RE: Damaged buttons

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RE: Damaged buttons

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estebanana

Posts: 9351
Joined: Oct. 16 2009

RE: Damaged buttons (in reply to Ricardo)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Ricardo

quote:

ORIGINAL: estebanana

quote:

ORIGINAL: Brendan

Daily wear. This is my main guitar. That said, three years is a bit short when the previous set lasted a decade.

Der Jung is mid-market and I don’t want to drill new holes. I’m a confident assembler but no craftsman.

Tap-plate: sounds like I should play firmer golpes.

If the screw holes don’t line up you can plug the old ones with a toothpick dipped in glue.

You don’t need to drill new holes, in fact it’s better not to drill. Start the hole by poking through the tuner plate with an ice pick ( carpenters marking awl) and then just begin the screw in that hole. The wood is soft and the screws are small, it works this way.

The screws that come with most tuners are very pointy, so you can actually use the screw itself to poke that guide hole. Only error I have made is letting a screw go in slightly crooked by accident. I assume that is the main reason for drilling…but yes, very soft wood.

The ice pick keeps them from going crooked

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 18 2023 12:47:26

RobF

Posts: 1611
Joined: Aug. 24 2017

RE: Damaged buttons (in reply to Brendan)

I don’t want to be contrarian, but I always have recommended drilling pilot holes, and will continue to do so.

Not all neck woods are super soft and the screws that often come with tuners can be made from weak pot metal. Screw heads can and do break off, leaving the shaft buried in the wood. It may be a rare occurrence but it can happen. If a person is on the internet asking about a basic matter such as installing a set of tuners then they quite likely will not have the experience to know when to lighten up on a driver and almost certainly won’t know what to do for a graceful recovery if a head does break off.

There are solutions, so if it does happen there are ways to cleanly remove the shaft, but why not avoid the possibility altogether by drilling a pilot hole? It’s a trivial extra step.

Or not, I have no dog in this fight. Just wanted to put the caution flag out there. If one does choose to not use a pilot hole then please lubricate the screw with soap or wax, use a light touch on the screwdriver, and don’t force anything if the screw fights back. And for goodness’ sake don’t use a powered screwdriver, do it by hand.

The only reason I keep mentioning this is it’s happened to me and I’ve also repaired guitars with missing screw heads in the past. So, it does happen. Which is why I have the ‘better safe than sorry’ policy.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 18 2023 14:44:51

estebanana

Posts: 9351
Joined: Oct. 16 2009

RE: Damaged buttons (in reply to RobF)

If you’re working on all kinds of necks like electric maple necks … but flamenco guitars, give ‘em the ice pick banderilla and cape it. Ole’

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 18 2023 19:19:03