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Topic: Fender Tuner Problem - Need Help (or Consolation) |
Dale Lee
From:
Down Yonder
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Posted 29 Jan 2007 6:43 pm |
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I have an 8 string Fender Deluxe. One of my tuners is messed up. When tightening a string it gets stuck when the shaft that the string goes through reaches a certain point of rotation - it feels like it just locks up when I get to that point. This happens even when the string is off.
With the string off, if I turn it backwards (like loosening the string) it is only a little difficult at the same point of rotation but if I keep on turning backwards it feels like it skips a cog.
Am I permanently out of luck with this? Can it be fixed? |
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Gary Lynch
From:
Creston, California, USA
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Posted 29 Jan 2007 7:27 pm
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| Is the gear greased? Is the shaft bent? Check the alignment. New tuners are available if it come to that. I assume you have taken it apart and checked it all out? |
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Dale Lee
From:
Down Yonder
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Posted 29 Jan 2007 7:32 pm
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| Nothing is bent. I have lubed it with oil. I had the pan out so I could lube them because they had been feeling stiff. I suspect a stripped gear. Since my original post I have found a lot of info about this on the old "No Peddlars" which I am still reading through and trying to decide what to do. Its a real bummer. I would appreciate hearing from anybody who has had to work through this issue recently. |
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Ron Simpson
From:
Illinois, USA
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Posted 29 Jan 2007 8:12 pm
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Terry Mueller is the man to contact. I had the same problem with a Rickenbacker 8 string, Terry fixed it up as good as new. The Fender Deluxe 8 uses the same Kluson brand tuners. The only other alternative would be to locate a set of old Kluson mandolin tuners.
tkm1957@aol.com |
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Rick Alexander
From:
Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 30 Jan 2007 6:45 am
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Dale, I feel your pain. I had the same problem a few years ago with Stringmaster tuners. Someone may indeed be able to fix them, but I didn't have any luck with that. As you must know, the tuners are welded 4 in line to a metal strip. Replacing a single tuner is problematical and less than satisfactory. Even if successful, the guitar is no longer "original". So the most viable solution is to acquire a new set of tuners. Unfortunately Fender is not interested in making them to support their product - they consider Stringmasters and Deluxes obsolete and not worthy of their consideration. See this thread and this thread. Fender Japan makes Deluxes and Stringmasters but they refuse to sell the tuner assemblies seperately.
The composite response from other Steel Players (and I asked everybody who's anybody) was "find a parts guitar and rob it".
Well I never had the heart to disassemble and part out a Stringmaster myself, but others did - and put the tuners on eBay. This is how I was able to solve my problem.
The only thing that bothered me about this "solution" is that every time a tuner fails and is replaced this way - there is one less Stringmaster in the world.
Fortunately for Stringmasters, but unfortunately for guys with busted tuners - things have changed in the last 2 or 3 years. Stringmaster prices have risen dramatically in that time and it's no longer so profitable to part out a Stringmaster. For this reason you don't see the tuners for sale too often anymore.
It's a shame Fender Corporation doesn't step up to the plate and support their product.
I hope you find a solution.
Having a Stringmaster or Deluxe8 you can't play is a frustrating situation.
<b>RA</b>
BIG STEEL |
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Dale Lee
From:
Down Yonder
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Posted 30 Jan 2007 4:08 pm
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| Thanks to all for the replies. I am researching this on the old threads that Rick Alexander referenced. Maybe I will post to describe the final resolution. I'm still bummed out. |
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Mark White
From:
Michigan, USA
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Posted 30 Jan 2007 6:32 pm
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| I noticed while watching Cindy Cashdollar's instructional DVD's that her tuners don't appear to be originals. Does anyone know what she uses? Maybe just the buttons have been replaced? |
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Gary Lynch
From:
Creston, California, USA
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Dale Lee
From:
Down Yonder
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Posted 30 Jan 2007 8:24 pm
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Gary, Did you have to grind or otherwise modify the tuners to make them fit? Some of the guidance on the old No Pedelars posts describe the need to grind them to fit in the pan cavity.
And, does anyone know if the knobs can be interchanged on tuners? I am finding some that I like except for the knobs. Is it possible to put different knobs on a tuner? If so, how do you do it? |
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Bill Creller
From:
Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)
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Posted 30 Jan 2007 9:02 pm
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If you can use mandolin tuners, that is if the spacing is the same, I have been using them on lap steels I build. The ones with the classic oval chrome knobs I use are Grover, model 304C. They were $29.30 locally, but maybe available at the places listed above, Allparts or Stewmac.com. etc.
Hope this helps.
Regards BILL
Edit; I think if you could get a measurement between posts it would tell you what will work. Mandolin tuner posts, the shaft the strings go thru, are spaced at 29/32 apart, center-to- center |
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Norman Evans
From:
Tennessee
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Posted 31 Jan 2007 6:40 pm
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Kluson has a 6 in line set of tuners. If the spacing is right, could you cut off two tuners?
www.kluson.com
Norm Evans |
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Mark White
From:
Michigan, USA
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Posted 31 Jan 2007 7:16 pm
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I asked the same question before and got no answer.....I'm still wondering  |
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Garry Vanderlinde
From:
CA
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Posted 1 Feb 2007 7:21 am
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| Dale, what style of tuners are you talking about? The lolipops of the early Deluxe or the Stringmaster variety? |
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John Lang
From:
Las Vegas, Nevada
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Dale Lee
From:
Down Yonder
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Posted 1 Feb 2007 10:45 am
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| I have emailed Terry Mueller. |
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Dale Lee
From:
Down Yonder
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Posted 18 Feb 2007 6:25 pm
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OK. For the record, here's what I did. I first contacted Terry Mueller, and sent him my tuners to repair. He is still working on them, but I can recommend him very well. He communicates well and is nice to deal with.
In the meantime, I spent the better part of a week searching the internet trying to find the "perfect" replacement tuners. I wanted tuners for a slotted peghead so the holes for the strings wouldn't be at the end of the peg. I also wanted the small metal buttons to match the originals. Individual tuners meeting these requirements would have been nice, but I couldn’t find them. The best I could do was three-on-a-strips like this. They are Grover model H138N for slotted peghead guitar.
I had to cut them up. Very tedious with my vise and variable speed jigsaw. I tried to cut them to one inch segments to match the post spacing, but they didn’t come out right, so I took my Dremel tool and ground them down. For anyone who tries this you should budget the better part of a weekend for cutting and grinding to fit. Here is a picture of the completed pieces.
The tuners are a little thicker than the originals, so there was a lot of grinding on the edges of the base plates to get them to fit into the cavity. Here is the finished product.
I have put the pan back in the guitar and the tuners seem to be a little smoother working than the originals. My plan is to use these homemade ones in the guitar and keep the repaired originals in case I ever sell it. Now I can start again trying to learn to play it. |
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Garry Vanderlinde
From:
CA
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Posted 18 Feb 2007 7:13 pm
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Dale, looks like a really good job! Thanks for sharing 
Did you have to soldier the new tuners to the pan?
Cindy Cashdollars' DVD is a good place to start on Western 8- string non-pedal if you haven't checked it out already. |
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Dale Lee
From:
Down Yonder
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Posted 18 Feb 2007 7:18 pm
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Garry,
No soldering needed. The tuner assembly is a tight fit in the cavity. Even the original 4-on-a-strip's are just loose in the pan. When you put it back in the cavity the tuners are contstrained by thier stems up thru the slots in the top of the pan so they can't turn. And they are constrained by the side of the cavity. Nothing is going nowhere. |
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Bill Creller
From:
Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)
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Posted 18 Feb 2007 10:40 pm
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| That sounds like a really good fix you did there Dale. |
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