Guild Mark IV tuner repair question

[chazzan]

Hope some of you can be of help- especially those inclined in Guitar repair...........

The tuners on my Mark IV classical stick and are hard to turn,(not terrible but enough to make fine tuning a pain) when I took them off the guitar they are fine- the problem is that the tuner plate (3 on a side) does not easily fit in the holes. I gently cleaned the holes out from the finish wax that was in them, and ran some sandpaper gently in them but I still have to somewhat push them(the tuners) in. Like I almost have to bend the plate with the tuners slightly so that I can screw it to the side of the headstock. How much more should I widen the tuner holes VS is there something else going on here that I am overlooking- the wood does not seem warped, so I can't see why I have to bend the plate slightly to get the tuners to fit.

Thoughts.......................

 

[workedinwesterly]

hi

that's an odd one, those holes were hard-tooled and usually worked fine. Could be that there's some lacquer or crap still in the holes...or the bits walked off center during the drilling process. Either way it sound's like careful fitting of the tuners is about all you can do. perhaps a chucking reamer ( i forget what size exactly ) could clean the holes out.
Does it turn fine when the tuners are passed thru the first set of holes and then bind when inserted into the inner holes ?
Are all the knobs hard to turn, or just certain ones ?

i've got a 67 Mark 1, no problems with that.

 

[guildzilla]

Could it be related to a small amount of shrinkage in the headstock wood over time? That would be my guess from afar.

How old is the guitar?

 

[chazzan]

thanks WiW &GZ for the feedback..................

When I put the 3 on a plate tuners into the holes on the headstock they go in easily at first ( about halfway in), but I have to push them in so I can then screw it flush with the headstock that's when I have the trouble- it will go in but I have to use some pressure (like I almost have to bend the metal plate slightly so it will fit in) - maybe the problem is with the inner holes..........the guitar was made in 1979 it has the 195XXX serial number.

the real problem tuner is with the D string- the other side G string has problems but with a little cleaning (see below) it seems to have been fixed.

By the way I took the guitar to a Taylor dealer I know very well for some years to look at the tuners- and they were amazed at the sound fit& finish of the guitar- they love Taylor but know a god guitar when they hear it.

 

[workedinwesterly]

It sure sounds like the holes are off somehow.
You need to find out where the problem is before you can fix it.
Are they out of line with eachother, or is one too close or too far ? Are any of them right ?
Digital calipers and a good straight edge would help.