Loose tuner

[VomitHatSteve]

Quick (hopefully) hardware question:

I have a Kramer Forum III bass. I decided today to change the strings for the first time in about a decade (I don't play it often).

When I removed the E string, I noticed that the tuner seemed loose. Some fiddling and tightening later, I realized that some screw part of it is probably stripped. So I've got a screw that fits over the tuner (from above) and a washer to protect the finish that just pop off.

How do I fix this? Can I glue it back in or something? Can I just put the string on and assume that friction will hold all the parts in place?

Thanks.

 

[VomitHatSteve]

Though I hate to be "that guy"... Anybody have a response? Please?

 

[danw]

What screw part are you talking about? The actual worm gear that does the tuning, the little screws that hold it to the headstock, or the bushing on the front? If it's the first one, I'd probably just get a new tuner, especially if it's an easy one to match or you don't care if it does. I don't think I'd glue anything up there. If it's the little screws you may can fill in the wood and re-tap.

 

[ggunn]

Though I hate to be "that guy"... Anybody have a response? Please?

If the shaft of the tuner, i.e., the part that the string wraps around, rattles around a bit when there's no string attached and under tension, that's pretty normal for some tuners. 'Sno biggie.

 

[VomitHatSteve]

What screw part are you talking about? The actual worm gear that does the tuning, the little screws that hold it to the headstock, or the bushing on the front? If it's the first one, I'd probably just get a new tuner, especially if it's an easy one to match or you don't care if it does. I don't think I'd glue anything up there. If it's the little screws you may can fill in the wood and re-tap.

It's the screw that holds it to the headstock, but it's one big screw instead of several small ones.

The actual tuning mechanism (shaft, tuning knob, worm gear, etc) connect to the headstock from behind; then the loose screw (essentially, it's a large bolt with a hole down the center that the shaft goes through) goes over that from the front. That's the part that has popped out.

 

[danw]

Oh, like a hex bushing on the front. I'd just put a teensy bit of carpenter's glue on the threads before tightening. That should hold it in place, but it won't keep you from breaking it loose later if you need to. The only case where I could foresee a problem is if tension on this screw is solely responsible for keeping the tuner from falling off the back, like if there are no little stabilizing screws on the back. If that's the case, the string tension will probably hold it on, but I'd worry about it rotating in the headstock if you can't tighten it all the way down.