Official Luthiers Forum!

This may be a re-hash but I'll present it anyway.

In January I ordered a set of Gold Grover 18:1 Sta-Tite tuners. Two months ago I installed them and they worked fine. Last night while changing strings one machine started stripping and skipping.

I called StewMac this morning about the issue and as soon as I gave her the product number she stated that an improved replacement set would be sent today! These have been replaced and will be listed under a new catalog #.

The model is #4515-G...Slotted Peghead Tuners. According to SM, they believe it is limited to the slothead tuners exclusively. I know this issue came up some time ago but I was led to believe the problem was solved by January when I ordered these.

Just a heads-up...If othere have a similar model, be wary of their performance!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

If I remember right, I think the problem was with mainly the gold slot head tuners. They had a big demand for those particular ones, and to meet the demand they scrounged some parts from some solid head tuners. Turns out the parts aren't interchangable.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

Right you are, Jon.

I believe the problem was more extensive than we were led to believe and they may have had no way of identifying the lot #'s that were affected. On the other hand, their only way to deal with now it is to replace as complaints are filed. Unfortunately, the future cost associated with the mistake and negative publicity will never be measured.

Once I receive the replacements, I'll try to photogragh any differences and post. Hopefully it will be a visual defect...that would sure make it easier to identify potential problems for our forum brethern.

SM is handling this as professionally as we would expect...it's solely the mistake and responsibility of Grover IMO.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

I never heard the swapped parts explanation. To me the problem looked like bad bushings on the worm gear. When I spoke to a tech at SM a couple of years ago (and returned my remainng sets) he basically said you get the quality you pay for. I switched then to Waverlies.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Thanks Howard...I wasn't aware that the problem started THAT long ago! The replacement parts story may have been a plausable subterfuge intended to buy time while fixing a real design issue.

Up until this guitar, all my slothead tuners have been Waverlies. I thought I'd give these a try, believing that the problem had been resolved. Guess which tuner I'll be returning to!?

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Funny JJ, one of my customers called me yesterday about the same issue. I told him I had seen it several times and we should replace it. He wound up putting his old Grovers back on.
Best, Evan

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http://www.NewYorkGuitarRepair.com

Interesting, Evan. If they were purchased at SM, they will replace them without question. If purchased directly from Grover it would be nice to know what their explanation currently is.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

From this thread:
link

Arvey said:
"I am one of the people who had problems with the Grovers but contacted Grover and they were not only aware of the problem but report they have corrected it. They were having parts made off shore and then assembled in the US. Problem was that the gear for the Vertical and horizontal tunners were slightly different size and they were't aware of this. If they got tye wrong gears in they hyad a problem. Aparently they have corrected the problem at the Off shore end and the ones I received as replacements are great. Stew Mac had a bunch of the bad ones as did another big company. Bad press for Grover."

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

SM really is good about the replacement thing and the problem is not limited to Grover. I had the treble side of a waverley 3500 series slip and sm promptly sent me a replacement.

Exactly why I use Gotohs or, if I'm feeling rich, Waverlies.

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Hank Mauel

[QUOTE=Hesh1956] Yeah I had two fail from the same set about 1 1/2 years ago and the reason given then was bad bushings on the worm gear.

In my case Stew-Mac told me to take it up directly with Grover - must have been my breath......

Grover was excellent and from the time that I sent in the defective tuners to the time that I had new ones was 4 business days..... Amazing.

35 years ago Grovers were considered one of the best tuners available and I have a 30 year old set that is still going strong. This may not be your father's Grover any more............

I am not sure if I am "entitled" to buy Waverlies or if it would be "irresponsible" of me to do so.........
[/QUOTE]

Hesh...Were yours slothead or peghead tuners?

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

I had to return 3 sets of the Grover Sta-tites 18:1 for solid peghead a couple of years ago because the gears were slipping, if I remember correctly the tuner post would wobble under pressure. It is embarresing when you install such tuners and deliver the instrument before you are aware of the problem...

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin