jim g Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 I just bought a refurbished Steinberger Spirit, and I find that the tuners are extremely hard to turn. I want to remove the cover over the tuners to lubricate the threads, but I can't figure out how to do that. Not even anything I found on YouTube explains that. Can anyone please tell me how to do that, or point me in the right directions? ...Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r2bflash Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 I would not take it apart to oil but if you must this video may help. link to video Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r2bflash Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 I just want to add that most of what this person says about the term is wrong but it does show how to open the top up and that is what you were looking for. Most people don't understand the basics about the R-Trem including the maker of this video. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim g Posted May 10, 2020 Author Share Posted May 10, 2020 Thank you r2bflash. I would think that taking the bridge loose and exposing the spring and all-thread tuner would be the same whether it was a bass or guitar bridge. I have no trem, so no worries there. This will give me access to these tuners to properly lube them. No use in having a brand new bass only to strip out a tuner thread. Back in the previous century, I took the bridge on my XL-2 apart to replace a stripped out tuner, and I lubricated the tuners in it at that time. That was a long time ago and with the help of a licensed Steinberger repairman who is no longer around. I've forgotten everything I learned about that, so thank you again. I'm sure my old XL2 needs it done again, so this advice will be doubly helpful...Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r2bflash Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 47 minutes ago, jim g said: Thank you r2bflash. I would think that taking the bridge loose and exposing the spring and all-thread tuner would be the same whether it was a bass or guitar bridge. I have no trem, so no worries there. This will give me access to these tuners to properly lube them. No use in having a brand new bass only to strip out a tuner thread. Back in the previous century, I took the bridge on my XL-2 apart to replace a stripped out tuner, and I lubricated the tuners in it at that time. That was a long time ago and with the help of a licensed Steinberger repairman who is no longer around. I've forgotten everything I learned about that, so thank you again. I'm sure my old XL2 needs it done again, so this advice will be doubly helpful...Jim OK, I didn't realize this was a bass! You just have to take the strings off and take the bridge off to access the screws under the bridge. A lot of work when you could just spray some oil up in there. Good luck with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim g Posted May 10, 2020 Author Share Posted May 10, 2020 I hate to just spray oil up in there. You get a bunch of oil in on things where you don't want oil. I've found on this (and other musical/mechanical instruments I've worked on, like pedal steel) that just a light Q-tip's worth of white lithium grease or even 3 in 1 oil does a good job and lasts a long time. For this bass, somebody also mentioned placing nylon washers between the tuner knob itself and the tuner/bridge assembly, so I've purchased some of those. It doesn't look like there are any washers in there now. I hope to have this bass up and running well this week. Thank you again for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Be.eM Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 (edited) This will help: R-Trem maintenance 🙂 Edit: No, sorry, this is still not the bass bridge… Edited May 10, 2020 by Be.eM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim g Posted May 11, 2020 Author Share Posted May 11, 2020 Yeah, this is definitely a bass, but I appreciate everyone's efforts. That's what it's all about, isn't it? Players helping players. And I did manage to get the bridge/tuner off and apart this afternoon. I'll lubricate it tomorrow and put in the washers I bought. I have some other stuff ordered to "make the bass mine" and I'll be up and running. Thanks to all of you who pitched in and helped answer my questions...Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Q Posted November 27, 2020 Share Posted November 27, 2020 On 5/10/2020 at 9:19 AM, jim g said: I hate to just spray oil up in there. You get a bunch of oil in on things where you don't want oil. I've found on this (and other musical/mechanical instruments I've worked on, like pedal steel) that just a light Q-tip's worth of white lithium grease or even 3 in 1 oil does a good job and lasts a long time. For this bass, somebody also mentioned placing nylon washers between the tuner knob itself and the tuner/bridge assembly, so I've purchased some of those. It doesn't look like there are any washers in there now. I hope to have this bass up and running well this week. Thank you again for your help. Jim, where did you order the nylon washers? Would you please provide a link? I wonder if I could use teflon washers like other manufacturers use in their headless bridges, and where would I get them? I think I need washers because if I haven't tuned my bass for a few days, the tuners are hard to turn, and "pops" when making the first adjustment. Like you, I didn't want to just spray lube in the bridge and make a mess. If you could give me some guidance since you have already done it, I would appreciate that very much! Thankyou!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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