Stefan H.
Junior Member
I've always loved the looks of the German-made Kolb tuners that were used on some of the high-end Guild guitars in the 50's and 60's. however Robert Kolb passed away a long time ago and no-one took over his business after his passing and continued making his tuners, nor has anyone tried to make reproductions of his tuners, it seems.
Finding vintage Kolb tuners is almost impossible and if you can manage to find a set, it of course remains to be seen if these are actually still working properly after so many decades, so I have searched for quite a while now on the www for modern tuners or tuner buttons that resemble the ones made by Kolb that were used on vintage Guild guitars during the 50's and 60's to use on my Guild X-175B/SP-II model, but it appears that no modern manufacturer is making tuners/tuner buttons that look like these.
This afternoon however I found a German company on the web that sells a variety of instrument accessories, hardware and raw materials, and lo and behold, they're also selling tuner buttons (made of pearloid and mother of pearl) that bear some resemblance to the shape of the old Kolb tuner buttons that were used on Guild guitars decades ago, so I've ordered a set of their pearloid buttons (they only cost € 1,65 each, by the way) and once they have arrived, I will try to put them on the Grover tuners that are on my Guild & see what the results will be...
Finding vintage Kolb tuners is almost impossible and if you can manage to find a set, it of course remains to be seen if these are actually still working properly after so many decades, so I have searched for quite a while now on the www for modern tuners or tuner buttons that resemble the ones made by Kolb that were used on vintage Guild guitars during the 50's and 60's to use on my Guild X-175B/SP-II model, but it appears that no modern manufacturer is making tuners/tuner buttons that look like these.
This afternoon however I found a German company on the web that sells a variety of instrument accessories, hardware and raw materials, and lo and behold, they're also selling tuner buttons (made of pearloid and mother of pearl) that bear some resemblance to the shape of the old Kolb tuner buttons that were used on Guild guitars decades ago, so I've ordered a set of their pearloid buttons (they only cost € 1,65 each, by the way) and once they have arrived, I will try to put them on the Grover tuners that are on my Guild & see what the results will be...