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Post subject: '57 Fender Strat peghead hole size?
Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 10:11 pm
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I'd like to install a Schaller D-tuner/ Hipshot Xtender on my '57 Fender Strat Reissue but wanna make sure it'll fit the peghead hole first without having to disassemble my guitar or wait till this Monday to call Fender for the measurement. (it's a long weekend here in Toronto)

The D-tuners require a 3/8" (10mm) peghead hole. I was told by an ebay seller that if my guitar used "Kluson" style tuners (which I'm pretty sure is on my strat) the D-tuner wouldn't fit, yet I've seen '57 Strats with D-tuners installed. Take a look at Billy Corgan's '57 Strat with D-tuner here: http://www.concertpostergraphics.com/mi ... tstrat.jpg

Does anyone know the size of the peghead hole or have you installed a Hipshot/Schaller D-tuner on a '57 Fender Strat?


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Post subject: Re: '57 Fender Strat peghead hole size?
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 6:56 am
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magicmonkey wrote:
I'd like to install a Schaller D-tuner/ Hipshot Xtender on my '57 Fender Strat Reissue but wanna make sure it'll fit the peghead hole first without having to disassemble my guitar or wait till this Monday to call Fender for the measurement. (it's a long weekend here in Toronto)

The D-tuners require a 3/8" (10mm) peghead hole. I was told by an ebay seller that if my guitar used "Kluson" style tuners (which I'm pretty sure is on my strat) the D-tuner wouldn't fit, yet I've seen '57 Strats with D-tuners installed. Take a look at Billy Corgan's '57 Strat with D-tuner here: http://www.concertpostergraphics.com/mi ... tstrat.jpg

Does anyone know the size of the peghead hole or have you installed a Hipshot/Schaller D-tuner on a '57 Fender Strat?


Welcome.

The peg head hole diameter required for a D-Tuner is 10mm (13/32") which is the size of a 'standard' Schaller. Your Strat's peg head for Klusons is currently 11/32". So yes, you will have to enlarge the peg head hole (thereby devaluing your instrument) in order to mount the D-Tuner.

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Post subject: Re: '57 Fender Strat peghead hole size?
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 12:01 pm
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Martian wrote:
The peg head hole diameter required for a D-Tuner is 10mm (13/32") which is the size of a 'standard' Schaller. Your Strat's peg head for Klusons is currently 11/32". So yes, you will have to enlarge the peg head hole (thereby devaluing your instrument) in order to mount the D-Tuner.

Hi magicmonkey: that covers most of what you need to know. Obviously, if you have seen a '57 with a D-tuner then it has had it's pegholes enlarged.

Here's a plea: if you plan to enlarge your pegholes to take the bigger tuner shaft please to it the right way. Do not think about simply drilling the hole out with a 10 mm drill bit in an electric drill. I have seen one of the most experienced luthiers (and I do mean luthier, not guitar shop tech) ruin a peghead by screwing up that job.

The correct way to do the mod is with a tool called a "cello peghole reamer". Not to be mistaken for a violin peghole reamer, which is temptingly much cheaper - but the wrong taper for the task. Here's my reamer in action, so's you see what we're talking about:

Image

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(Blue hands: it was very cold on my patio "workshop" that day.)

You can buy a reamer like that from luthier's suppliers, or I got mine somewhat cheaper from a well-known Canadian seller called "Bezdez" on Ebay. Unfortunately, either way it is startlingly expensive, and if you only ever plan to do the job once I bet you won't bother.

So here's the clever work-around. Take a slightly tapered rod of wood - an artist's paintbrush handle is ideal. Take some P240 sandpaper, cut a piece to a convenient size and then wrap it around that paintbrush handle till with it nice and tight you can just manage to insert it a little way into the peghole. Then start turning it round and around, gradually reaming out the hole. As it starts to do its job the hole will get bigger and you can push your makeshift reamer further in to keep things tight and effective.

This way you will find that you can ream your pegholes to tollerances of small fractions of a millimetre. Have your new tuners to hand and keep trying them in the hole and continue reaming till they fit nicely. You want them snug, but not so snug that you have to push hard to get them in. In that case if the wood shrinks a bit in cold weather it will then split around the tuner - bad bad bad! The right snugness is where you can just push them in and pull them out again with the fingers without force.

That will all take you a good couple of hours by the sandpaper method. Tedious - but better than paying out for that cello peghole reamer that you will likely never use again. And this way you will do the job to absolute perfection.

Any help?

Good luck - C

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Post subject: Re: '57 Fender Strat peghead hole size?
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 11:48 pm
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Thanks Martian and Ceri. I'll work on that peg hole thanks to both your advise. Would the cello peg hole reamer do a better job? How long would that take? Maybe it's worth the $60, otherwise I'll try the paintbrush handle and sandpaper method.


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Post subject: Re: '57 Fender Strat peghead hole size?
Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2011 2:37 am
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magicmonkey wrote:
Thanks Martian and Ceri. I'll work on that peg hole thanks to both your advise. Would the cello peg hole reamer do a better job? How long would that take? Maybe it's worth the $60, otherwise I'll try the paintbrush handle and sandpaper method.

Hi again magicmonkey: the peghole reamer is a beautiful tool to use. You don't press at all, just turn it smoothly in the hole and the blades do the work. By going gently you can shave out the hole to exactly the size you want, within amazingly accurate tollerances.

However, not only is it astonishingly expensive by the standards of hand tools, it is twice the price of the violin peghole reamer - which feels kinda unfair:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Speci ... amers.html

And don't even think of using an ordinary carpenter's reamer. They are set at far too steep an angle. (I read of a guy on this Forum using a carpenter's reamer for this task. He will have wrecked his pegholes...)

I make necks and I like to drill the pegholes half a mil undersize and then ream them to perfection with the tool. So it is worth it for me to own one. But if I were only going to do this job once I think I'd use the sandpaper-on-paintbrush-handle (or other piece of dowel) technique. It's slower but if done carefully can be just as accurate. I've suggested it to a couple of other Forum users in the past and they said they got excellent results by that method.

Either way, I'd be interested to hear how you get on. Good luck.

Cheers - C

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Post subject: Re: '57 Fender Strat peghead hole size?
Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 6:58 pm
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update.. called my local guitar repair shop and they have Cello Peg Hole Reamers and charge about the same/less of the cost for the paintbrush and sandpaper...Sure I could try and do it myself but they can do it for me the proper way so why not? Thanks for all your help steering me in the right direction in getting my D-tuner installed. Your advise is much appreciated!


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Post subject: Re: '57 Fender Strat peghead hole size?
Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 2:01 am
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magicmonkey wrote:
update.. called my local guitar repair shop and they have Cello Peg Hole Reamers and charge about the same/less of the cost for the paintbrush and sandpaper...Sure I could try and do it myself but they can do it for me the proper way so why not? Thanks for all your help steering me in the right direction in getting my D-tuner installed. Your advise is much appreciated!

Hi magicmonkey: it's an excellent way to go. Thumbs up.

Friendly suggestion: give them the new tuners to work with, so's they can tailor the holes to the actual machines rather than just a generic size.

Good luck - C

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