Which way is correct for steel?

Billy Henderson · Post by **Billy Henderson** » 24 Oct 2002 11:26 am

Which way do you turn the tuners to tighten the string? Sitting at the steel, right like tightening a nut on a bolt or left like loosening a nut?

Always wanted to know but was afraid to ask.

Larry Bell · Post by **Larry Bell** » 24 Oct 2002 11:32 am

The string should come off the TOP of the post (shaft on the tuning machine) before going over the nut roller, so you are turning clockwise to tighten and c-cw to loosen.

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<small>Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2000 Fessenden S-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 24 Oct 2002 11:45 am

Righty tighty, Lefty loosy.

Billy Henderson · Post by **Billy Henderson** » 24 Oct 2002 1:35 pm

Thanks!! Naturally mine was wrong! Oh well,

Terry Wendt · Post by **Terry Wendt** » 24 Oct 2002 1:37 pm

It might be easier to think of as "clockwise" to tighten and "counter-clockwise" to loosen.

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and appearing regularly...
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Dave Van Allen · Post by **Dave Van Allen** » 25 Oct 2002 6:35 pm

Terry;

in a world where digital time displays have become ubiquitous , "clockwise" may soon lose it's meaning, so I'm with Jim on this one for "ease"

<SMALL>Righty tighty, Lefty loosy.</SMALL>

Wayne Cox · Post by **Wayne Cox** » 25 Oct 2002 11:16 pm

Re,LARRY BELL and JIM SMITH: Hey guys,if you had written the same thing two months ago, I would have agreed with you totally,but things change. I have recently discovered that winding the strings under the posts helps to eliminate string buzz,at the nut.
Another by-product is that your bar won't slide off the the machine head when you lay it there. Try it,you may change your mind.
The hurrier I go,the behinder I get.
W.C.

Steve Allison · Post by **Steve Allison** » 26 Oct 2002 5:51 am

I was going to post on this very thing today.
Talk about Da'javue!

Put strings on my LeGrande II last week and decided to put them under the post on the inside strings. More downward string angle on 6 string guitars usually results in better tone and sustain. So that got me to thinking...Played it last week and will play again tonight to form my opinion. I actually believe that all my theories are true from what I experienced last week but I want to give it more experimentation.
Now my question is I am sure that others have tried this and already have the answers so please share your expierence with us on this.
Thanx

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 26 Oct 2002 6:03 am

Wayne and Steve, your theories are good, but I think the extra angle over the nut rollers would lead to more string breakage and the extra pressure on the rollers would cause them to stick and lead to more detuning.

It might also cause more cabinet drop, which is one reason Gene Fields uses a thinner neck on his GFI guitars.

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Jim Smith jimsmith94@attbi.com
-=Dekley D-12 10&12=-
-=Fessenden D-12 (coming soon)=-

Wayne Cox · Post by **Wayne Cox** » 26 Oct 2002 3:40 pm

Re: JIM,
The angle and tension is actually what helps eliminate the buzz at the nut. But, you could be correct about breakage...Hmmm.
W.C.