Fixing the notorious Grover Wavy tuners for good
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Fixing the notorious Grover Wavy tuners for good
Hi all,
I am posting this as I have a set of the famous exploding/wavy/slimline Grovers on my 74' 4001 and well, they exploded, lol. I have managed to fix them however and it was not as hard as I thought it would be but of course I had access to the right tools, without which I would have probably ruined them. I could not find a step by step guide of how it's done so this is how I went about it.
Note: I have tried peening them and they just keep falling apart on me and I really want to keep them so this is the only way. This guide is in metric units, just convert it to the equivalent imperial measurements if you need to.
Tools required:
> Vertical milling machine with a vernier table (I know this is not exactly the easiest to acquire but this is the most important one on the list so if you do not have 1, get someone who does)
> Table top vice
> M2 x 4mm countersunk metric screws (or the imperial equivalent)
> 1.6mm diameter drill bit and M2 tap (or the imperial equivalent, make sure they match the screws you have)
> Grease
> Basic screw drivers etc.
> Lighter fluid and metal polish
Step 1.
Clean all the parts of the tuners, this might seem obvious but hey, this is the best time to remove all of the dried up sweat and dead skin from all the parts. Use the lighter fluid and metal polish. It takes decades off them.
Step 2.
Take apart any tuners which haven't 'exploded'. This is counter intuitive to do but but they will give up the ghost eventually so might as well not risk them doing so during a gig, and I plan to gig the **** out of mine so i forced my single remaining tuner apart.
Step 3.
measure the pitch of the base plate holes (the holes where the press fit pins go). These need to be measured for each tuner as they vary quite a bit.
Step 4.
mount the housing portion of the tuner on the vertical milling machine and line up the first hole with the drill bit. I was eye-balling the first one trying to match it to the press-fit pins. drill the hole approximately 1mm longer than your screw thread height. Use the vernier gauge on the table to move the drill bit exactly the amount needed according to the pitch of the base plate which will be assembled to this housing. The variation in these sometimes means that you cannot use different parts together, I found. Step 5.
This is the delicate part, mount the tap in the milling machine and manually bring the tap to the holes. apply minimal pressure and manually rotate the chuck while the tap catches the part and start the tap, try to go down half way and bring the tap back out. Repeat this for all 4 holes. Continue the tap by hand. This process ensures that the tap goes down at 90 degrees and reduces the risk of ruining the tuner at this final stage. Step 6.
The hard part is over . mount the base plate on the mill and drill a small countersink so that the screws are flush when assembled. TIP, do not flush the screws completely, leave them protruding out ever so slightly, this will cause the tuner to rest on the screw heads rather than the base plate when assembled onto the bass and prevent them from ever coming loose . Repeat for all tuners and assemble. I recommend using some high viscosity multi purpose grease (really fill up the mechanism with it until it ooses out) inside the tuners as well as some very light holding thread lock glue on the screws for even better hold. I hope this helps anyone who wishes to use these tuners on their old Ricks
I am posting this as I have a set of the famous exploding/wavy/slimline Grovers on my 74' 4001 and well, they exploded, lol. I have managed to fix them however and it was not as hard as I thought it would be but of course I had access to the right tools, without which I would have probably ruined them. I could not find a step by step guide of how it's done so this is how I went about it.
Note: I have tried peening them and they just keep falling apart on me and I really want to keep them so this is the only way. This guide is in metric units, just convert it to the equivalent imperial measurements if you need to.
Tools required:
> Vertical milling machine with a vernier table (I know this is not exactly the easiest to acquire but this is the most important one on the list so if you do not have 1, get someone who does)
> Table top vice
> M2 x 4mm countersunk metric screws (or the imperial equivalent)
> 1.6mm diameter drill bit and M2 tap (or the imperial equivalent, make sure they match the screws you have)
> Grease
> Basic screw drivers etc.
> Lighter fluid and metal polish
Step 1.
Clean all the parts of the tuners, this might seem obvious but hey, this is the best time to remove all of the dried up sweat and dead skin from all the parts. Use the lighter fluid and metal polish. It takes decades off them.
Step 2.
Take apart any tuners which haven't 'exploded'. This is counter intuitive to do but but they will give up the ghost eventually so might as well not risk them doing so during a gig, and I plan to gig the **** out of mine so i forced my single remaining tuner apart.
Step 3.
measure the pitch of the base plate holes (the holes where the press fit pins go). These need to be measured for each tuner as they vary quite a bit.
Step 4.
mount the housing portion of the tuner on the vertical milling machine and line up the first hole with the drill bit. I was eye-balling the first one trying to match it to the press-fit pins. drill the hole approximately 1mm longer than your screw thread height. Use the vernier gauge on the table to move the drill bit exactly the amount needed according to the pitch of the base plate which will be assembled to this housing. The variation in these sometimes means that you cannot use different parts together, I found. Step 5.
This is the delicate part, mount the tap in the milling machine and manually bring the tap to the holes. apply minimal pressure and manually rotate the chuck while the tap catches the part and start the tap, try to go down half way and bring the tap back out. Repeat this for all 4 holes. Continue the tap by hand. This process ensures that the tap goes down at 90 degrees and reduces the risk of ruining the tuner at this final stage. Step 6.
The hard part is over . mount the base plate on the mill and drill a small countersink so that the screws are flush when assembled. TIP, do not flush the screws completely, leave them protruding out ever so slightly, this will cause the tuner to rest on the screw heads rather than the base plate when assembled onto the bass and prevent them from ever coming loose . Repeat for all tuners and assemble. I recommend using some high viscosity multi purpose grease (really fill up the mechanism with it until it ooses out) inside the tuners as well as some very light holding thread lock glue on the screws for even better hold. I hope this helps anyone who wishes to use these tuners on their old Ricks
Last edited by chriscrowns on Tue Feb 07, 2017 11:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Fixing the notorious Grover Wavy tuners for good
I understand it is available in hardback, too.chriscrowns wrote:...This post will be a tutorial of how I did it...
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- chefothefuture
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Re: Fixing the notorious Grover Wavy tuners for good
Explode-o-matic tuners are quite abby normal.jps wrote:I understand it is available in hardback, too.chriscrowns wrote:...This post will be a tutorial of how I did it...
Re: Fixing the notorious Grover Wavy tuners for good
Chris,
Do you offer a repair service? I just removed two wavy grovers tuners with exploding backs from my 4001 and I am hoping to fix them but I lack the tools (and the skill, I'm afraid).
Do you offer a repair service? I just removed two wavy grovers tuners with exploding backs from my 4001 and I am hoping to fix them but I lack the tools (and the skill, I'm afraid).
Re: Fixing the notorious Grover Wavy tuners for good
chefothefuture wrote:Explode-o-matic tuners are quite abby normal.jps wrote:I understand it is available in hardback, too.chriscrowns wrote:...This post will be a tutorial of how I did it...
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Re: Fixing the notorious Grover Wavy tuners for good
Unfortunately I do not, I happen to work in a place where these tools are accessible but I would suggest you go to an engineer. They might help you.ibal wrote:Chris,
Do you offer a repair service? I just removed two wavy grovers tuners with exploding backs from my 4001 and I am hoping to fix them but I lack the tools (and the skill, I'm afraid).
Re: Fixing the notorious Grover Wavy tuners for good
Any good machine shop or private machinist can do the work required.
- chefothefuture
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Re: Fixing the notorious Grover Wavy tuners for good
Or even a few of our repair gurus might be up to the task.jps wrote:Any good machine shop or private machinist can do the work required.
Re: Fixing the notorious Grover Wavy tuners for good
Nothing new here... and there is a guide for this procedure, right here on RRF:chriscrowns wrote:I could not find a step by step guide of how it's done so this is how I went about it.
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=413403&hilit=tap+grovers
Paul W. has been doing this for years. I believe I did my first set in 2007, thanks to his instructions.
Rickenbacker '64 & '68 4001 basses ♦ Fender Pre-CBS J & P Basses and 1968 Telecaster Bass ♦ Moog Taurus III Bass Pedals ♦ Hiwatt (Hylight) Amplification
"A good bassist determines the direction of any band."- Ron Carter
"A good bassist determines the direction of any band."- Ron Carter
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Re: Fixing the notorious Grover Wavy tuners for good
Nothing new here... and there is a guide for this procedure, right here on RRF:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=413403&hilit=tap+grovers
Paul W. has been doing this for years. I believe I did my first set in 2007, thanks to his instructions.[/quote]
Hadn't come across this one, and i had looked around too, yea pretty much the same thing. Thanks
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=413403&hilit=tap+grovers
Paul W. has been doing this for years. I believe I did my first set in 2007, thanks to his instructions.[/quote]
Hadn't come across this one, and i had looked around too, yea pretty much the same thing. Thanks
- Kopfjaeger
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Re: Fixing the notorious Grover Wavy tuners for good
Sean,xsubs wrote:Nothing new here... and there is a guide for this procedure, right here on RRF:chriscrowns wrote:I could not find a step by step guide of how it's done so this is how I went about it.
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=413403&hilit=tap+grovers
Paul W. has been doing this for years. I believe I did my first set in 2007, thanks to his instructions.
Yup, that one was my tutorial. Thanks for posting it here. Pail W. guided me through the process. A drill press and a few bits and hand taps are all you need. It took me a bit of time to complete the task on all 4 but I'll never have to worry about them coming apart.
Interesting to note, not all Wavy Grovers are prone to explode. Many have a good solid swedge going on. I purchased a full set with ferules for my early 73 Burgundyglo and I would not have trusted any of the 4. They were that loose. The ones on my late 72 are rock solid with zero modification. I check them from time to time, just in case.
Sepp
Vintage/Classic Rickenbacker Enthusiast!
1972 4001 Jetglo
1973 4001 Burgundyglo
2011 4003 Jetglo
1986 4003 Shadow
1972 4001 Jetglo
1973 4001 Burgundyglo
2011 4003 Jetglo
1986 4003 Shadow