I am aware of the vintage style tuners having molded on buttons. I am not a fan of those either. I have them on two of my PRS guitars and if I played those guitars more, I would change the tuners out. I have thought about doing it a few times but they are guitars that are not in my regular playing rotation so I have been able to keep myself from changing them. I just think that these molded on button tuners are something that is cheap looking and remind me of tuners on cheap guitars from when I was younger. It is just my personal preference. I am someone that would pay a little more money to not have plastic molded on tuner buttons.
Oh, I'm not trying to talk you into liking them.
Vintage style tuning machines are a PITA. I prefer the Phase IIIs. For me it's strictly a function thing.
My 1965 SG Special still has the original Kluson tuning machines with the cream plastic molded-on buttons. It's been in my family since new; I got it in '67, so I know the history (I lived it!). The buttons are still on there tight, and the tuning machines still work after all these years. They weren't junk back then, and the molded on buttons on the PRS ones shouldn't be problematic.
The SG was a quality guitar in its day. Even more expensive guitars like Les Pauls came with them. It's not so much a cheap guitar thing as a vintage thing.
The other part of this is that ever since he worked on ideas with Ted McCarty, Paul became convinced that lighter machines imparted a certain tone to the guitars, and talked about it in videos. The Kluson style machines are lighter, and of course, a molded button has less hardware and therefore less weight. That's OK, I still like the Phase IIIs.
In my early years, good guitars came with bound fretboards, cheap guitars (like Fenders) didn't. This includes Gibsons, Martins, etc. I actually had a really hard time at first accepting that PRS would make an expensive guitar without a bound fretboard!
I like the tone of vintage guitars, and if the old style machines are part of that, fine, but none of my PRS electrics has them. My PS acoustic came with vintage style Robsons, but they're more like deluxe Waverly machines. Nonetheless; they're a PITA, too.
Not James, thankfully, in that case. Raul Jeed Pith… that’s me.
