Vintage Yamaha BB tuners

Arjankoster

Arjankoster

Aug 26, 2011
64
8
4,571
Enschede, Netherlands
#1
Hi guys,

I recently acquired an '85 Yamaha BB1000s. I love everything about this machine, except the tuners. I feel like they don't stay in tune very well, but that is not the biggest problem I have with them. When I tune my bass, the sleeve in which the tuning key sits unscrews itself from the tuner.

Now I've done some research on this forum and there seems to be a specialized tuning key for adjusting this "sleeve" (which I do not possess). Would tightening the sleeve make it stay in place? There is already quite some friction when turning the tuning keys.

I tried using some needlenose pliers to try and turn the sleeve, but that did not work.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
#2
You need to find a tool that will fit. Pictures would help, but it sounds like the screw for adjusting the tuners overall friction is loose. Those screws are normally glued in place. Maybe a former owner, decided to adjust the friction for one reason or another and didn't bother re-gluing the friction screw properly and now it backs out on you. If you can find the proper tool, the tuner can be properly repaired and adjusted IF I am correct.

Now that I think about it a little, if the worm gear is backing out of the tuner, there is a "C" type locking washer from the worm shaft MISSING next to the worm on the key side. That washer looks something like this:

15621-7878778.jpg
 
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#3
The old BB's had a proprietary tool that they supplied with each bass. The tool was used to tighten or loosen the shaft of the tuner to adjust the tension of the tuning key.
Things to try;
-get a bit of rubber, an elastic band will work and wrap it around the shaft. Then, use pliers to either tighten or loosen the shaft as needed. The rubber band will help to grab the shaft without marring it.
In many cases, these adjusters get damaged or over-tightened and eventually, they will completely fail. At that point it's time for new tuners.
Fishheadjoe
 
#7
Well, my tuners don't seem to have any washers or rings on them. However, in two of the four tuners it does not matter; the shaft does not unscrew itself on those. The thing is, if I try to secure the shafts by tightening them, won't the tension of the tuning key become very high?

This is the type of tuner i'm talking about:
post-788-0-38903500-1333568891.jpg
 
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#8
You can see the hole in the side of the shaft in this pic. That's where the tool supplied would grab the shaft to tighten or loosen. I don't know anything about the "E-ring" but I do know about the tuner adjuster.
It's a fine line between being too tight and being just tight enough. As mentioned above, these parts wear over time and ultimately will require a complete tuner replacement.
Fishheadjoe
 
#9
Ok I figured it out, it seems. There was a lot of drag within the tuners even with the strings off. A drop of lubricant between the rod and the sleeve took care of that. The sleeve was just unscrewing itself because of the friction with the shaft.

It seems to work fine now, thanks for all the suggestions!
 
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