Zach Myers Tuner Issue

DuncanCE22

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Joined
Jul 16, 2014
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218
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Wantage, Oxfordshire UK
Need a little bit of help. My Zach Myers SE has developed a horrible rattle coming from the headstock area. it is worse when playing palm muting. At first I thought it was the Truss rod cover but I removed that and it was still there. I then noticed the tuner bushes/ferrules (whatever you call them) looked to be coming away from the headstock, picture attached, so I removed the strings and took them out to try and push them back down so they sit flush to the headstock but they don't go down any further. I put it all back together and restrung it and its is still rattling. its been driving me nuts. has anyone had this issue before? any advice on what I can try next to rectify the situation?

Thanks in advance.

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Are you able to tighten the screws at the back of the tuners properly? On my Bernie, the holes were too large and the screws had no grip, leading to a rattle as well. Toothpicks and wood glue solved that problem.

Regarding the ferrules, I placed a small block of wood on them and hammered them in with the headstock resting on my leg. Luckily it did not damage the guitar, and in hindsight I should just have sanded the holes slightly larger. I suspect that there is just some finish in the tuner holes causing the issue.
 
That’s really odd, i upgrades my tuners to the Phase 2 Mannmade and hopefully they don’t exhibit this problem later.

I would imagine sticking a tooth pick in the screw holes would tighten that up and at least remove that possibility out of the equation.
 
That’s really odd, i upgrades my tuners to the Phase 2 Mannmade and hopefully they don’t exhibit this problem later.

I would imagine sticking a tooth pick in the screw holes would tighten that up and at least remove that possibility out of the equation.

I would use wood glue with the toothpicks. Once the glue hardens you will have a threaded hole with the threads being quite strong - wood glue tends to be stronger than wood. I would suggest taking care and cutting the toothpicks shorter than the actual hole as it is difficult to trim off excess thereafter. The holes are also quite shallow so if you cut the toothpicks short enough, they are difficult to grab and position with your fingers. Tweezers or small needle-nose pliers are highly recommended.

Edit: I should add that you want to screw in the screws while the glue is still wet.
 
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I haven’t experienced any rattling as you describe but the ferrules are just pressed into the headstock. Sometimes very tightly.
 
I would use wood glue with the toothpicks. Once the glue hardens you will have a threaded hole with the threads being quite strong - wood glue tends to be stronger than wood. I would suggest taking care and cutting the toothpicks shorter than the actual hole as it is difficult to trim off excess thereafter. The holes are also quite shallow so if you cut the toothpicks short enough, they are difficult to grab and position with your fingers. Tweezers or small needle-nose pliers are highly recommended.

Edit: I should add that you want to screw in the screws while the glue is still wet.

I don’t have the problem, but I think you’re spot on to rectify the issue. Hopefully OP has been able to fix it.
 
Same problem when I first got my Bernie but it was solved with the glue/toothpicks thing. No problems two years down the line.
 
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