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Topic: Question - early 50's Stringmaster selector buttons |
Eric Philippsen
From:
Central Florida USA
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Posted 29 May 2009 11:02 am |
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I have an early 50's stringmaster. Very nice, all original. Fun to play. It has two pushbutton selector switches behind the front neck's bridge.
The problem is that those switches are temperamental. Usually I have to do a quick double-tap on them to get them to work. Are the old switches repairable? I would like to keep things as functionally original as possible.
Any suggestions, please? Thanks for your help. |
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John Bechtel
From:
Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.
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Posted 29 May 2009 12:54 pm
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They are famous for your problem! I think they can be repaired, but; I don't know by whom! You might try a shot of powdered-graphite or control-cleaner on them, after turning them over! (the plate ‘bottoms-up’)
_________________
<marquee> Go~Daddy~Go, (No), Go, It's your Break Time</marquee> L8R, jb
My T-10 Remington Steelmaster |
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Scott Thomas
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Posted 29 May 2009 1:13 pm
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I haven't heard from John Tipka here for a long time, but he has worked on a bunch of Stringmasters, and I'm sure I remember that he had a solution for the problem of those temperamental push buttons.
http://www.hsga.org/learning/techtips.html
His contact info is at the bottom of the page, so scroll down. (I don't know if it is current or not):
You might give him a try . . . |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 29 May 2009 2:28 pm
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| How about some dielectric grease? |
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Eric Stumpf
From:
Newbury, NH 03255
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Posted 30 May 2009 4:47 am
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| Those switches are tempermental; true, but they are easy to service and will last forever if cleaned properly. The switch "plunger" when pushed in rubs up against spring-loaded contacts made of strip copper. Clean the two contact surfaces by running some emery cloth or super-fine sandpaper between them and that's it....the switch will work great for another 6 months to a year before you have to do it again. It's such a shame when people junk these switches and replace them with modern hardware when this is all it takes to keep them functioning. |
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Steffen Gunter
From:
Munich, Germany
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Posted 29 Feb 2016 1:42 pm
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| Eric Stumpf wrote: |
… Clean the two contact surfaces by running some emery cloth or super-fine sandpaper between them and that's it .... |
I had to bring this old thread up again, because I had these problems too and must say THANK YOU to Eric. This was easy, no soldering. I couldn't see any rust or so between the contacts but sandpapered them anyway – now the buttons work perfectly again!
BTW: It was good to remove the plate. After working on the contacts I filled some splints from a toothpick in the screw holes. Now the screws are really tight again and the sustain really improved.
_________________
My YT channel: www.youtube.com/user/madsteffen |
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Bill Creller
From:
Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)
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Posted 1 Mar 2016 10:30 pm
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| The spray can stuff called DeOx (sp) available from Antique Electronics & other places works good on cleaning contacts & pots.... |
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Stephen Cowell
From:
Round Rock, Texas, USA
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Posted 4 Mar 2016 8:36 pm
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The switches have two wear points... the push mechanism and the switch leaves themselves. A spot of grease (white lithium should work) on the plunger that breaks the contact is good... light machine oil on the latching mechanism itself.
Don't ever use emery on electrical contacts, use a business card or a proper burnishing file. DeOxit is the good stuff to put on the contacts... ProGold if you can find it (I have my stash).
The big problem with the contacts on that switch is that there's no wipe... they're not self-cleaning. This eventually causes problems, cured by cleaning/burnishing them. Good switch design includes a little wiping action at least.. when the contacts can scrub against each other they are self-cleaning.
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New FB Page: Lap Steel Licks And Stuff: https://www.facebook.com/groups/195394851800329 |
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