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PeterF
 Post subject: Tuner height
PostPosted: Wed Apr 24, 2013 12:48 pm 
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How high should steel string tuners extend above the headstock surface? I haven't got a 'standard' one to measure it from. Incidentally, what is the minimum thickness the headstock can be?

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jac68984
 Post subject: Re: Tuner height
PostPosted: Wed Apr 24, 2013 1:20 pm 
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Go check out StewMac's tuners online and look at the specs for solid peghead tuners. There are nicely drawn diagrams that should help answer your questions.

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PeterF
 Post subject: Re: Tuner height
PostPosted: Wed Apr 24, 2013 1:27 pm 
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Sorry, I should have phrased that better. I have the tuners and measurements for them, but the height is adjustable, depending on headstock thickness. To decide what thickness the headstock needs to be, I need to know how high they should stick out above it.

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ZekeM
 Post subject: Re: Tuner height
PostPosted: Wed Apr 24, 2013 1:35 pm 
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I think about 1/2 thick headstock is standard. But I guess it can vary. What tuners do u have? Don't make it too thin. On my first I made the headstock too thin and when I went to put the tuners on they bottomed out before they were tight. I had to modify them.
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PeterF
 Post subject: Re: Tuner height
PostPosted: Wed Apr 24, 2013 1:41 pm 
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OK, thanks. I have some wilkinson tuners with loose bushings, so there's no issue with running out of thread. 1/2'' would work fine.

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ntredwell
 Post subject: Re: Tuner height
PostPosted: Wed Apr 24, 2013 2:10 pm 
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My plans say 16mm for the headstock thickness.

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John Arnold
 Post subject: Re: Tuner height
PostPosted: Wed Apr 24, 2013 11:34 pm 
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I make my pegheads 9/16" thick, which is the same as the 1930's Martins. That is 1/2", plus 1/16" for the peghead face veneer.
I generally use Waverlys (1.08" string posts), but a bit shorter is fine. For example, Gotoh Kluson Deluxe replicas are 0.965" and work fine.

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Dave Stewart
 Post subject: Re: Tuner height
PostPosted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 7:40 am 
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PeterF wrote:
To decide what thickness the headstock needs to be, I need to know how high they should stick out above it.

Actually, you're better to engage the upper nut sufficiently (1 to 2 turns?) and measure the resulting gap. Any headstock thicker than .600" and you might run into trouble (ie the top nut might not engage). Remember not all tuners are identical.

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guitarjtb
 Post subject: Re: Tuner height
PostPosted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 8:25 am 
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PeterF wrote:
Sorry, I should have phrased that better. I have the tuners and measurements for them, but the height is adjustable, depending on headstock thickness. To decide what thickness the headstock needs to be, I need to know how high they should stick out above it.



For me, 3/8" of the shaft extended above the face of the peghead is the minimum and 1/2" is the maximum. I taper my pegheads so both of these come into play with me. The minimum will have to take into consideration where this will leave the string hole in the shaft, as well as the width of the tapered area above and below the string hole. The bottom of the tapered area should be slightly above the face of the peghead.

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meddlingfool
 Post subject: Re: Tuner height
PostPosted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 9:18 am 
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14-16mm seems to work for most tuners...
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PeterF
 Post subject: Re: Tuner height
PostPosted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 11:03 am 
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Thanks for the replies. I've thicknessed it to 15mm.
Now I just need to flatten the sides of the volute where I placed the tuners too far down and then plug and re-drill the tuner hole where the drill caught it. [headinwall] Ah, the joys of guitar building! laughing6-hehe

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