Sperzels slipping on high E String
- Thread starter Craig S
- Start date
Yeah, me neither... this guitar has been full of all kinds of surprises.. I'm wondering if there is a internal piece missing. This guitar is a real example of the difference between a guitar that has been well played and one that has not been taken care of very well. I have a couple of the former, finish wearing through, bumps and dings but play and function perfectly. This guitar looks nice but it seems that if something fell off or broke "oh well" and that's the way it stayed.
Cosmetically it's pretty good but it appears he lost the bar, backplate, case, set screw for the bar, original pickup covers and most likely a piece out of the tuner. The non-original poor fitting covers were put on so poorly they were microphonic. Luckily I had a set of new Duncan covers that I put on and re-potted. I get the guitar teaked back up it's going to be real nice but jeez, some people and neglect.
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I was working of the guitar last night and the locking know fell off(strings off, I must have bumped it). a pin fel out(clamp, I'm assuming).. does anyone know if there should be a bearing piece of anykind in there(ball)? I guess I can take another one apart and see if need be?
The Sperzels on my Daytona were a little funky too. A couple of strings weren't being held correctly when I first got it. The previous owner said he had no problems (good guy, I believe him) I thought maybe it had got a knock or two in shipping. I took the knobs off the tuners and squirted a little WD40 in there. Helped slightly but not a major difference. After about 6 months and a couple of string changes they were fine. Weird. BTW I think there is just a pin in there... no ball, spring or anything else to worry about.
Yes, the clamp knob just actuates the pin, nothing else. I've had problems with slipping on the high E as well. It has to do with the size and shape of the top of the clamp pin - if it's too narrow, or too tapered it wedges along side the string instead of clamping it. Swapping tuners, or swapping clamp pins between tuners can result in a workable combination.
If the string breaks when tuned to pitch, it is usually due to burrs or sharp edges around the hole in the side of the post. I've had this happen too. To fix this, the edges of the hole need to be deburred and/or radiused with needle files, or maybe a Dremel if you can control it. Remove the tuner from the headstock first...
For what it's worth, I've had zero problems with the Schaller mini locking heads on my '97 G&L Legacy. I'd select them over Sperzels if I was building a guitar or replacing non-locking tuners.
If the string breaks when tuned to pitch, it is usually due to burrs or sharp edges around the hole in the side of the post. I've had this happen too. To fix this, the edges of the hole need to be deburred and/or radiused with needle files, or maybe a Dremel if you can control it. Remove the tuner from the headstock first...
For what it's worth, I've had zero problems with the Schaller mini locking heads on my '97 G&L Legacy. I'd select them over Sperzels if I was building a guitar or replacing non-locking tuners.
KH Guitar Freak
New member
I ordered the G&L Legacy with the Schaller locking tuners so I didn't have to retrofit them. They have no visible screw, so I assume they have a hidden pin like the Sperzels. I don't know if the pin hole location is the same between the two, but at least there won't be a visible screw hole that has to be filled.