Steel Guitar Open Geared Tuners Are Too Sticky UPDATED

Steel Guitar Open Geared Tuners Are Too Sticky

It may exist helpful in a artistic context, merely friction is your enemy when it comes to keeping your guitars in melody. The vast majority of tuning bug are caused by friction at the nut. Strings cannot move freely through poorly cut or badly worn nut slots, which is why locking-vibrato designs such as the Floyd Rose dispensed with conventional nuts altogether.

Nut piece of work is tricky. It requires specialist tools and is more often than not best left to experienced guitar techs. But friction tin be an effect in other areas, also. Here, I'll be addressing tuner and vibrato servicing.

Practically everything hither can exist carried out past any competent apprentice tech with a bit of DIY feel, and fugitive unnecessary hardware replacement volition save you a lot of money in the long run. Over fourth dimension guitar tuners can stiffen up, go sloppy and loose or, occasionally, fifty-fifty seize up completely. Replacing worn Klusons with Grovers and Schallers was in the by common exercise on old guitars but, in my experience, old tuners tin can usually exist made operational once more and will tune upwards more accurately and hold tune ameliorate than earlier.

These century-old tuners from a Washburn parlour guitar feel stiff and uneven

This is truthful for most old machineheads, but it'due south worth distinguishing betwixt the types of tuners found on vintage and on modernistic guitars. Prior to the 1970s, almost guitars were fitted with open-geared or Kluson-fashion tuners. More upmarket models were fitted with sealed types, also known equally die-cast tuners, which are constitute on most modern guitars, also.

With open-gear types, the workings are visible, and they are really the easiest to service and maintain. Klusons and F-stamped Fender tuners muffle their working parts under covers. The idea behind dice-cast tuners is that the lubrication for the parts is sealed inside a casing, which prevents them from getting clogged with dust and dirt.

With the three gear screws removed, the tuner posts pull apart from the gears, leaving the worm in situ

Pinnacle gears

To refresh open-gear tuners, they should first be taken off the headstock – just be conscientious not to lose the screws. The rear of the tuner post will have a spiral that holds it in position and locks it together with the round gear. This gear meshes with a worm that is machined into the shaft that leads to the button. Simply remove the gear screw and yous should be able to dismantle the tuner, leaving the worm in place.

From there, it'southward simply a example of cleaning the metal parts to remove all traces of grease and clay, polishing the parts with chrome cleaner, and then reassembling with fresh lubricant applied to whatsoever parts that move against each other, including the gear and worm, the post shaft where it contacts the tuner plate, and at the opening of the bushing on the front of the headstock.

Compare the polished gear in the centre with the other two

This is all simple stuff and no specialist tools are required, only yous practice need to apply the right type of lubricant. Forget about WD-forty, three-In-One Oil, Vaseline and car grease. Liquids won't stay where they're needed and grease will stay wet and simply attract dirt and grit. In hot weather, the grease may even liquify and seep into your guitar's finish – or worse still, the bare wood inside the tuner-post holes.

Instead, you can apply a PTFE lubricant, microscopic particles of Teflon carried in a liquid solvent. Afterwards the lubricant is applied, the solvent evaporates to leave the slippery Teflon particles where they're needed and, since the area remains adequately dry, it doesn't clog upwardly with clay. You can discover PTFE lubricant online and in near DIY stores. Prices vary dramatically, depending on the brand, and information technology'due south available in both squeezy bottles and aerosols.

Reassembly in process, with PTFE lubricant practical to all parts that move against one another

Cleaning Klusons

Kluson tuners are by far and away the most common machinehead brand seen on US guitars made prior to the 1970s. Repros accept now been available for so long that some would surely qualify as vintage themselves. Whether your Kluson-mode tuners are 6 or 60 years erstwhile, the cleaning procedure is identical.

A Kluson is an open up-gear tuner with a cover fitted over the workings. The cover is largely corrective; information technology doesn't create a seal between itself and the backplate, and dirt can still get inside. Klusons may take a little longer to clog up than open gears, only most will eventually.

Kluson tuner servicing begins with a naphtha bath, with the plastic buttons kept clear of the liquid

Some other difference is that, at the mill, rather than oil, grease was applied to the worm and gear – or, occasionally, no lubrication would be applied whatsoever. On all just the earliest examples, Kluson covers have a lubrication hole for easy maintenance, but surprisingly few guitar players seem to be enlightened of this.

All you need is a bottle of naphtha (aka lighter fluid), a syringe and lithium grease. Place the tuners in a small container, such as an empty jar or droplets cap, and pour the naphtha over them. I ever leave the tuner buttons uppermost – specially if they're plastic – considering I don't desire to gamble damaging them. Just brand sure the naphtha is deep enough to submerge all the casings and leave the tuners at that place to soak for a couple of hours.

Afterward soaking and flushing with naphtha, inject lithium grease via the lubrication pigsty in the casing above the 'palatial' lettering

Remove the tuners from the liquid and place them on some kitchen newspaper. Yous'll probably detect that the naphtha will have inverse from clear to a greyish or chocolate-brown color, and particles and debris may take settled at the bottom of the container.

Fill the syringe with fresh naphtha and hold one of the tuners over a plastic tub – used takeaway containers are platonic for this. Press the opening of the syringe over the lubrication hole, or into it if it's thin enough, and force the naphtha into the casing. This should flush out any remaining dirt and metal particles. Become alee and echo this process until you're confident that the tuner is completely flushed out, then set up information technology aside equally you do the rest.

Grover tuners such every bit this were oftentimes retrofitted to vintage guitars – this one comes from a '56 LP Special

I use lithium grease for Klusons because it has a loftier melting betoken and, unlike Vaseline and automobile grease, information technology won't liquify and see the finish and wood during hot conditions. You lot should avoid using silicone grease because it may impairment the guitar'south finish. Squeeze some lithium grease into a syringe and force information technology into the tuner casing via the lubrication hole – merely equally Kluson intended. This can get messy and so keep some kitchen newspaper on hand and exist prepared to clean up after.

Next, grip the tuner gently in a vice – or your hand if you don't have one – and employ a string winder to turn the tuner and work the grease through the mechanism. Continue until yous run into the grease working its style out of the casing. By that betoken the tuner should be turning freely, and so give it a concluding wipe down and it'll exist gear up to go back onto the guitar.

Y'all may need to follow upwardly with another wipe or 2 over the side by side few days as everything settles down and any excess grease works its way out of the casings. After that, your Klusons should be good for at least a couple of years. And if your Klusons aren't actually vintage, yous tin probably bypass the naphtha flush and just squeeze in a flake of lithium grease once every few years.

Making An Erstwhile Guitar Play Once more

Breaking the seal

Here, I'chiliad working on an old set of Grovers, just all dice-cast tuners are much the same and dismantling them for servicing is quite straightforward. Only remove the screw and washer from the end of the button, then lift off the button followed by the three tiny washers. Accept care not to lose them and notation the gild in which they are fitted on the shaft. If one or more of these washers goes missing, you will need to supplant it.

With these Grovers, at that place's a spacer to remove earlier the tuner worm can be pushed out of the casing. If you take a look within, you should exist able to encounter the state of the gear – in this case, information technology'southward caked in hardened grease. Clean this off with some acetone and a cotton wool bud, along with the within of the tuner casing. Apply some fresh lithium grease to the tuner worm and the gear, which can exist accessed inside the casing.

Making An Old Guitar Play Again

From at that place, reassembly is but the reverse of disassembly, with the improver of some grease or PTFE lubricant betwixt the washers. The refurbished tuner should feel solid just smoothen. Any looseness or sloppiness, which tin often be an consequence with sealed tuners, should be gone too.

Even if you don't fancy stripping one of these tuners down completely, it may still exist worthwhile removing the button and lubricating the 3 washers. You lot should be able to tighten the button screw sufficiently enough to eliminate any sloppiness and still take the tuner rotate with ease. To finish, e'er tune up to pitch rather than downward to pitch, regardless of the type or condition of your tuners.

With all the grub screws and string pins out, the bar tin now be removed from the master casting

Complimentary bar

An enormous percentage of players experience tuning issues when information technology comes to vibrato bridges and tailpieces. Hither, I'm focusing on Bigsbys – you tin can find plenty of maintenance advice for other types of vibratos on Guitar.com.

Though they are much maligned and misunderstood, Bigsby vibratos are well-engineered devices that require quite footling maintenance. But, afterward several decades of use, yous may notice that they tin can feel a bit potent and that they may not return to pitch quite equally well every bit they should.

With the bar removed, information technology's like shooting fish in a barrel to see the dirt and sticky grease at both ends

You tin assess your Bigsby at the aforementioned time as changing your strings. With all the strings removed, endeavour raising and lowering the arm to make up one's mind how the pin bar is moving. If at that place'due south a front roller, try spinning that too. Both should move freely and without any friction. If they don't, then the grease in the roller bearings has probably decayed and become sticky, then it's time for a clean.

Fortunately for the states, Paul Bigsby designed his products in an era when things were generally repaired rather than replaced, and it's pretty easy to strip down a Bigsby. The B7 on my 1962 Gibson ES-330 has probably been on the guitar since it was new, and a service is long overdue.

Making An Old Guitar Play Again

I begin past removing the circlip at the bass end of the pivot bar. It'south the only part that requires a special tool – a prepare of circlip pliers costs just £4.99 at Screwfix. One time the circlip is off, I use an Allen key to remove the grub screws that hold the cord pins in identify. The pins and so push through the holes and the pivot roller slides out of the main casting. There are 2 roller bearings pushed into the casting and, like the pin bar, they're all gummed up and gluey. I clean everything off with acetone and cotton fiber buds, and so polish the ends of the pivot bar with Autosol, before applying lithium grease to the roller bearings and then pushing the pin bar back through the bearings.

With the circlip back in place and belongings everything together, the mechanism feels far smoother and looser. The pins and plugs are replaced and, for many Bigsbys, that would be task done. But I also need to accept a look at the front roller.

The roller bar has been cleaned and polished, and the bearings at the ends of the roller cleaned and re-greased

The mechanism employs a captive bar that's held in position by another grub screw. The roller is actually a metal tube with roller bearings at each end that slide over the bar. And so, using the same Allen key as earlier, I remove the grub screw, slide the bar out of the casting and release the roller.

Here, the decayed grease feels like moisture glue and, to dissolve it, I soak the roller in acetone, which also removes the grease from the bar. Once the parts accept dried, I utilize some lithium grease to the roller bearings and reassemble the whole thing. Servicing the Bigsby B7 takes me near an hour and, once I'g done, it feels like new. Hopefully information technology should be good for some other decade or so of atmospheric wobbling.

Achieving stone-solid tuning is a complex task and in that location are countless factors at play throughout. While it might seem similar a lot of effort, servicing your tuners and Bigsby is immensely satisfying, will assist enormously, and will almost certainly improve your guitars. Why non give it a go?

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Steel Guitar Open Geared Tuners Are Too Sticky UPDATED

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