Need to fix T8 tuner

Kermit Lee · Post by **Kermit Lee** » 26 Sep 2014 6:12 am

I have a T8 Stringmaster with a bad tuner. The worm drive looks ok, need a replacement gear. Anybody know of a source for these?

Jon Light · Post by **Jon Light** » 26 Sep 2014 6:23 am

If you have a guitar repair shop nearby, take the star gear there. There is a chance that they have a parts box that has what you need. I once pulled one off an old Harmony acoustic that was a perfect replacement for a Dual Pro gear.

Kermit Lee · Post by **Kermit Lee** » 26 Sep 2014 6:39 am

Will try that, have done that in the past for other guitars. Does anyone currently make a tuning assembly-pan and all- that would fit?

Jon Light · Post by **Jon Light** » 26 Sep 2014 6:54 am

It's been talked about before but no.
There is no question that the world needs these replacement parts but it's anybody's guess if an enterprising person could make his money back after the expense of setting up a production run.

Jeff Mead · Post by **Jeff Mead** » 26 Sep 2014 8:24 am

If you have the slightly newer stringmaster (with the oblong tuners rather than the round ones) they can be replaced with a regular vintage Kluson tuner - just drill a hole in the shaft to thread the string through.

If you don't want to cut the tuner strip, you can replace the whole strip with 4 individual tuners.

Kermit Lee · Post by **Kermit Lee** » 26 Sep 2014 11:23 am

How would you remove the metal buttons from the old tunes to get them out and the same with the new ones to get them in?

Ron Simpson · Post by **Ron Simpson** » 26 Sep 2014 1:03 pm

Check Ebay for any NOS mandolin tuners.

Tim Whitlock · Post by **Tim Whitlock** » 26 Sep 2014 1:08 pm

Kermit Lee wrote:How would you remove the metal buttons from the old tunes to get them out and the same with the new ones to get them in?

The lollipop buttons were soldered on my Custom T-8. I would guess they are on the Stringmaster as well. A little heat from a small butane or propane torch will melt the solder and the button will slide off.

Jeff Mead · Post by **Jeff Mead** » 26 Sep 2014 10:24 pm

Kermit,

From what you've said, it sounds like you have one of the early Stringmasters with the long scale and the chrome pickup covers.

This model would have the "lolipop" tuners - the same as on the Dual Professional and a couple of other models.

This thread (and the links contained within it) would be useful...

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... ipop+tuner

Kermit Lee · Post by **Kermit Lee** » 27 Sep 2014 7:09 am

Yes, long scale. The links were very helpful. Thanks