Vintage is much cooler. And "vintage" kluson tuners are fantastic quality.

The Klusons from WD are fine tuners. Just be aware that they may need a little "shaping" where the tuners fit together in order to get a proper fit on the guitar. I'm not sure how else to explain it without a visual aid of some sort.

I think it's because he wants a "vintage" style guitar, but owns an MIM, and rather than buying a new one, he wants to modify his current one. Also, I have personally gotten to the point where I prefer the vintage split post tuners to all others, for their funtionality. They are alos considerably lighter in weight than, especially locking tuners, and I feel this is a factor in attaining a more "vintage" tone. I belive the split post style to be more stable then standard through hole tuners, and unless you are a REALLY heavy trem user, (or have a poorly shaped nut, in which case locking tuners won't help you either) will be just as stable as locking tuners.

Are you referring to the backing plates with the screw holes being too close to each other?

Not quite exactly. The backing plates with the screw holes bulge out a bit where they are bent along the long edge, to the point where, I have found at least, they don't all quite fit together with the posts through the bushings. I generally try to sand down this bulge, then sometimes have to do a little more sanding down on that edge to get them to fit properly.

Yes! Tthey make several different blocks to fit many variations of strats. Go to their website if interested- all the info you need is there. My AmDlx had that same tapered block and I replaced it with the callaham. Nice improvement in my opinion.