Why tight nylon hex adjusters

Jan Dunn · Post by **Jan Dunn** » 18 Jan 2008 10:03 am

This is a case of good news/bad news. Good news is my 1994 Carter hardly ever needs any tuning at the pedals and levers. The bad news is that some on them are pretty stiff and hard to turn (yep that big wrench does work). My question: Is there some way to lubricate those suckers without dismantling anything? Should I just turn them left and right a bit to see if they loosen up? The funny thing is some of the adjuster turn effortlessly while others are a far stiffer.

Inquiring minds want to know.

Michael Haselman · Post by **Michael Haselman** » 18 Jan 2008 10:21 am

You'll get lots of answers on this, but I believe too tight is better than too loose. Too loose and they will tend to move and go out of tune. That's the reason for nylon, so they stay fairly tight. You definitely want some resistance.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 18 Jan 2008 11:22 am

Michael is on the right track. You don't want them loose or there is a possibility that they would move and thus lose whatever was tuned with them.

Roger Crawford · Post by **Roger Crawford** » 18 Jan 2008 11:45 am

I know where Jan is coming from, though. I've had them stiff enough that when you try to tune one, it has so much torque stored up, when it releases, it goes past the point of being in tune. I removed the stiff ones and put a small amount of white grease on the threads of the pull rod, then reinstalled the nut. Seems to help.

Don Sulesky · Post by **Don Sulesky** » 19 Jan 2008 5:41 am

If your hex nuts are nylon they are water soluble and self lubricating and should not need any grease.
This is why we used to find all the gears in fishing reels with nylon gears. I would work the tuning nuts in and out to ream the threads on the nuts.
This should make them easier to turn. I have found some hex nuts to be plastic and not nylon. These will be extra tight.

Clarence Wilson · Post by **Clarence Wilson** » 19 Jan 2008 11:20 am

These nuts are not threaded beforehand. They are turned onto the threaded rod, which makes them very tight fitting. The only solution is to work them back and forth until they are loose enough so they will
not turn the guitar over when you twist them.

Both of my Carter guitars are still very tight after all this time.

CEW

Charles Davidson · Post by **Charles Davidson** » 19 Jan 2008 11:31 am

About four years ago I bought a new GFI ULTRA S10,I thought the tuners were to tight,but read the manual and it said that was on purpose.It was a GREAT,GREAT, guitar,but missed the 6th neck so much I went back to a D10.DYKBC.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 19 Jan 2008 11:38 am

If the tuner nuts are really too tight, try a silicone or teflon lube on them. If that should make them too loose, you can rinse them in alcohol and you're back where you started.

Lem Smith · Post by **Lem Smith** » 20 Jan 2008 5:35 pm

I put a new set of nylon tuners on an early Sho~Bud Pro II, and managed to twist two pull rods loose from the allen screws holding them before getting the pedals back in tune, because the nylon tuners were so tight. Some of the older guitars seem to have bigger pull rods on them, so that would make some difference in the tightness.

Paul Redmond · Post by **Paul Redmond** » 21 Jan 2008 10:06 pm

George L's tuners are made from nylon which contains a lubricant in the compound itself. BTW nylon is a trade name for the polyamid family of materials. Since all these tuners are designed intentionally to be self-threading, I have always recommended the use of one tiny drop of WD-40 on the mouth of the nut before threading them on the rod for the first time.
Some injection-molding processes on some grades of nylon set up severe linear stresses in the molded parts. Ironically one of the ways in which this embrittlement is diminished is to place the molded parts in a humidity tent where water vaporizers create a very high humidity reading. Since polyamids tend to be very hydroscopic by nature, the inducement of plain old H2O into the material relaxes this condition considerably. Some electronic component producers even specify to the molder how long a series of parts must be 'annealed' in the humidity tent prior to shipment. Don't kill the messenger here!! I worked for a year at Hoffer Plastics, Inc. in South Elgin IL back in the 1970's. At the time, they were the largest 'nylon' molding facility on the planet. They knew more about polyamids than the material producers.
PRR

Bo Legg · Post by **Bo Legg** » 22 Jan 2008 2:47 pm

Maybe lower the legs on the Steel, nuts seem to tighten up when your your afraid of high places.