Here is the complete 1940 product catalogue for the Kluson Manufacturing Co.

The range of products that Kluson made during the war years has been a continuing mystery. The only clues to the part numbers of Kluson tuners, to this point, have come from the Martin inventory records. Kluson tuners (and tail pieces) first appeared in the Martin inventory records of January 1, 1942. At that time, Martin recorded Kluson 502, 511 and 511G (gold-plated) tuners in stock as well as Kluson 4N and 6N tailpieces. Roughly three dozen Kluson 259 tuners are also mentioned (these are probably three-on-a side tuners strips but are not shown in the catalogue).

Since this catalogue was published in 1940 it must be considered as a starting point for the study of later Kluson tuners. The quality of these machines dropped off significantly during the war years due to war-time limitations on metal use. It will be noted that the illustrations in the catalogue show the earliest version of the single and three-on-a-side machines with a "coined" rim around the base plates. Later versions did not have this feature.

This information is only available due to the indulgence of the National Music Museum in allowing me to conduct research in their remarkable archive. Anyone wishing to obtain information for their own research interests should contact Arian Sheets (Arian.Sheets@usd.edu). For those who want to show a little love to the National Music Museum for making this information available please consider making a small donation to the museum or becoming a member of the museum (https://www.nmmusd.org/support-us). The museum also has a collection of remarkable guitars (actually, every kind of instrument!), a visit if you are in the area would be well worth the effort.

 

 

All images courtesy of the National Music Museum.