Hey guys & gals, gotta question for anyone who may know. Backstory will follow the question.
Should the pin/rod of a guitar tuning lock (the piece which screws into the tuning peg through the rear of the tuning machine at the head of the guitar) be milled smooth or is there usually a channel or slot at the end where the string would rest?
The reason for my inquiry is because I had a string, the 'B' string specifically, on my guitar break & the culprit was the locking tuner rod. It happened when I went to unscrew the locking rod so I could make a micro adjustment to my tuning, because I'm evidently trying to sabotage myself. The string just went slack & didn't snap like it would when the string breaks at the peg. I unscrewed the locking rod & used a loupe at 30X magnification to closely inspect it. There was, & still is, a bit of the string caught in what appears to be a burr at the end of the rod. I unscrewed 4 more of the locks out individually, so as not to get them mixed up, and noticed that they didn't appear to have a channel for the string. The rods do appear to taper at the end ever so slightly, probably to reduce snagging on the string.
I would guess that it might just be a manufacturing defect, a burr that wasn't smoothed & must have slipped past QC or something. No big deal. I can remove the burr on the rod easily with a stone from my Spyderco Sharpmaker.
Just wondered if anyone here might know before I shoot an email to Schecter Guitars' customer service or tech support & get an answer that they don't know & that they purchase their locking machines from a vendor in bulk or something.
I don't want to not have the locking rod in place for two reasons: First & foremost being that I don't like the idea of having a machine tuning gear exposed by having the lock out & secondly, I actually find them useful & have had no issues with them in the past, though granted I only have the one guitar equipped with locking tuners.
On a side note, the strings hadn't been wrapped half to once around the peg as I had requested at the time of setup. Don't know if that would make a difference, or if the tech at Guitar Center noticed anything odd, but he likely didn't bother to check anyway. My usual guy at my local guitar shop was not available & wouldn't be for three weeks, so I had to take it to GC (where they DON'T treat it like it's their own) & this latest screw-up has convinced me that I should learn how to do a full set-up myself on an old guitar, for the next time my local dude is unavailable or backed up for weeks. GC's "Tech" didn't even do the intonation of my damn guitar properly/to my request. I liked the action where it was & he dropped it low. Yes, I had thicker strings installed, which requires intonation, I get that. However, there should be a way to figure how much to adjust the Tune-O-Matic bridge accordingly, right? Take a measurement of the stock bridge height & note the stock string gauge, tune to standard tuning, ensure it's buzz free, tune to customer's spec ("Drop C" or C-G-C-F-A-D low to high) adjust it from there to fine-tune any buzz out, I would think. That's what I brought in: a factory untouched & unadjusted guitar with the stock Ernie Ball .10-.46 strings still installed & in standard tuning. There may be more to it than that, but come on. Never again, Guitar Center.
Thanks & sorry for the mini-rant.
Side-Side note: the advice on pickup height I found on these forums did help me to dial in & get the sound I was looking for out of the Blackout AHB-1's in the Schecter SLS Blackjack C-1 A guitar referenced in this post. Double Thanks for that!
Should the pin/rod of a guitar tuning lock (the piece which screws into the tuning peg through the rear of the tuning machine at the head of the guitar) be milled smooth or is there usually a channel or slot at the end where the string would rest?
The reason for my inquiry is because I had a string, the 'B' string specifically, on my guitar break & the culprit was the locking tuner rod. It happened when I went to unscrew the locking rod so I could make a micro adjustment to my tuning, because I'm evidently trying to sabotage myself. The string just went slack & didn't snap like it would when the string breaks at the peg. I unscrewed the locking rod & used a loupe at 30X magnification to closely inspect it. There was, & still is, a bit of the string caught in what appears to be a burr at the end of the rod. I unscrewed 4 more of the locks out individually, so as not to get them mixed up, and noticed that they didn't appear to have a channel for the string. The rods do appear to taper at the end ever so slightly, probably to reduce snagging on the string.
I would guess that it might just be a manufacturing defect, a burr that wasn't smoothed & must have slipped past QC or something. No big deal. I can remove the burr on the rod easily with a stone from my Spyderco Sharpmaker.
Just wondered if anyone here might know before I shoot an email to Schecter Guitars' customer service or tech support & get an answer that they don't know & that they purchase their locking machines from a vendor in bulk or something.
I don't want to not have the locking rod in place for two reasons: First & foremost being that I don't like the idea of having a machine tuning gear exposed by having the lock out & secondly, I actually find them useful & have had no issues with them in the past, though granted I only have the one guitar equipped with locking tuners.
On a side note, the strings hadn't been wrapped half to once around the peg as I had requested at the time of setup. Don't know if that would make a difference, or if the tech at Guitar Center noticed anything odd, but he likely didn't bother to check anyway. My usual guy at my local guitar shop was not available & wouldn't be for three weeks, so I had to take it to GC (where they DON'T treat it like it's their own) & this latest screw-up has convinced me that I should learn how to do a full set-up myself on an old guitar, for the next time my local dude is unavailable or backed up for weeks. GC's "Tech" didn't even do the intonation of my damn guitar properly/to my request. I liked the action where it was & he dropped it low. Yes, I had thicker strings installed, which requires intonation, I get that. However, there should be a way to figure how much to adjust the Tune-O-Matic bridge accordingly, right? Take a measurement of the stock bridge height & note the stock string gauge, tune to standard tuning, ensure it's buzz free, tune to customer's spec ("Drop C" or C-G-C-F-A-D low to high) adjust it from there to fine-tune any buzz out, I would think. That's what I brought in: a factory untouched & unadjusted guitar with the stock Ernie Ball .10-.46 strings still installed & in standard tuning. There may be more to it than that, but come on. Never again, Guitar Center.
Thanks & sorry for the mini-rant.
Side-Side note: the advice on pickup height I found on these forums did help me to dial in & get the sound I was looking for out of the Blackout AHB-1's in the Schecter SLS Blackjack C-1 A guitar referenced in this post. Double Thanks for that!
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