Jim Sliff wrote:I also have used Tri-flow or other Teflon lubricants for years.
And ONLY the dry type. The mineral oil version gums up the works like most any oil, as it attracts and hold dirt. The paraffin used is not the stuff you would think of (like candle wax) - it's a harder material used as a binder for the Teflon...
My primary steel is a 59-ish, heavily modified 8-pedal, 2-knee Fender 400 with cables, pedal rod levers one large and numerous small pulleys and a changer that has a scissor-like mechanism for each string with sliding plates.
Jim,
However well-intentioned, your advice in this matter is quite misguided. Here's why.
I don't believe that 1959 Fenders had roller-nuts-- isn't that correct?
Assuming that they do not have roller-nuts, then the paraffin in the so-called "dry" TriFlow may not create a problem for you-- in fact it might be better as you say.
However, most people with steel guitars more recent than 1959 DO have roller-nuts, each with perhaps only a 0.003" side clearance. (BTW, 0.003" is about the thickness of a human hair.)
The so-called "dry" TriFlow was designed for use with bicycles so that a thick protective coat of paraffin would be formed on top of the Teflon to protect it from mud and dirt on the gears and chain. Bicycle gears and chains obviously have much wider clearances than 0.003" and much more force being applied to them than the slight force of a string trying to return to pitch.
Do you see why the so-called "dry" version of TriFlow loaded up with paraffin to make a thick protective coating does NOT make sense for steel guitars with roller-nuts?
-----------------------------------------------
The reason why I refer to it as "so-called dry" TriFlow is that both formulations (standard and "dry")are applied wet, and in both cases the chemical that "transports" the Teflon evaporates in a few hours, leaving only a "dry", slippery film of Teflon behind.
In other words, the standard TriFlow is just as dry as the so-called "dry" TriFlow. (Read the information on the Tri-Flow website.)
The ONLY difference between the two formulations is that the TriFlow labelled as "dry" and usually sold in bike shops is loaded with paraffin-- the enemy of roller nuts trying to help the string return to pitch.
Anyone who has roller-nuts on their steel guitars (probably 98% of us) should avoid the "dry" TriFlow like the plague (or should that be "plaque" in this case?).
BTW, I can tell you from personal experience that you are quite incorrect in your description of the paraffin in the "dry" TriFlow-- it is EXACTLY like candle wax. I was scrubbing little blobs of wax out of my roller-nut and axles for about 25 minutes after my disastrous experiment with the TriFlow "dry" bicycle formulation a few years ago.
Do you now understand why "dry" TriFlow should not be used on steel guitars with roller-nuts?
- Dave
p.s. For diplomacy's sake, I will not mention whose advice on the SGF it was that convinced me to try the "dry" TriFlow that created such a problem for me...
.