How tight should tuner holes be?

[rkaiser87]

Hi, all. Just got my first Warmoth neck today.  Question for the community: I went with vintage style tuners...how tightly should the grommets fit in the holes?  How hard is too hard when pushing them in?  I want to make sure they fit, but I don't want to damage the Roasted Maple headstock.  Should I be able to push them in by hand?

 

[Professor Bill]

I just installed a set of vintage style tuners in a roasted maple neck, too.

https://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=33064.0

I took some rolled up sandpaper and created a little more space – just a pinch or two of sawdust. They were still quite snug – too tight to push by hand, although maybe someone with very strong fingers could.

I used this trick and it went very well:

https://youtu.be/nY11HuiG1Rc

Best wishes for yours! I spent a bit of time reading up on the process and worrying, as I had read that roasted woods are brittle and could split if forced.

 

[ragamuffin]

You should be able to push them in by hand. I haven't had any trouble getting mine in on any of my Warmoth necks.

 

[rkaiser87]

I just installed a set of vintage style tuners in a roasted maple neck, too.

https://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=33064.0

I took some rolled up sandpaper and created a little more space – just a pinch or two of sawdust. They were still quite snug – too tight to push by hand, although maybe someone with very strong fingers could.

I used this trick and it went very well:

https://youtu.be/nY11HuiG1Rc

Best wishes for yours! I spent a bit of time reading up on the process and worrying, as I had read that roasted woods are brittle and could split if forced.

Thanks, I'll definitely try the sandpaper.  Also, that video is genius.  I'll have to try that as well.

 

[wildbill]

Personally, I would think if you have to resort to as much torque as exhibited in the video, your holes are too small or your tuners too big. (Chicken / Egg conundrum ) However it is easier to make the holes larger than to make the bushing smaller.

They really can't go anyplace, can they?

Especially on roasted maple, I think you should be able to push them in by hand pressure only. I can see these that are being put in under all this force cracking the neck when it contracts due to temp and humidity. I can also see a zillion spider web cracks on a head-stock finished in lacquer.

I would go to the sandpaper and get them cozy but removable without using a bearing press.

 

[stratamania]

I would say ideally for vintage tuner bushings you want just a tad more than normal hand pressure would give. But on the flip side they should not be overly tight to risk cracking by forcing them in.

 

[wavedalton]

Enough to push in with your finger or slightly more so...  I have forced in bushings in the past and it causes visible damage to the finish - an ugly mistake.  I have had to enlarge tuner holes on every Warmoth neck I've gotten - I use a dremel (with a careful hand) and it only takes a couple minutes.

 

[docteurseb]

Whenever I ordered necks for those vintage-style tuners, the holes were always too tight to force them in safely without sanding first as suggested above.
Putting bees wax can also prevent having to use excessive force (and eventually make them easier to remove too).

 

[elstoof]

I just installed some gotoh vintage style into an unfinished neck, they were snug and wouldn’t go in by hand but they supply a little pin that you can drive the ferrules in with a hammer and that wasn’t an issue.

Get a drill bit that’s the diameter of what the hole is supposed to be, 11/32 or whatever, and slide it in to see if there’s any finish overrun that’s made it smaller. If the bit doesn’t go in, use the same bit to drill out the lacquer.