Where can I buy spare parts?

[james948]

I snapped the plastic (plastic!) off the headpiece of my gt-pro while trying to make it larger to string it left handed. 

Now I'm completely lost!

James. 

[slowgypsy]

Don't know what you mean by "plastic".    Do you mean the rubber string retainer? 

[james948]

I mean this bit here where the high-e is supposed to go. Not the rubber bit. 

[slowgypsy]

That part is called a headpiece.  It's not plastic but rather made from an alloy metal.  Try headlessusa for a replacement.  Another alternative would be to keep this headpiece but use a string adapter... although that would require single-ball strings.

 

Edited October 12, 2020 by slowgypsy

[james948]

Thanks. Called headlessusa; they're not sure it'll work given the state of this headpiece. Headless usa doesn't have a replacement of that piece in left handed. Or, even, I think, right handed. 

[james948]

Looking at pictures close up it seems like Steinberger don't even manufacturer different headpieces for the left handed ones; they just adjust them. I don't ;know ho. 

vjljmuyssujohsu9xa5y.webp

 

[james948]

 

 

[slowgypsy]

http://www.hohner-cshop.de/en/Guitar/Headless-Bass-Series/Headless-Guitars/Hohner-G3T/Head-piece-G3T.html

[Be.eM]

That Hohner headpiece has different dimensions, won't fit on a Spirit. I made this comparison with a JCustom headpiece, which is made for Steinbergers (Spirit and Music Yo):

Bernd

[james948]

On 10/18/2020 at 6:38 PM, Be.eM said:

That Hohner headpiece has different dimensions, won't fit on a Spirit. I made this comparison with a JCustom headpiece, which is made for Steinbergers (Spirit and Music Yo):

Bernd

 

 

 

Thanks! Good info. 

[james948]

I’ve got one that fits and I‘ve dremelled it to allow it to be strung left handed. 

My question is whether there’s meant to be a bolt that goes through the middle hole of the headpiece and connects to The rod that goes down the neck. I thought I was very careful about keeping all the pieces but I can’t find it. I had a look at some online resources and some show bolts, some don’t. 

Does anyone have an idea? and, if so, what size does it need? 

Thanks. 

 

[Be.eM]

There is no bolt. There's just the nut on the truss rod (hex socket), accessible through the hole in the headpiece.

Bernd

[james948]

oh. So nothing connects to the truss rod from the headpiece? The headpiece is just held on by two screws that go either side? 

 

[Be.eM]

Correct. Two screws hold the headpiece, the truss rod nut is accessed through the middle hole.

[james948]

Brill. Thanks so much. Here goes nothing!

 

[james948]

Update 

So the new part doesn't *quite* fit. Here's the old one: 

And here's the new one

 

However, when screwed in, this is what it looks like: 

Should I be worried about screwing it in and trying to use it anyway do you think?

[Be.eM]

Well, this looks a little bit like the Hohner headpiece which I've shown above… as not fitting.  Where did you get that headpiece?

If you want to use it anyway (and if the screw holes align to the existing holes), I'd use it with a shim. Just put a little bit of wood between the neck top and the headpiece.

[james948]

I've got a few of the hohner style ones from chinese sellers I think but this came straight from headless usa who said it was the exact one.

Good shout on a shim. I'll give it a go. 

 

 

[Be.eM]

I somewhat doubt that HeadlessUSA sells original Steinberger headpieces… to me it looks like a Hohner, or better: coming the manufacturer who also built the Hohner R-Trems (as long as they were available). Gibson doesn't sell them as replacements without a service/repair case. Don refuses to do anything on Asian Steinbergers (Spirits and the Korean line), so why should he bother with getting parts from Gibson… some years ago he also sold Hohner R-Trems, so why not also the headpieces.

[james948]

Dumb question. Have no wood to hand; would polymorph or sugru work?

 

[Be.eM]

I don't know what these things are, but if they're as solid as wood and stiff enough not to interfere with the neck resonance…

[james948]

Well that was an ordeal!

I did it. But I pretty much had to take apart the whole thing. 

I unscrewed the tuning knobs too far which meant the jaws came out and then springs came loose of the tuning knobs and so I had to dismantle that. Which of course meant that the saddles came out and one thing led to another but I put it back together and it works great. 

I mean one thing I'm concerned about (knowing how it works now) is the whole r-trem springing forward off the guitar; it seems fairly precariously locked in place. 

Anyway! Thanks for everyone's help. tbh next time I might just buy the left handed one and have it painted or something because the volume knob is definitely getting in my way!

I wonder whether a good technician could rewire and move some stuff for me.