klusons swapped out for Grovers

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