Bass VI tuner button broke

Discussion of vintage Jazzmasters, Jaguars, Bass VIs, Electric XIIs and any other offset-waist instruments.
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Tele295
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Bass VI tuner button broke

Post by Tele295 » Thu Sep 06, 2018 6:35 pm

Restringing my 65 L-series Bass VI, and the button on the D tuner broke and now spins freely.

This is a players instrument and has had parts changed over the years. Sometime in the late 70’s/early 80s, the Kluson in line tuners were replaced with Fender F cover tuners. Different hole pattern. Both sets of holes can be seen on the neck. I’ve had the guitar since the late 80’s.

So where can I get a replacement? If I have to change the whole set back to Kluson style, that’s ok, but I can’t seem to find any replacements. Of course, the string channels are larger than they would be for regular guitar tuners.

Please?
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Re: Bass VI tuner button broke

Post by oid » Thu Sep 06, 2018 9:29 pm

Bass VI strings fit in my AVRI Jazzmasters tuners, those are klusons, at least the set of slinky strings I got did. So standard klusons may do you just fine.

Edit: are they klusons on the AVRI? I really should know this since I play it daily.
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Re: Bass VI tuner button broke

Post by sookwinder » Thu Sep 06, 2018 11:48 pm

yes they fit, I used that type when I built my bass VI some years back... but the shaft diameter is dramatically smaller than the tuners made for Bass VIs
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Re: Bass VI tuner button broke

Post by N0_Camping4U » Fri Sep 07, 2018 6:22 am

I cannot help, but in regards to your last post, the diameter is different, but do the strings fit? Does it affect anything?
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Re: Bass VI tuner button broke

Post by sookwinder » Fri Sep 07, 2018 9:47 pm

Yeah the strings can be strung with no issues.
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Re: Bass VI tuner button broke

Post by oid » Fri Sep 07, 2018 11:45 pm

You would most likely have finer tuning and a slight increase in the risk of string breakage at the tuning posts. String life should still be plenty good, I played the Bass VI set on my Jazzmaster for around a year and that set was still going strong when I switched back to guitar strings. The finer tuning most do not really notice and few that do are bothered by it.
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Re: Bass VI tuner button broke

Post by Tele295 » Wed Jan 06, 2021 6:50 am

I’m still tuning that string with a pair of vise-grip pliers
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Re: Bass VI tuner button broke

Post by sookwinder » Wed Jan 06, 2021 10:52 pm

at least with vice grips you can leave it on the headstock like a tuner when you play live :D
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Re: Bass VI tuner button broke

Post by Sweetfinger » Wed Jan 06, 2021 11:06 pm

Buy a single vintage "F" tuner. The mechanism can be stuffed under your existing cover if the amount of wear is different. There were a couple F tuner variants over the years, you can look for ones that match if you have a good eye. If they drilled the posts out for yours larger, you could move the replacement to the high string and move the other down in line.

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