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Author
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Topic: Tightening tuning machine hex nuts
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Michael Breid
Member From: Eureka Springs, Arkansas, USA
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posted 03 March 2005 10:31 AM
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Here's a little tip that night help some of you steelers. I was getting a rattle in my steel and found out that one of the nuts on the tuning keys(Grover) was loose. I couldn't find a wrench to get into that tight space, so I took one of the wrenches from a Dremel tool which is quite thin, filed the opening just a hair larger and it fit around the hex nut of the tuning machine. I mounted it in a little wooden handle for tork and it worked great. Luckily, the tuning machine was not for the first or the tenth string tuning machine. That is a really tight area and I hope I never have to try and tighten those machines. That's really a tight area to get into. Has anyone out there had similar problems with tuning machines? If so, how did you take care of a loose nut at the first or tenth string tuner? |
John Daugherty
Member From: Rolla, Missouri, USA
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posted 03 March 2005 11:38 AM
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Mike, those nuts must be recessed in a hole on your "pedal-b*****d" guitar. I just looked at the MSA I have here at the shop and they are easily accessible. If you remove the strings, can you fit a socket over it?
I'll have to look at my Marlen. I never had the problem, so I never paid attention to that detail.
I suppose it depends on the brand of guitar.
I told you you need this MSA ...hahaha. |
Mark Herrick
Member From: Los Angeles, CA
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posted 03 March 2005 12:45 PM
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Be very careful to not over-tighten those nuts (actually they are more like bushings with threads on the outside) on some guitars. I know that on my Mullen, built in about 1996, that those nuts are only grabbing about two threads on the inside barrel of the tuning machine. They can (and have been) easily stripped, and then the only remedy is to replace the tuning machine.Somewhat of a fix, but not perfect, for this on my Mullen was to replace the washer with a much thinner one (or remove it altogether) so the nut grabs more threads. Or you could try to get replacement nuts with longer threads. The only problem with this is the longer nuts are usually too long and have to be ground or filed down. There is not much leeway (due to the thickness of the headstock) to play with the length of those threads. ------------------
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Michael Breid
Member From: Eureka Springs, Arkansas, USA
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posted 03 March 2005 05:59 PM
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The hex nuts are not recessed on my PB, but using the little Dremel wrench means you don't have to take the string off to tighten it. You can snug up the nut and not strip the threads. It doesn't take too much to snug up the hex nut so it doesn't rattle. I could see that if you went after the hex nut with a Arnie Schwartzenubber attitude you could do some real damage, but I think "most" of the steelers out there know how to use a little common sense. I could be wrong though. I voted for Nixon.........in the last election! |
Lee Baucum
Member From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) - The Final Frontier
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posted 03 March 2005 07:03 PM
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Mark - I had to remove the washers off of all the Grovers on my Mullen. There just wasn't enough thread for the nuts to grab with the washers installed. There was a discussion about this a few years ago. It's probably in the archives by now. Lee, from South Texas |
Lee Warren
Member From: Nashville, Tennessee, USA
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posted 04 March 2005 02:11 PM
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Hi there,
I love my Emmons guitar, but the pegs have been a total pain from day 1.
[I'm kind of glad, in a strange way, to know that I'm not the only one to run into this ...]
The collets (?) would only just get a thread or two onto the Grovers.
In no time at all, they work loose.
I tried removing the washers [a "band-aid" solution at best], but I wonder if the issue lies with the [thickness of] the peg head casting.
Has anyone tried milling them down?
Any other solutions or ideas?
Years later, and I'm still dealing with what I think is a design flaw ...
Lee |
Mark Herrick
Member From: Los Angeles, CA
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posted 05 March 2005 12:09 PM
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Hey Lee & Lee  I do remember that old thread. I was re-living it in my mind as I typed... If you take a tuning machine (not attached to the headstock) and a bushing/collet/nut and screw the two together you will see where it bottoms out in the body of the tuning machine. This is the minimum thickness that the headstock could be. Actually, it should be a little thicker than this to allow the bushing to be tightened a little. I guess the ideal thickness would be that which allows you to get about three complete turns of the bushing before snugging up to the headstock. ------------------
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