LMI steel string slot head using bushings for gotoh 3 on a plate tuners

[Clay Schaeffer]

"I just use the drilling jig and don't use any bushings."

Like Mark I prefer to go bushingless on slot heads. It seems like they take a lot of wood away on an already fairly delicate structure. Many of the 19th century guitars I've seen still seem to have bushingless gear sets that work fine.

[Mike Ryan]

Definitely make it simpler.

[Mark Swanson]

I agree Clay, I have a a bunch of old parlor guitars from high quality to cheapies and none have bushings.

[Bob Matthews]

None of my slot head guitars have bushings, but some of the machines I have used require the outside hole to be a little larger than the inside one. All work perfectly, but I do use a tiny smear of silicone pipe lube in the inner hole.

I've just done a quick search and to be honest I can't find any slot head tuners that come with bushings (maybe I didn't look hard enough). Are you sure the tuners you have are not meant for a solid headstock?

[Mike Ryan]

the 3 on a plate ones from LMI come with 12 busings.
If i can ever get the jig to work the way i want it to I will probably just put in the outside bushings. Makes some sense as far as smooth operation unless they bind.

[Bob Matthews]

The only slot head 3 on a plate ones I can find on the LMI site are these ones.

And if we look at the schematic, it shows no bushings used.

[Mike Ryan]

Yup, that's the one that has a little bag of bushings in it. always nice to get parts that you're not supposed to use.

[Mike Ryan]

kind of reminds me of a recent problem with my travel trailer. It is now 5 years old and the electric brakes failed because they stick them inside the axle and they rub on it and they short out. What they should have done with my trailer is put them inside of split loom and then they would last a lot longer and probably put them outside the actual like I did. So in my pee brain I wondered if the bushings were like the split loom in my trailer wiring - should have been there but wasn't

[Chris Lounsbury]

Just to clear up Bob's confusion, I believe the schematic is provided by Gotoh who do NOT include the bushings. LMI has created the bushings and their associated tool and tossed them in the mix.

For what it's worth, I've not used the 3-on-a-plate tuners. I have used the individual tuners with their bushings and it all works well together. I will agree with the others though that it is probably best to keep it simple. The precision spacing and alignment you'll get with your drilling jig is probably just as beneficial or moreso than the bushings themselves.

Chris Lounsbury