I may have been wrong about the Silvercreek tuning machine...

[gitmo]

I took the tuning machine off of the guitar and couldn't get the mechanism to slip. I'm thinking the string broke off in the post hole now.

 

Silvercreek reputation for quality is intact at this moment, at least my two examples.

[irishstu]

Maybe too late to bring this up now, but if you ever have any doubt about a tuning machine, simply swap it with the adjacent one and see if the problem follows the tuning machine or not.

[katopp]

I took the tuning machine off of the guitar and couldn't get the mechanism to slip. I'm thinking the string broke off in the post hole now. Silvercreek reputation for quality is intact at this moment, at least my two examples.

 

 

String breaks at the post hole are either due to:

 

a) improper stringing

b) excessive tuning (changing tunings)

d) sharp edges of the post hole.

 

and can be avoided by proper stringing and - if there is one notorious string - breaking the angle a tad.

 

Slippage is rare with good tuners and if you don't feel excessive play in the mechanism it most probably is something else.

 

Amazingly, the application of NutSauce (or a dab of graphite) to nut and bridge often helps curing tuning issues.

[FretFiend.]

Those tuners are made to some rather loose tolerances, and they will always feel a little rough because of that. A drop of 3 in 1 oil will help alleviate some of the roughness.

 

Gears and splined shafts, by their very nature, do not slip. An improperly threaded string will slip through the peg hole tho.

[gitmo]

 

String breaks at the post hole are either due to: a) improper stringing b) excessive tuning (changing tunings) d) sharp edges of the post hole. and can be avoided by proper stringing and - if there is one notorious string - breaking the angle a tad. Slippage is rare with good tuners and if you don't feel excessive play in the mechanism it most probably is something else. Amazingly, the application of NutSauce (or a dab of graphite) to nut and bridge often helps curing tuning issues.

 

 

These were the factory strings and it was about the third time I had loosen them so assuming it broke-I haven't found the broken end-it was probably due in parts to b) & d). I'll take a look at the post holes, they may be a candidate for touching up with the Dremel.

[gitmo]

 

Maybe too late to bring this up now, but if you ever have any doubt about a tuning machine, simply swap it with the adjacent one and see if the problem follows the tuning machine or not.

 

 

I removed the machine, slipped a paperclip into the post hole and cranked. Sore bloody fingers, no slipping.

[gitmo]

 

Those tuners are made to some rather loose tolerances, and they will always feel a little rough because of that. A drop of 3 in 1 oil will help alleviate some of the roughness. Gears and splined shafts, by their very nature, do not slip. An improperly threaded string will slip through the peg hole tho.

 

 

I put a drop of Tri-Flow in them. I prefer Tri-Flow because it will leave Teflon on the wear part if/after the lubricant thickens due to evaporation of the finer distillates or migrates off.

[gitnoob]

It could also be your stringing technique. Are you following the Taylor method? It pretty much ensures that you have enough wraps to hold tension and you don't bend the string or overlap the winds -- both of which will weaken the string.

[Freeman Keller]

fwiw, some tuners, mainly the old Rotomatics used on some Martins, do have the tension on the post drive set by the little screw in the middle of the knob. The will slip if the screw is too loose. Many Martin players carry a little screw driver to tweak this from time to time.

[gitmo]

 

It could also be your stringing technique. Are you following the Taylor method? It pretty much ensures that you have enough wraps to hold tension and you don't bend the string or overlap the winds -- both of which will weaken the string.

 

 

These were strung by the factory, I only loosened and tightened them.

 

I use the Taylor technique.

[katopp]

Loseneing and tightening them is a surefire recipe for breaking at the tuner post.

[gitmo]

 

Loseneing and tightening them is a surefire recipe for breaking at the tuner post.

 

 

I have to risk it to change bridges for my tone test comparison.

 

You guys are worth it man!:phil:

[katopp]

In my trad sesson at the local watering hole, one other guitarist is constantly switching between EADGBE and DADGAD and he breaks strings regularily. I believe, he could've bought a second guitar just for DADGAD from all the extra strings he has to buy.