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Bass Tuning Gears

#5
Just concerned that the tuning does not stay locked in longer. Just fishing for more live ( user ) input. I have a few basses that the tuning stays locked for a long time. This is a new Marcus Miller Japanese 5 string and I'm probably just being to critical, the temperature is fluctuating more here lately, I can't tell what brand of strings they are, but they sound killer and smooth ( not flats, compression ) think they are probably eastern block strings. I'm leaning more towards the nut is not right.

Thanks for the repiles.
 
#6
Oh. You probably should have mentioned what the issue was sooner.

All quality tuning keys have a tension adjustment. On cast "Y" keys it's typically at the center of the top edge of the key. On elephant ears, I think it's at the base of the shaft the key is attached to (can somebody back me up on this? I don't use that style).

So it sounds like you don't need a star washer at all.
 
#7
Hipshots have tension setting screws in the shaft bearing blocks. Vintage style you tighten the big screw on the spur gear.

I hope to always tune UP to pitch. That ensures you leave no slack in the gear set.

Btw, the "Eastern block" hasn't existed for a couple of decades.
 
#8
Okay guys I appreciated your input and comments. My shade tree mechanic mentality is always leaning towards the ( lock washer ) will tighten anything much better, hence the lock washer query. I'll probably just quit being cheap and have a good local Luther tweaked to all my picky specs.
 
#9
FWIW you are right thinking about the nut. Tuning problems are almost always traced back to nut, usually the strings can't move freely enough through it. The tuners are almost never the problem unless something is bent or broken on them.
 
#12
Grissle said:
FWIW you are right thinking about the nut. Tuning problems are almost always traced back to nut, usually the strings can't move freely enough through it. The tuners are almost never the problem unless something is bent or broken on them.
Click to expand...


Not that nut. He's asking about the threaded bushing on the tuner itself. Unless I'm the one who misread...?
 
#13
aborg1 said:
Just concerned that the tuning does not stay locked in longer. Just fishing for more live ( user ) input. I have a few basses that the tuning stays locked for a long time. This is a new Marcus Miller Japanese 5 string and I'm probably just being to critical, the temperature is fluctuating more here lately
Click to expand...

Some basses are more sensitive to temp changes. The tuning goes up when the bass is colder, so the player re-tunes, then the temp warms and tuning drops. I've had a few basses behave like that, mostly Ibby SRs. They are gone. Even the basses I still have do it slightly. It takes only a few seconds to re-tune.

If you ever notice the tuning is high when the bass is cooler than "before", that's the issue. A tuner isn't going up.
 
#15
That's exactly what I meant..;)

Strings get cooler (overnight let's say) so user retunes bass. Later, the ambient temp is 5° higher. Strings warmer, tuning drops.

The OP mentioned temp changes and I suspect that's half of the problem, not tuner malfunction.

BTW, I take no offense with being corrected. I'm wrong so often it has no effect on my psyche, and even when I'm right about something I word it in such a way that isn't easily interpreted. :D
 
#16
Check and see if it's the tuners. Pull up on one of the strings. Does the tuner visibly slip? It shouldn't, and I've never seen it happen unless the tuner is about to break. The adjustments on tuners (screw on top for Y shape and big screw that goes through the gear on vintage type tuners) should be tight, but not too tight. I try to match the tension with those adjustments so that every tuner feels the same when I turn them under tension. It's more likely that your bass is reacting to the temperature changes (as suggested in previous posts). Cold equals sharp, and hot equals flat. That could be the strings not being stretched enough when you put them on, or a fluctuation in the neck (wood contraction/expansion), but I doubt it's the tuners. The strings could get hung up in the nut (as someone else mentioned), and you'll know if that's the case because when you tune, you'll here a "ting" or "pop" sound when the string gets unstuck from the nut slot. A solution for that is just a touch of vasoline.
 
#18
96tbird said:
Immigrant, me too you same as often correction needed clarification.

Low note, I think the best nut lube is rubbing the slot with a pencil. Vaseline is goop and attracts dirt, while pencil graphite is dry, slick and lasts.
Click to expand...

On a nut that's white, I prefer not to use graphite as it's dark in color. I only use a very small amount of Vaseline and it's basically the same thing as that product called Nut Sauce (bad name choice, right?). I use a tiny little flat head screw driver (like the ones used for adjusting the frames on a pair of glasses) and apply just a touch of it and have no problems.
 

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