anyone have problems with Warwick tuning machines?

[madmachinist]

recently(last few months) my stock tuners have begun
rattling ,and won't stay tight . the threaded bushings
won't hold anymore . the threads in the machine itself
aren't stripped or damaged, - the bushing will tighten
fine- but pops out when i tension the string(s).

this was obviously a defective casting issue (3 out of 4 tuners) , and i suppose i can make some new ones (brass
or steel bushings ....zinc sucks) or try to fix what i have..
(jb-weld ?)

anyone found a drop in replacement?

i suppose the warranty on hardware has expired.(2006 corvette FL .)

 

[Jake Morris]

yeah I've been having the same problem with my Warwick Corvette Standard (German made). I'm just going to replace all the tuner machines. My local stores don't have anything in stock that would fit, and I wanna know exactly what will fit.
(Oh and its a five string)

 

[crustychef]

here you go
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[IronLung1986]

yea. for some reason the holes they drill in the headstock are too big for the tuners, so over time the metal will give out. i have run into this problem with my warwick in the past and will soon be replacing the tuners entirely. what a strange problem for an instrument of this caliber, which seems otherwise perfectly engineered.

 

[bassictraining]

Yep, corvette rockbass, b string tuning key would slip and break b strings. I have a temporay fix going until I can get another bass. Too many other problems to be spending money on this one.

 

[Jake Morris]

I ordered some Gotoh tuners based off what a fellow TB'er said. He told me that Warwick used to Gotoh tuners, but then switched to their own cheapo knock-off stuff. If you'd like, I can send you the link to the exact models that will work perfectly and fit in the original holes.

 

[mmbongo]

I read that Hipshot Ultralites are direct drop-ins but can't confirm first hand.

 

[diehard70]

Been having trouble w/ my G string (yep...I went there). Thinking about the stew-macs for mine.

 

[madmachinist]

just finished a couple dozen bushings . mine are ROUND ,
with the threads milled from solid brass . the tight sound of
my corvette is back! the stock tuners are of very good
quality and feel great..... the stock bushings, however, were
almost comically poor . if there were anything not to make
from cast pot-metal....

the tuning machines themselves are brass ... why the junk-metal bushings?

i've loaded a few pics of the pre-polished prototypes. i'm considering nickel-plating them down the road to match
the bright hardware on the rest of the bass- but for now,
i'm just happy to have that piano-like ringing tone back .
rattling and buzzing sucks


anyone interested , PM me with any questions.

 

[mmbongo]

Well a few weeks after my February post I noticed one of my tuning keys is loose and it won't tighten down. What a very odd problem for Warwick to have. I've been waiting about 3 weeks for a replacement from the distributor. Kinda sucks.

 

[mmbongo]

I got a set of the brass bushings from madmachinist mentioned above, they are flippin' awesome. They are much better than the stock bushings and they look badass

 

[throbgod13]

i wrapped my tuners with 1.5" of electrical tape, to prevent the tuner shifting.. i've noticed that now they stay tight.. but, it's just a quick fix to prevent the tuner set screw holes from stripping, etc..

most likely it's a metric/standard sizing difference.. the hole is metric, the tuner is standard..

 

[mmbongo]

I love the look!


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[IronLung1986]

I love the look!


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baaaadaaasssss! those look great. i too solved the problem of the junky stock warwick tuners, but my solution was a bit more conservative. i just got a set of the gotohs they used to use before switching to their own, cheaply made ones. they look almost the same except the posts are larger, and of course they are much higher quality.

 

[Betrayer_Bass]

Thanks for the info in this thread, I just ordered some Gotoh tuners for my Corvetter std 5. No more shifting for me!

 

[baste_artist]

Holy crap! I was just doing a setup on my corvette fretless standard, and noticed the tuning pegs being loose. I tightened them all down and one was not wanting to tighten. Continued to turn the nut until BAM, threads snapped right inside the peg.
Glad to have found this thread and be able to purchase a set of Gotoh's right away! Can't wait to jaaaammm