Tuners to Tight???

[Zako]

I was putting new strings on my Ibanez BTB555

Every string was going on fine except the D, the tuner got really tight before it was close to being in tune, i was afraid to turn it more for afraid of snapping the string or breaking the tuning peg or something.

Could it just be the string was stiff or am i missing something?

I also had to lower the action a lot on my B string because apparently Elixir's (Light Gauge) strings dont taper out near the nut of the strings like others do so it was sitting a lot higher action because it was just as thick or thicker sitting in the saddle.

[PJSShearer]

It was probably just stiff - try slackening it off and working it a little (tighten then loosen half a turn a few times) to free things up - a squirt of WD40 on the gears will help (wipe off any excess).

[Pilgrim]

WD40 is not a lubricant, it was developed primarily to displace water, and it will attract dust. It does have some qualities similar to penetrating oil, but it is not the right thing to use. Powdered graphite or graphite in a liquid solution is the right thing to use - it dries and does not leave an oily film that will attract dust later.

[JLS]

You mean, the saddles?

Are those tuners open or closed? If they're open, you should be able to inspect the mechanism, and see if it's munged up, uncommon, but not it happens. If they're closed, you might try taking the tuner button off, and the little washers, and see if there's any movement at all. It's likely you'll have to replace the tuner. Go forth, to ebay--or a local store/repair shop, which will often have an orphan gear hanging around.

[SBassman]

It also could have been the way you set the string into the post.
Show us a pic of the sityation.

[swrbass5]

PILGRIM's right about the WD-40. It will also eat the chrome right off of your tuners eventually. It should never be used as a lubricant. It's actually an "anti-lubricant".

All of my basses seem to have at least one tuner that's a little stubborn. You figure, they don't really get used much. They'll get that way. Now, if you get to the point where you have to break out the pliers to turn it,, then there might some serious issues with it.

[dystopiate]

Two things I'd look at first:

1) Was it definitely a D string you were tuning up? Could you have accidentally put on an A or E?

2) Does loosening the screw on the top of the tuning peg fix the problem?

[Deathblade Eric]

I had a similar situation on one of my old Arias - the A tuner was very stiff & no amount of lube would free it. Eventually I took it off to find this



That slot has been ripped out over the years. I eventually traced the problem to the clamping nuts - if they're too tight, they seem to pinch the threaded barrel & bind up.

I slackened them all off, wound them up finger tight & gave them a 1/4 turn with a spanner to "nip" them up. No problems since.

Pete.