Steinberger Tuners

[colin 5150 0]

Hi to you all,

I've just signed up at the Gibson forum website, with recommendations from other users i know.

My question is, The R-Trem bridge tuners are incredibly hard to turn to tune the guitar in, the guitar is pretty new, is there a way to get the tuners to become smoother and easier to rotate? rather than turning them at the moment in a 'jerking' motion?

[r2bflash 0]

The tuners are no high tech device. They are just threaded screws going through a threaded hole to lengthen or shorten the point the string is held changing the tension on the string. If they are hard to turn something is really wrong because there is no way to make them hard to turn other than stripping the threads or pulling the string too tight. Or they could rust i guess and mess them up.

Are they all hard to turn or just one or two?

Edited March 18 by r2bflash

[colin 5150 0]

All are difficult, when tuning, you can turn them smoothly and the jerk making the note too sharp/flat. i was hunting for ideas and one person on another thread has said using very thin (0.5mm) PTFE nylon washers tend to allow the tuners to turn smoother against a smooth surface than when they're touching the steel face of the bridge.

[r2bflash 0]

Good luck with it. Just so you will know from someone that has had R-Trems since the 80s, None of mine (have had about six and still have two) ever had a problem like that and never needed anything done to them to make them work very smooth. The only problems I have ever had with them were bent posts, never problems with them being hard to turn to tune.

[r2bflash 0]

I would make sure the threads are not stripped. They should just screw in and out without any jerking.

[r2bflash 0]

Now if your posts are bent and the trem is rubbing on the body or the guitar that may make it jerk sharp or flat but all the strings would go sharp or flat. Make sure you have the trem locked when you tune.

[colin 5150 0]

Thanks for the help, I know the posts are fine, I use the trem very lightly, when the strings are loosened of the tuners turn no problem, it's under tension that the do, and the guitar is only 3 months old, it may be that they need a good 'work out' lol. I'll keep at it.

Thanks again.