GFI Nylon Tuning nut problem

Karl Smakula · From: Nashville, TN

I have a GFI Expo D-10 that was badly neglected for years. I bought it out of a shed in Alabama where is was covered in cigarette ash and dirt. I almost have it in working order again, but among the issues it still faces is that the nylon tuners are extremely difficult to move. They will move but they are not precise. So how should I go about remedying this issue? Is there a way to lubricate these tuning nuts or do I need to replace them? Thanks in advance for any advice!

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

You can try removing them and lubing the holes with some silicone or synthetic oil, and reinstall them. That might help make them turn easier. As far as "not being precise", I don't know exactly what you mean. It could be that the guitar is overtuned, and if that's the case, it will not stay in tune. (See the sticky at the top of the page on "Overtuning".)

Bobby D. Jones · From: West Virginia, USA

I have 2 GFI S12 guitars, The best lube for the nylon tuners after trying several different lubes I have tried, Is Bee's Wax. It allows the tuners to turn smooth for tuning, But the tuners will not move on their own. And has caused no damage to tuners after 5 years + of use.

Tandy Leather is a supplier of bees wax for leather sewing.

Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

I'm guessing that "not precise" means that they're so stiff that fine adjustment is difficult or impossible.
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Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

From the GFI web site:

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

Jon Light · From: Saugerties, NY

A few years ago a friend & I compared notes -- we had both experienced old tuners on old guitars becoming extremely difficult to move. The kind of 'stuck' where you are actually afraid of harming the rod or the bellcrank connection point because they are just seized up and just won't budge under 'normal' pressure. I seem to recall that ultimately they did move but only under unexpectedly large amount of force. We never got to the bottom of it. Were there tuners on older guitars that were made from some sort of plastic that changed, hardened, stiffened, lost some sort of physical properties after a lot of years?

Butch Pytko · From: Orlando, Florida, USA

Jon Light wrote...
Were there tuners on older guitars that were made from some sort of plastic that changed, hardened, stiffened, lost some sort of physical properties after a lot of years?

Jon Light, I've been wondering the same thing lately, as just the other day I had a very stiff nylon tuner that wouldn't move, and actually was turning the pull rod in the bellcrank fastener. The nylon tuner is an original on my 1983 LeGrande. Anyway, what I've been doing over the years is to drill out the nylon tuner. I figured-out what the drill size range would be and bought the industrial numbered drill bits, starting with the smallest with gradual increase in size to the largest being the numbers: 35, 34, 33, 32, & 31. I always start with the smallest drill bit #35, which usually enlarges the nylon tuner hole enough. For my current nylon tuner problem, the #35 drill bit did the trick, and the tuner had just enough turning resistance to stay put as normal, and ended the very stiff turning reaction.

Jon Light · From: Saugerties, NY

Yes. I've done that on occasion. My take from the original statement "They will move but they are not precise" was that they require so much force that when they do move, they 'jump' and overshoot. In that situation I bore out the hole just a tiny bit. As we know, you don't want finger-loose.

In the case of super-extremely tight after many years of just sitting, I'm talking about tuners that once worked well enough but now act as thought they were loctite'd on. I know that some materials are hydrophilic and I'm wondering if they absorbed moisture over many years and expanded, tightening themselves on the rods to the point of virtually freezing up.

Bobby D. Jones · From: West Virginia, USA

Around 2005 I got some tuners that had been molded out of plastic. They looked real neat, They were molded out of White plastic, Had a round bearing surface for full contact with the changer finger or sleeve on the pull rod. I had to cut them into 5/8" length tuning nuts for a 70's MSA a couple split when I was threading them on the pull rod.

Most modern ones are made from Nylon bar stock and last much longer and hold snug.

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