Straightening a Bent Tuner

[Robert McAuley]

I have a Fender Dual 8 Pro with the shaft of one of its tuners slightly bent. It's been like this for decades and is still tunable, but it's a bit awkward and has always bothered me since it's otherwise a beautiful instrument.

Does anyone have any advice as to how I might safely straighten it?

I have some thoughts of my own, but perhaps it's best not to prejudice anyone or better still, not sound foolish by suggesting something crazy... like a blowtorch!

[Chris Clem]

In my shop I put a small crescent wrench over the bent shaft,snug it up tight. Then but a bigger crescent wrench at 90 degrees over the handle of the smaller one. This gives you some leverage to easily bend it straight.You can usually do this while it is still on the guitar. Sometimes you won't have room and will need to put it in a vise.

The ones that are bent really badly are harder to do. Those you would remove the button and heat the shaft.