A question about tuners ...

[pbassnut]

I have a Warmoth '72 Precision build with a maple/maple TeleBass headstock Jazz neck partscaster bass. I put it together a few years ago from used parts and it has a set of Fender/Squier Classic Vibe tuners * on it that up until several months ago, didn't work very well. The problem was that they didn't seem to hold a tune very well. Their performance wasn't good enough to play out with so I was planning to replace them. Several months ago, they started holding a tune just as well as my other basses despite nothing having been changed on the bass ... strings, setup ... nothing. I'm certainly not complaining about the mysterious positive change in performance ... just curious as to why it might've happened. Any ideas?

* I have one of the early Chinese made Fender/Squier Classic Vibe Precisions that was almost totally tricked out by the previous owner ... Gotoh 201 bridge, Seymour Duncan Antiquity II pickups, and USA CTS pots w/orange drop cap ... essentially most of the electronics and hardware except for the tuners. I was going to replace the tuners but found that the bass was able to hold a tune as well or better than any of my other basses so just because the tuners came stock on a budget bass doesn't necessarily mean they aren't any good.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I'm wondering if the strings themselves have been stretching over time? Tuners don't magically get better over time, usually the opposite, as wear slowly increases the "slop" in the gears. Has relief on the neck changed noticeably? I guessing that the problem wasn't the tuners, but hard to say what else could be changing without you noticing it. Can you tighten the screws on the tuner backs to reduce how much "lash" there is in the tuner gears?

 

[Zooberwerx]

I have a Warmoth '72 Precision build with a maple/maple TeleBass headstock Jazz neck partscaster bass. I put it together a few years ago from used parts and it has a set of Fender/Squier Classic Vibe tuners * on it that up until several months ago, didn't work very well. The problem was that they didn't seem to hold a tune very well. Their performance wasn't good enough to play out with so I was planning to replace them. Several months ago, they started holding a tune just as well as my other basses despite nothing having been changed on the bass ... strings, setup ... nothing. I'm certainly not complaining about the mysterious positive change in performance ... just curious as to why it might've happened. Any ideas?

* I have one of the early Chinese made Fender/Squier Classic Vibe Precisions that was almost totally tricked out by the previous owner ... Gotoh 201 bridge, Seymour Duncan Antiquity II pickups, and USA CTS pots w/orange drop cap ... essentially most of the electronics and hardware except for the tuners. I was going to replace the tuners but found that the bass was able to hold a tune as well or better than any of my other basses so just because the tuners came stock on a budget bass doesn't necessarily mean they aren't any good.

Not enough info but some aspects are certainly suspect. Going flat / sharp, clean complete string install? As pointed out, **** that’s truly broken doesn’t repair itself…something else is in play.

Riis

 

[pbassnut]

I'm wondering if the strings themselves have been stretching over time? Tuners don't magically get better over time, usually the opposite, as wear slowly increases the "slop" in the gears. Has relief on the neck changed noticeably? I guessing that the problem wasn't the tuners, but hard to say what else could be changing without you noticing it. Can you tighten the screws on the tuner backs to reduce how much "lash" there is in the tuner gears?

The neck relief has been pretty stable for me and it's actually a particularly good playing and sounding neck. Your theory about the strings stretching over time sounds plausible. I'll have to check on how tight the tuner mounting screws are.

 

[Turnaround]

The most likely reason is that you didn’t set the wintness points in the strings at the bridge, nut and tuners. Over time the strings will set the witness points themselves, but untill that happens your bass will often go flat.

 

[96tbird]

You mention The early Chinese Squier CV tuners: they are excellent. They are milled steel, not cast. Smoothe gears and worm. Good plating. There is no reason they won’t last fifty years.

Unfortunately, they don’t use them anymore.

Note that the clovers are pinned and peened to the shafts. Note the shape of the shaft. The real deal. If you have these, you can expect a long service life.