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Topic: Straightening bent tuners |
Al Terhune
From:
Newcastle, WA
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Posted 30 May 2010 3:49 pm |
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I've got a guitar coming that has a couple of bent, albeit functioning tuners. It appears I won't need to do anything to them, but...I've gotten a little more OCD over the years, and aesthetically, I know this is going to bug me.
I just did a search for some solutions and nothing stood out. My initial thought was to get my soldering iron and heat up the post, then...try to bend it back with some needle nose.
Any thoughts?
_________________
Al
My equipment:
One heck of a Wife
The ghost of a red Doberman
Several pairs of reading glasses strewn about |
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Jeff Garden
From:
Center Sandwich, New Hampshire, USA
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Posted 30 May 2010 6:28 pm
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| not sure how successful that would be, Al. I've tried using a similar heating procedure on bent metal tool parts and wound up overstressing the metal and ultimately breaking it. might want to get in a full set of replacement tuners before you experiment and then change them all out when you can't stand the bent ones anymore or break one trying to straighten it. |
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Jason Hull
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Posted 31 May 2010 3:39 am
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| I've straightened many bent tuning pegs, using nothing more than needle-nose pliers and a scrap of leather (to protect the tuner). If you can disassemble the tuner first, do so. If it's a sealed tuner, it will probably be better to replace it. |
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Al Terhune
From:
Newcastle, WA
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Posted 31 May 2010 4:28 am
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So, Jeff -- it sounds like heating it first would actually be worse than trying it cold? I wouldn't have thought that, but will defer to your experience of it ending in broken metal.
Jason -- I don't believe it disassembles, but if it does, I might wrap it then gently force it back using a vice?
_________________
Al
My equipment:
One heck of a Wife
The ghost of a red Doberman
Several pairs of reading glasses strewn about |
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Keith Cordell
From:
San Diego
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Posted 31 May 2010 5:29 am
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| What kind of tuner is it? Kluson? |
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Al Terhune
From:
Newcastle, WA
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Posted 31 May 2010 6:51 am
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Keith, I believe they're Grover, open-back. I don't have it yet. They're on a bakelite.
_________________
Al
My equipment:
One heck of a Wife
The ghost of a red Doberman
Several pairs of reading glasses strewn about |
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Bryan Bradfield
From:
Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
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Posted 31 May 2010 7:53 am
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| Bending cold has always worked for me. I don't worry about getting the shaft perfectly re-aligned and I don't protect the shaft from the pliers. I believe that it's been inexpensive old Klusons that I've done this to mainly. |
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Keith Cordell
From:
San Diego
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Posted 31 May 2010 8:07 am
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| I usually try to find an old one and replace the shaft. even if you get it pointed the right way it will likely still be a little funky. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Bobby Burns
From:
Tennessee, USA
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Posted 31 May 2010 10:21 am
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| I have straightened too many of them to count, and only ever had 2 break on me. I use a small adjustable wrench on the shaft right up next to the bend. Then I use another wrench, tightened up across the handle of the first, to turn the shaft to straighten it. try to look it over and straighten it in one bend, and then leave well enough alone. Don't push your luck by making several small bends in different directions to get it perfect. It was most likely bent in one motion, and you need to look it over carefully and try to reverse this motion. The less you fool with it, the better chance you have of not breaking it. Klusons usually bend pretty good. The two that broke on me, where not klusons, waverie's, grovers, or the like that are usually found on vintage guitars. Best I remember they both were '60's Kays with Japanese tuners, although I have straightened a few of the same tuners successfully before too. |
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Al Terhune
From:
Newcastle, WA
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Posted 31 May 2010 4:03 pm
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I feel like Johnson and Nixon during Vietnam -- half the cabinet told them to "stay" and the other half said to "get the heck out." Everyone's advice is duly noted and appreciated. Doug speaks on the common sense side of me that agrees, if they work, why fix them? However...
I'll see how functional they are and how uncomfortable it all makes me feel before I decide.
Thanks much, guys.
_________________
Al
My equipment:
One heck of a Wife
The ghost of a red Doberman
Several pairs of reading glasses strewn about |
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Jeff Garden
From:
Center Sandwich, New Hampshire, USA
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Posted 31 May 2010 6:17 pm
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| I'd be interested in learning from someone with metals experience what's really going on internally when a metal rod like a tuning peg gets bent. On a small scale, bend a paper clip back and forth enough and it breaks. the fact that the tuning peg has already bent once before you try to bend it back straight might mean the internal structure has been weakened and you're one step closer to breaking it if you try to bend it back. anyway...good luck Al, and i hope everything works out for you - let us know what you finally decide to do and if it works. |
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