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Double Bass Upgrading Tuning Machines

rgarcia26

rgarcia26

Jun 9, 2008
787
7
Miami Florida
#1
Hey guys I have a little issue with my Machines, they making noises and the E paddle feels a little lose, you have turn it back and for to have the worm engaging the gear so it wont make noise.

I want one of the Gears may be the shaft and the paddle is make from one metal part? I don’t mind slow nice rations but I. Sloane ($599) its too much, I cant find the KC strings tuners anymore, I sent an email to the www.gallerystrings.com, I sent an email yesterday to michael abarientos, all stuff from eBay sucks ….

It would be nice to find something good for on about 300’s

I don’t now where else to look
 
#5
rgarcia26 said:
I see they look similar to the ones that I have, will the paddles come lose over time?
Click to expand...

Any tuner will come loose over time due to wear on the cog and worm gears. The good news is that you'll likely be dead before that happens (with quality tuners, that is). Rubners seem to get a pretty good review, but if you want to research all your options I'd call a few luthiers and see what they say.
 
#6
eerbrev said:
Any tuner will come loose over time due to wear on the cog and worm gears. The good news is that you'll likely be dead before that happens (with quality tuners, that is). Rubners seem to get a pretty good review, but if you want to research all your options I'd call a few luthiers and see what they say.
Click to expand...


Cool thanks, not the dead part Lol

I was under the impression but I most be wrong that high end Tuners were made from one piece of metal, but I think it doesn’t make much sense.

I while back I was working on a cheap set of Chinese tuners for a project and the paddle fall out...

And on my current project the paddle feels lose too…

Rubners seems to be a very reasonable price and if they are good there is not much to think about it... Thanks
 
#7
If the paddles are loose ( very common ) almost any jeweler can silver solder them for around $25. I do it all of the time and it works great. I actually bought one of the really trick little Smith mini torches last year just for tuner repairs. After I completely destroyed a set of tuners with them, I decided that micro-scale welding was not one of my strong points!

Most of the noise / creak issues can be cleaned up with a little bit of tri-flow or similar lubricant. I find that it is not the gears but usually the point on either side of the gear where the metal sort of wraps around the tuner post that is the culprit. Last week someone brought in an old Kay that had tuners so rusty and creaky that they almost didn't turn and made horrible noises. A couple of drops of tri-flow and they were completely quiet and oh-so-smooth.

j.
www.condino.com
www.kaybassrepair.com
 
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#9
james condino said:
If the paddles are loose ( very common ) almost any jeweler can silver solder them for around $25. I do it all of the time and it works great. I actually bought one of the really trick little Smith mini torches last year just for tuner repairs. After I completely destroyed a set of tuners with them, I decided that micro-scale welding was not one of my strong points!
...]
Click to expand...

James,
I used to have a small torch which ran pure acetylene without ox or air. It got just hot enough to work with hard solder, but didn't melt the work so quickly. I found it quite satisfactory for a novice, and one acetylene tank lasted a very long time. I can't seem to find any examples of this online, though.
 
#10
robobass said:
James,
I used to have a small torch which ran pure acetylene without ox or air. It got just hot enough to work with hard solder, but didn't melt the work so quickly. I found it quite satisfactory for a novice, and one acetylene tank lasted a very long time. I can't seem to find any examples of this online, though.
Click to expand...

The guys in the band repair shop at Long & McQuade use silver solder a lot, what with all those keys on the saxophones, etc. They use something like this: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#11
james condino said:
If the paddles are loose ( very common ) almost any jeweler can silver solder them for around $25. I do it all of the time and it works great. I actually bought one of the really trick little Smith mini torches last year just for tuner repairs. After I completely destroyed a set of tuners with them, I decided that micro-scale welding was not one of my strong points!

Most of the noise / creak issues can be cleaned up with a little bit of tri-flow or similar lubricant. I find that it is not the gears but usually the point on either side of the gear where the metal sort of wraps around the tuner post that is the culprit. Last week someone brought in an old Kay that had tuners so rusty and creaky that they almost didn't turn and made horrible noises. A couple of drops of tri-flow and they were completely quiet and oh-so-smooth.

j.
www.condino.com
www.kaybassrepair.com
Click to expand...

I put tied a little rubber band around the paddle and the noise stopped. the other issue with the E string machine the worm sometimes gets loose, once have to wind it a little higher and then come back to keep it tight…
I don’t know if I am explaining my self clearly
 
#15
On the other hand going from this
ZJonStand.jpg


to this
Gears.jpg


was fun....
 

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