Open-Gear Waverly Tuner Question

[Larry S.]

I own a Martin D41 guitar where the press-fit knurled brass hex bushings falls off the guitar when I remove the strings. This guitar appears to be in original condition. I also don’t understand why there’s a 10 mm. bolt or nut on top of the bushings if it’s “press-fit”- would this ordinarily tighten? Martin suggests I use a bit of glue to hold them down, and string tension keeps everything in place, but I would like them to stay together.

Do I buy a new set from Stew MAC if the hole is the correct diameter?

Do I follow Martin’s advice and glue it or get a pro to glue it?

Although these tuners show Martin’s name, I assume they are Waverley’s.

Grateful for any advice,

Larry Seltzer

[John Arnold]

Waverly tuners have the Waverly name. Martin named open tuners are made by Gotoh.
Press-in hex bushings have been around since the 1930's, and are designed to imitate a nut. Do not turn them.
I generally don't glue the bushings in. Remove the tuners. If a bushing is loose, apply glue in the hole and let it dry. Then test fit the bushing, which should start to come tight when it is halfway installed. It may take more than one application to tighten the fit. I use a small C-clamp to press in the bushings, with a padded block on the back of the peghead. Be gentle. Too much pressure can damage the finish, or worse, crack the peghead veneer.

[nikpearson]

Originally Posted by Larry S.

I own a Martin D41 guitar where the press-fit knurled brass hex bushings falls off the guitar when I remove the strings. This guitar appears to be in original condition. I also don’t understand why there’s a 10 mm. bolt or nut on top of the bushings if it’s “press-fit”- would this ordinarily tighten? Martin suggests I use a bit of glue to hold them down, and string tension keeps everything in place, but I would like them to stay together.

Do I buy a new set from Stew MAC if the hole is the correct diameter?

Do I follow Martin’s advice and glue it or get a pro to glue it?

Although these tuners show Martin’s name, I assume they are Waverley’s.

Grateful for any advice,

Larry Seltzer

The nut is their for aesthetic reasons; whether that’s a pleasing aesthetic comes down to personal taste.

You could use glue to hold the bushings in place. Collings guitars glue the bushing in place so it’s perfectly acceptable practice. Not sure what glue they use though and it potentially makes removing the bushing later more tricky.

I’d suggest a couple of options. Either use a little wood glue, Titebond or similar in the bushing hole. This should hold the bushing well enough but not make future removal too challenging.

An alternative approach I’ve used (after I managed to ream the hole too large on an instrument I was building) was to brush shellac around the hole to build up a thin layer, thereby reducing the hole diameter.

The advantages of wood glue and shellac are that they can easily be cleaned off with water and alcohol respectively, neither of which will damage the finish. Superglue would also work but any drips could spoil your instrument.

[Larry S.]

Nik and John-thanks for the education.