| Tuners |
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| Kluson
Style Tuners |
| Used mostly on early prepro Charvel guitars dating
from the 1979 - 80 time frame. These tuners are rare and it is even rarer to find them on
Charvels manufactured during the serialized era, 1982 - 1986. In fact, I know of only one
serialized example having this style of tuner, Charvel #1505 dating from 1982. |
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| These tuners closely resemble Kluson tuners in
appearance and both have split shafts and the same mounting screw position. Unlike Kluson
tuners however, Kluson is not written on the tuner and they have threaded bushings like a
nut, not a press in bushing. Kluson tuners were also reportedly used during the early
prepro production years. This style of tuner is rare and was mostly used on early prepro
Charvels prior to 1981. |
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| Octagon
Tuners |
| These tuners are commonly found on prepro Charvels
manufactured from early 1980 to late 1980 - early 1981 time period. Note that this style
of tuner did NOT use a mounting screw, but rather a positioning pin which required a
1/8" hole just above the hole for the tuner shaft on the back of the |
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| headstock. The gear housing was octagonal in shape,
as was the tuner shaft itself. The insert was brushed aluminum, and generally non-logoed,
although examples exist with both "G" and "Gotoh" on them. These were
almost without exception chrome finished. The tuning head itself was wider at the base
than at the top, and looks like an inverted crown, hence the name "crown head." |
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| Crown
Head Style #1 Tuners |
| Used extensively during the prepro (early 1981) and
early serialized (early 1982) time periods, this style of tuner is by far the most
commonly used tuner style on prepro Charvel guitars. These tuners were also Gotoh's and
most often finished in a thin gold plate, which wore off quickly to expose the brassy |
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| steel-looking metal. This style did have a screw
tang (mounting screw), which was located on the side opposing the tuning key shaft and
perpendicular to the tuner bottom (base). The insert is smooth and usually non-logoed.
They will appear to be a very light brass color once the plating has worn/faded. They were
also available in chrome, and black; both far less common than the typical gold. This
style was used throughout the remainder of pre-serialized manufacture, and through about
the middle of 1982 into production (up to approximately serial number 1100ish). |
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| Crown Head Style #2 Tuners |
| Note the difference in the tuner shaft, unlike the
earlier crown head version, which had a solid shaft and the string, was threaded through a
hole, this second style had a slotted shaft resembling Kluson style tuners. This style of
"crown head" tuners was used briefly in 1982 (only for a few months) |
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| and is found on Charvels in the 1200 - 1400 ish
serial number range. These tuners are almost identical to the early crown head version and
used the same plating, set screw (mounting screw) position and "crown" head
tuner shape and in fact when viewed from the back the two versions can not be
distinguished. |
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| Gold
non-logo'd Gotoh Tuners |
| Identical to the black non-logoed Gotohs, these
gold plated versions are far less common than the black colored tuners but are sometimes
found on Charvels manufactured throughout the entire serialized production era. Note that
the gold plating (finish) is very similar to that found on the crown head |
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| style tuners and appear to be a very light brass
color once the plating has worn/faded. The tuners have larger and more oval shaped keys
when compared to the crown head tuners keys. I assume this style of tuner was used
specifically when "gold" tuners was requested by the customer. |
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| Black
non-logo'd Gotoh Tuners |
| The most commonly used tuner throughout the
serialized Charvel era (1982 - 1986). This tuner was the default tuner used on all
Charvels manufactured after the phasing out of the crown head style tuners in mid 1982.
All Charvels after that time would be fitted with this style of tuner unless the |
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| customer specified otherwise. These tuners have a
larger more oval shaped (not crown shape) tuner keys and unlike the crown head tuners,
which have the mounting (set) screw perpendicular to the tuner bottom, these non-logoed
Gotohs had the mounting (set) screw parallel with the tuner bottom (base). By far the most
commonly used tuner on Charvel guitars, I estimate some 95% of all Charvels manufactured
are equipped with this style of tuner. |
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| Gold
non-logo'd Gotoh Tuners |
| Identical to the black non-logo'd Gotohs, these
gold plated versions are far much less common but are sometimes found on Charvels
throughout the serialized production era. I assume this style of tuner was used
specifically when "gold" tuners was requested by the customer. Note that the
gold plating |
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| (finish) is very similar to that found on the crown
head style tuners and appears to be a very light brass color once the plating has
worn/faded. |
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| Gold
logo'd Gotoh Tuners |
| Identical to the non-logoed Gotoh tuners except
that the Gotoh name and logo are imprinted on the back of the tuner. These tuners are even
rarer than the gold non-logo'd Gotohs |
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| and I have only seen this logo'd style on a few
Charvels, mostly from the mid 3000 serial number range. Unlike the gold plating (finish)
on the crown head and non-logo'd gold Gotohs which was typically easily worn/faded, the
finish on these gold logo'd tuners is brighter/richer in color and usually do not show
signs of wear. |
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| Grover
Tuners |
| Grover tuners were occasionally used on Charvels
when requested specifically by the customer and when a reverse headstock neck was used. I
have seen several examples where |
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| either chrome or black Grover tuners were specified
on the work order (build sheet) by the customer. More interestingly, is that all the
reverse headstock necks that I have seen, all have black Grover tuners. One can speculate
that Charvel did not have any left handed (because its a reverse headstock) non-logoed
black Gotohs, and hence defaulted to using Grover tuners. Grover tuners are easily
recognized by their small kidney shaped tuner keys and obviously the Grover logo on the
back of the tuner. The mounting (set) screw position for the Grover tuner is perpendicular
to the bottom (base) of the tuner similar to the crown head tuners. |
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| Jackson
Tuners |
| These tuners were used on Charvel guitars made in
the Jackson custom shop during the 1990's, on the San Dimas Traditional model series
introduced in the late 1990's and also |
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| used on the Bulls Eye Limited Edition in 2002.
These tuners have Jackson written on them and are most always black in color. |
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| Schaller
mini Tuners |
| Charvels were reintroduced in 2004 after FMIC
purchased Jackson. The new Charvels produced use Schaller mini tuners in black, chrome or
gold. These tuners closely resemble the |
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| non-logo'd Gotoh tuners in size; tuner key shape
and also mounting (set) screw position. These tuners have Schaller logo ("S")
and Made in Germany written on them. |
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| Banjo
Tuners |
| Exceptionally rare and found only on a few early
prepro Charvel |
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| bass guitars, these tuners are similar to those
used on banjos hence its name. Unlike most all other tuners, which have the shaft and
tuning peg (key) perpendicular, banjo tuners have the tuning peg (key) and shaft in a
straight line. When viewed from the front you do not see the tuning peg (key) above the
headstock like normal tuners. This style of tuner is very similar to those used on Gibson
Firebird guitars. Again noting that Charvel Manufacturing was a true custom shop, any
tuner could have been used if the customer specified or noting that in the early days
Charvel did not have a large "parts" inventory, they would often buy, as they
needed. It has been suggested that on at least a few occasions employees would have to go
to a music store to buy a set of tuners or some other hardware to finish a guitar. The
employee simply bought what ever brand the music store had available at that time to
finish the build. I am sure other rare and one-off style of tuners exist, especially on
Charvel guitars manufactured during the early years (1979 to early 1980). |
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