Exploding Grovers - anyone repair them?

[henry5]

Ok, so it finally happened and one of the wavy Grovers I bought a few months back exploded. I’m aware of the repair tutorials on here but have zero metal working skills - or tools - and to be honest, although I get the general gist of the tutorials some of the specifics (taps?) elude me.

Does anyone on here offer a repair service? Preferably in the UK, but am open to offers.

[ibal]

Paul W. fixes wavy Grovers. He did it for me.

http://www.studio-california.com

[henry5]

Thanks for the reply. I hadn’t realised Paul was still in the Rick-fixing business. Only thing is my PW restoration took about 2 years and I need the bass for a festival in May. How long did yours take?

Looks like I’m sending them to Larry Davis, but I’ll keep Paul in mind in case Larry isn’t available in future.

[jps]

Depending on how bad the pins are, you could re-swage them yourself, and buy a lot of time. I did that on a set or two over the years, simply using a "standard size" hammer to pound the pins into submission.

I would recommend placing something between the pins and the hammer, say, a steel rod, to accept and transfer the force of your hammer blows.

[prowla]

I took out protection - I bought a spare set and keep them in a box.

However, they must be repairable - they're a pretty simple unit, after all.

[ibal]

Thanks for the reply. I hadn’t realised Paul was still in the Rick-fixing business. Only thing is my PW restoration took about 2 years and I need the bass for a festival in May. How long did yours take?

Looks like I’m sending them to Larry Davis, but I’ll keep Paul in mind in case Larry isn’t available in future.

Paul works at his own pace, its true. He repaired my Grovers as part of a bigger project which took some time. The work is good though. He replaced the pins with screws so that the tuners can now be disassembled and reassembled at will. I've had other work done by Larry Davis and my experience was different.

[henry5]

Depending on how bad the pins are, you could re-swage them yourself, and buy a lot of time. I did that on a set or two over the years, simply using a "standard size" hammer to pound the pins into submission.

I would recommend placing something between the pins and the hammer, say, a steel rod, to accept and transfer the force of your hammer blows.

The ones in question have been re-swaged several times by the look of it. Still, have re-done a couple and have ordered the necessary materials (drill bit, tap, screws) to do a more permanent fix, which a friend will be doing as I have no drill or metalworking skills.

[henry5]

I took out protection - I bought a spare set and keep them in a box.

However, they must be repairable - they're a pretty simple unit, after all.

They are repairable with the correct tools, which I didn’t have. A permanent fix is somewhat fiddly and time-consuming.

[henry5]

Thanks for the reply. I hadn’t realised Paul was still in the Rick-fixing business. Only thing is my PW restoration took about 2 years and I need the bass for a festival in May. How long did yours take?

Looks like I’m sending them to Larry Davis, but I’ll keep Paul in mind in case Larry isn’t available in future.

Paul works at his own pace, its true. He repaired my Grovers as part of a bigger project which took some time. The work is good though. He replaced the pins with screws so that the tuners can now be disassembled and reassembled at will. I've had other work done by Larry Davis and my experience was different.

I count Larry as a friend and have had nothing but positive experiences with him.

[jps]

There was a forum member who did the drill/tap/machine screw job to the last set of Slimlines I had (the MG March 4001). He did a great job and it gave me much confidence in the tuning keys after that. I don't recall who it was, unfortunately as that was many years ago.

[henry5]

There was a forum member who did the drill/tap/machine screw job to the last set of Slimlines I had (the MG March 4001). He did a great job and it gave me much confidence in the tuning keys after that. I don't recall who it was, unfortunately as that was many years ago.

There were 2 lots of drill/tap/screw instructions I found Jeff, both of which I’ve printed off (one was Sepp’s; I forget the other momentarily). However as I don’t have a drill press I’m unable to do that fix myself, hence the query. No problem, it’s now in hand. It’s looking like my main ‘72 is going to need the fix as well in the near future. I have to say that when they’re working they’re nice tuners, but having seen them in bits the design is terrible, I’m not surprised they stopped making them!

[henry5]

I took out protection - I bought a spare set and keep them in a box.

However, they must be repairable - they're a pretty simple unit, after all.

By the way, it’s my latest set that bit the dust first.

[Kopfjaeger]

Shaun,

PM me. Let me know how quickly you need them. Do you need all 4 done? I may have a few spares that, I've already "bomb proofed". I'll have to look.

Sepp

[henry5]

Shaun,

PM me. Let me know how quickly you need them. Do you need all 4 done? I may have a few spares that, I've already "bomb proofed". I'll have to look.

Sepp

Hi Sepp,

Apologies, have only just seen this. Thanks for the response. Have PM’d you.

Regards
Shaun

[Dirk]

I have had success with some old exploders, you do need proper tools to make it happen.

A good vice for holding and eventually pounding on.
A decently heavy hammer
A nice solid nail punch (specifically in my case Stanley 18-886 1/8th" solid) This seems to be the perfect match to the pin size.

Since I assume they are already apart, you can use the vice as an anvil to compress and elongate the 4 pins that hold the case together. Just rotate to all sides on all 4 posts. Use the back to test and make sure there's plenty of slack in the back in all 4 holes.

Clamp the bottom section down, slide the cover back on, 1 good crack with the hammer and punch dead center on each of the 4 post will mushroom them out nicely. You can work at it by hitting toward the edges to help make it nice and solid. You want no movement of the back.

Good luck, why not try it, the worst case is you have to send it to someone else to do it.
Dirk