No pickup, new nut & tuner fix :: 1993 Gibson J-100 xtra [4.6 lbs]

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A made in Montana Gibson jumbo in for a few things.  Originally it came in for the pickup to be removed and for the bridge pins to be better fit.  The pickup was a Barcus Berry bridge plate pickup that was fairly easy to remove.  The adhesive had deteriorated so it peeled off cleanly.  The output jack in the tail block was replaced by a NoJak.  These are sized to fit an enlarged end pin hole with a collet and allen screw tightened from the inside.  It's a good solution to plugging and redrilling the tail block, but always seems to require quite a bit of fitting.

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While addressing the pickup removal, I noticed that the Gibson Deluxe tuners were damaged so I attempted to repair them.

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During the setup I discovered that the nut was too worn out with excessive open string buzzes.  We went with a new bone nut and shimmed up the saddle to round out the setup.  Check out the shaping of the new bone nut below in the video from the daily vlog.

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Sloppy Gibson Deluxe tuners :: 1993 Gibson J-100

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Here's a common issue with Gibson Deluxe tuners.  The tuner button shafts eventually work against the tuner housing and loosen up the back cover.  These covers have metal tabs that are pressed into the base plate and then deformed to lock in with a mechanical connection (similar to a rivet).  I have tried soldering these tabs in the past but they never seem to hold for very long.  This time I tried a flat screwdriver and a hammer to punch the tab and reform it to hold in to the base plate.  We'll see how long this method will work. I may try a combination of this and soldering on future repairs.  See the video below from the daily vlog.

Broken tuner repair :: 2000 Gibson Les Paul Classic 1960 Reissue [9.1 lbs]

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A pretty 1960 reissue Les Paul in for a setup and broken tuner knob.  Gibson Deluxe tuners are a fairly delicate tuner when compared to others.  A common issue is that the rear covers can become loose over time.  These tuners were fairly tight but the D string tuning knob was failing from a previous repair.  The knob was cracked and glued by the player, but the glue had begun to fail.  In the video below from the vlog, I was able to open up the knob and work some super glue into the break before clamping it closed.

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ESP LTD B-206SM [11.4 lbs] :: six string bass setup

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ESP LTD B-206SM [11.4 lbs] :: six string bass setup with D'Addario EXL170-6 nickel wound strings.  This thing is a beast!

While working on the bass I found that the E string's tuner split post was squeezed together and broke upon removing the string.  The broken tuner still functions, but I wanted to get the bass back to the player over the holidays while sourcing a replacement in "Cosmo Black".

2000 Gibson SG [4.5 lbs] :: broken tuner & setup

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2000 Gibson SG [4.5 lbs] :: broken tuner & setup.

The player had been noticing that his G string would not stay in tune.  After talking with him he remembered that he had bumped the headstock, specifically on the G tuner.  It did not look obvious at first, but the rear casing of the tuner had broken loose.  This allowed the gears to float slightly and not mesh tightly.  We ended up just replacing the G tuner so I slightly tarnished the finish to better match the other tuners.

The setup included changing from 11's to 10's, cleaning the electronics, tightening the output jack and deburring the saddle slots.