Warwick machine head... snapped in half!

[Inertialsky]

So I was playing my German made Corvette $$ a few nights ago and all the sudden my D string leapt off the bass rather violently. At first I thought the string broke but no... that was not the case...

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I've never had this happen in many years of playing...

Needless to say, I am extremely excited to receive my new Gotoh's in the mail today

 

[Dug2]

holy **** thats weird

 

[Lownote38]

I've had that exact thing happen with those mini Gotoh tuners twice now. They just break in that place for some reason. Weak metal perhaps?

 

[Inertialsky]

Genuine Gotoh's or the "warwick" labeled ones?

 

[Lownote38]

Genuine Gotoh's or the "warwick" labeled ones?

Genuine one time, and then Fender labeled the second (same thing with no Gotoh name on it).

 

[Hopkins]

Send an email to Warwick, they will most likely send you a new one.

 

[ArtechnikA]

So I was playing my German made Corvette $$ a few nights ago and all the sudden my D string leapt off the bass rather violently. At first I thought the string broke but no...

Looks like the body made quite an impression in the wood there. Is it normal to crank the shaft nut that tight? (Mine aren't - in fact at my last string change I discovered one less than finger-tight and wobbly.

Seems to me as if the little screw takes the torque load and the shaft nut just doesn't have to be -that- tight. Donno if there's a formal torque spec. I put on an Hipshot Extender and I don't recall any specs in the instruction sheet...

 

[Inertialsky]

I did get this bass second hand... There are no visible indications on the old machine head itself, but it's not impossible that it could have "struck" or been impacted by something in it's former life. So I wouldn't hold Warwick responsible for that necessarily.

I just test fit one of the Gotoh's a few minutes ago. I was surprised that even though it's larger diameter than the original tuners, it's still slighter smaller than the cutouts in the headstock! I was hoping for a more snug fit. They'll work but I'm not sure if I should install them at the "factory" angle, or slightly lower so the bottom of the tuner casing is flush up against the side of the hole that tension is going to be put on.. any input would really be appreciated from other guys who have done this swap!

edit: I would be very interested to find the factory torque specs!

 

[T-Bird]

Hi.

+1 for contacting Warwick.


The reason seems simple to an engineer like me: overtightened nut.

The Zinc alloy that is used for the body and sometimes on the shaft, won't stand much pulling force.
Even less shear forces.

A fingertip (very precise I know ) torque on a short wrench is all that's needed to keep the nut and the tuner in place.
One can easily rip the inner thread portion off from the body with even a moderate torque, especially if the material is thick, the fit is snug and the HS is thin.
If the barrel is thin and/or the fit is not snug, the barrel either splits or the threads shear.

I had the splined portion of the tuner in my EpiBird tuner snap off once, but on Yours the spline probably gave away after the body snapped in half.

For gits and shiggles, tap the cover and the worm wheel off with a punch to see just exactly how much grease was "wasted" on that particular machine .

Regards
Sam

 

[ZachariahLee]

Quit rockin so hard!!

 

[bassbully]

That is weird. I bought a used Fender a month or two back and two of the hipshot ultra light tuners had cracks all the way thru the casings on the B& E string tuners..took it back.

 

[Inertialsky]

Quit rockin so hard!!

Never! The new tuners are working out well so far.. just had to make some makeshift bushings