Guitar Maintenance: Tuner repair question

Kill Me Sarah · Post by **Kill Me Sarah** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 1:22 pm

Hey, I have an guitar that I borrowed from someone and a piece broke off on a few of the tuners, a litte white plastic circle thingie. I've had the same thing happen on my Ukulele. Can anyone tell me what these are/where you get replacements?

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ken · Post by **ken** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 1:38 pm

They are called tuners. I suggest you order replacements from Guitar Festish

http://store.guitarfetish.com/tuners.html

Ken

Kill Me Sarah · Post by **Kill Me Sarah** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 1:42 pm

So you have to replace the whole kit-n-kaboodle for that little plastic dealie?

deshead · Post by **deshead** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 1:44 pm

Actually Ken, I think he's talking specifically about the little white washer between the tuning knob and gears.

KMS, it's just a washer, either plastic or teflon. (It doesn't have a special name.)

I'd check the hardware store. If you want something that matches completely, you might need to replace all 6 tuners (per Ken's advice.)

Sober · Post by **Sober** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 8:42 pm

Or how about don't worry about it? They still work, don't they?

Kill Me Sarah · Post by **Kill Me Sarah** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 11:39 am

The Sober Irishman wrote:Or how about don't worry about it? They still work, don't they?

Sort of. The tuning is definitely affected. I can get it into tune, but the tuners don't spin as easily. I would take the "don't worry about it" approach were it not one small fact... the guitar is on loan and the washers split under my care. I'm gonna run to the hardware store today to see if they have washers. They look to be about 1/4 inch diameter...does that sound right?

Nut #2 · Post by **Nut #2** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 2:24 am

The spacers between the tuner knob and the tuner body are not that important for high quality tuners. For less than high quality tuners, the spacers serve to provide tension against the worm screw that does the actual tuning. These degrade eventually, and you end up with loose tuners.

You can replace these with standard plastic washers, but I would recommend a polygraphite or teflon replacement to reduce binding.