Damn Tuners!

[stevieb]

So, the original tuners on my '68 Telestar are basically shot. I snagged a set of Pings from Mars, back when they were going out of business, VERY cheap- now I know why- 5 of them are for one side, one is for the other.

So, I go buy another set of pings, new, from Sam Ash. but they don't fit- the old Telestar has the tuners REVERSED, so I would have to drill new screw holes (and the old ones would be exposed) in my headstock. Don't wanna do that. So I try taking apart the tuners- both sets- to see if I can piece something together. Not only does that not work, getting them back together, so I can return the Sam Ash set, drives me nuts. Finally, they are all back together, and ready to be returned.

Whew! And I STILL have my old, worn out tuners on the Telestar. I tightened them up quite a bit, we will see if that helps.

 

[Light]

Solution: DON'T BUY PINGS!


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[stevieb]

Nothing else comes even close to fitting without drilling new holes, wise guy.

Put another way: Instead of just knocking my attempts, how 'bout suggesting an alternative?

 

[ggunn]

Nothing else comes even close to fitting without drilling new holes, wise guy.

Put another way: Instead of just knocking my attempts, how 'bout suggesting an alternative?

When you say that the original tuners are "shot", what do you mean by that? All my guitars, including an early 60's Strat and a mid-70's J-45, have the original tuners and they work just fine. The worm and pinion design that most tuners use is very resilient, and many times problems that are attributed to tuners are really something else.

 

[Light]

Nothing else comes even close to fitting without drilling new holes, wise guy.

Put another way: Instead of just knocking my attempts, how 'bout suggesting an alternative?

First of all, that is almost certainly not the case. Try some Klusons - they are likely exactly what you need.

Second of all, even if you have to drill new holes, who cares? It's not like this is some supper collectible guitar where drilling new holes will make a shit's worth of difference to the value - and even if that were the case, the boat has already set sail by the time you put on replacement gears. If the holes are close, you fill the old ones first - if not, don't worry about it. The old holes are not going to cause any structural problems with the guitar. So we come back to my original solution: don't buy Pings. They are crap gears that have no place on any guitar which costs more than about $50, and if you like your guitar at all you can get a better gear for not much money.

Oh, and unless one of your gears is stripped or broken in some way, they are probably not shot. If they are just stiff, try giving them a drop of tri-flow lube on each worm (just a drop - and a small drop at that). It makes a world of difference, and can frequently save your gears.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[stevieb]

By "nothing else come close," I meant among what I have found thus far, to fitting in the existing holes. By shot, I mean the tuners don't stay in place. There is a little slop before they begin to turn the shaft. Taking them apart, it appears the stamped steel holder has opened up a bit- I squeezed them very carefully in a vice and it helped, but I dunno if it will work. I oiled them, too.

the Pings are acutally almost exactly like the existing ones. Drilling new holes is more a personal thing- this was my first electric guitar (I stupidly sold the Silvertone acoustic that was my first guitar) and I want to keep it as close to original, yet playable, as I can. If I change the tuners, I will keep the originals just in case.

Thanks for the suggestion of Kulsons, if what I did does not work, I will seek out a set.