OK.... I recently acquired a "Johnson acoustic guitar" I'd say in fair condition. It had no tuning keys and the nut was not glued. I got some strings and pegs, put on some old cheep tuning keys, and now I cant get it to tune. I'm having serious problems with the tuning keys not wanting to turn as well, and I'm just letting the nut sort of float for now. I need some help with this. I don;t want to put any more money into it..... any ideas??
THANXX Tommy
"You can drive a song or you can make it sit still."
Some pics would help us help you.
-=tension & release=-
Did you drill new holes or did you use the ones that were already there? Those look funny to me. Not evenly spaced at all. And the low E string tuner looks like its all the way into the curve of the headstock.
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-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´ -:¦:- Elecktrablue -:¦:-
"Don't wanna ride no shootin' star. Just wanna play on the rhythm guitar." Emmylou Harris, "Rhythm Guitar" from "The Ballad of Sally Rose"
those look like they were the original holes. at the risk of sounding harsh, could the problem with getting cheap tuners to tune be the fact that they are cheap tuners?
if there are screws on the back of your tuners, you could try altering those and see if it helps, or lubricating the mechanism.
also, I can't really see from that shot, but it looks a bit like the strings have been tied on the tuners, instead of being fed through them. that's likely a source of tuning instability, if its what you have done. there's a great page on how to tune guitars that I think Celt or Greybeard posted a while back, just wish I could find it. you could try pm'ing one of them if no one posts the link. I have it bookmarked, but on a diff. computer. I'll check from there tomorrow and post the link if no one beats me to it.
hth
also, I can't really see from that shot, but it looks a bit like the strings have been tied on the tuners, instead of being fed through them. that's likely a source of tuning instability, if its what you have done. there's a great page on how to tune guitars
I dunno...did I do it right? :D
"You can drive a song or you can make it sit still."
Those tuners do look cheap :?
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
:lol: Nah... I fixed it. It was the nut. I removed the little piece of felt that was in there, and shimmed it with a carefully cut piece of tongue depressor. The strings were laying across the 1st fret, ever so slightly, causing the problem. With my eyes getting old and the fact that the whole guitar was cheep I just wasn't careful enough setting it up. The little son of a gun turned out to be a real playable little guitar.
"You can drive a song or you can make it sit still."
Hey, thats good to hear! A fellow on here called Ricochet will tell you all about his Johnson. :wink:
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
:lol: Nah... I fixed it. It was the nut. I removed the little piece of felt that was in there, and shimmed it with a carefully cut piece of tongue depressor. The strings were laying across the 1st fret, ever so slightly, causing the problem. With my eyes getting old and the fact that the whole guitar was cheep I just wasn't careful enough setting it up. The little son of a gun turned out to be a real playable little guitar.
Good for you. I was scanning the pics, looking at that nasty floating nut, just about to reply, when I continued on to read of your success ...
-=tension & release=-
I've often heard that a tongue depressor could cure an ailing Johnson.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."