soapbarstrat Posted December 9, 2005 Report Share Posted December 9, 2005 Working on a Wolfgang, and here's what the locking nut looks like : http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v398/soa...t/wolf_nut2.jpg There are grooves worn into the nut from the strings, and they are pretty deep. I contacted Peavey, to see if they offer an upgrade for this, and the Peavey Person told me : "we don't offer an alternative and keep in mind that if the metal used in the locking nut is to hard it will cause premature breakage of the strings". Now the search is on for a suitable replacement. Needs to be a 14", 15" or 16" radius. 1-5/8" width (like Floyd R2). * wood screw mounting from above*-- not through the neck machine bolts-- needs the countersunk mounting holes on the top for the wood screws. search so far : StewMac Schaller nut - 14" radius, but no countersink, made for through bolts only. Carvin- uses wood screws, but it's a 12" radius Warmoth's are 10" radius WD- just wrote an email asking the radius. Any other ideas ? Both the owner and I agree that filling the grooves with JB weld is probably not the way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egdeltar Posted December 9, 2005 Report Share Posted December 9, 2005 You check out allparts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted December 9, 2005 Report Share Posted December 9, 2005 How old is the guitar? If it's ten years old, I'd just throw some coin at a few replacement Peavey locking nuts and just replace 'em every few years. Like the rest of the wearable system, I think it's just something your customer is going to have to live with if he wants to keep the guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swirlslave Posted December 9, 2005 Report Share Posted December 9, 2005 (edited) Check this link : locknuts. It has a 16'' radius i think, just email them to be sure and it come with the little screws. Edited December 9, 2005 by swirlslave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted December 9, 2005 Report Share Posted December 9, 2005 "we don't offer an alternative and keep in mind that if the metal used in the locking nut is to hard it will cause premature breakage of the strings". ← That's a good point they make. I'm with Crafty on this one...just buy a few and don't worry about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted December 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2005 Thanks for the link to GP Depot, that one slipped my mind. I'll have to check allparts. You'd think they'd say what the radius is. Hard to believe people would just buy them without knowing that, and hard to believe the seller would want to keep answering that question one by one, when they could write it on the website. I think what Peavey said about not wanting the nut to be too hard is absolute crap. Real Floyd nuts are super-hard and don't get string grooves worn into them like that, AND they don't break strings (why would they ? There's nothing sharp to cut the string) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted December 10, 2005 Report Share Posted December 10, 2005 Well, I don't agree with Peavey either on the issue, but I'd be interested to see how the guitars made for Ed or in the custom shop were equipped. I'm thinking the stock Gotoh-made crap was tossed for the quality stuff. Having said that, I wish you luck in finding such an obscure piece as a hardened replacement for a custom-manufactured piece. I know Ed wanted to make more money by going with Peavey, but the guitars sure were crap compared to the MusicMan axes. The Wolfie's neck FELT nice, but I was never really impressed with the overall build quality. Little things like a pot-metal locking nut just add fuel to the fire of cheapness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted December 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2005 Yep, and I'll certainly never be able to make good money doing all the work needed to turn this thing into a "dream guitar", although it does sound better since I took out the neck shim he made from a piece of tupperware, and the brass trem block *was* loose. WD says their nut is a 14" radius. Price is high. Wondering if it's cheaper through a dealer, rather than direct. Allparts says theirs is a 12". Depot didn't respond yet. There's some documentation in his guitar case, saying this thing was made in '99. I can't believe how clean the oil finished maple fret-board is for a guitar that old. It's totally clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stiggz Posted December 10, 2005 Report Share Posted December 10, 2005 hey, just a thought, if stewmac has the one you seek with the right width and radius, but doesnt have counter sunk holes. what i would do with this is go and counter sink these holes, it shouldnt alter the integrity of the nut, but go slowly, and stop after say 10 seconds leave it to cool and then go again, doing this should stop the plating from premature oxidzation due to the heat generated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted December 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2005 Well, I wanted to do that, but then talked to someone who works at a "big time" repair shop, and he said they've trashed carbide bits trying to drill the countersink into the StewMac locking nuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted December 10, 2005 Report Share Posted December 10, 2005 (edited) Is there a technical school in your area that has machinist courses? My old vo-tech instructors used to take on special projects all the time as "learning experiences" for the students. Maybe you could get some nice hardened lockers custom machined for the project for little coin for the materials? Might figure out the cost of that versus buying a few replacement nuts from Peavey Parts. As far as making the Wolfie a "dream" guitar, well, that depends on your nightmare. I'd tell him to trade it in on a nice Axis. The customer is always right, though, I suppose. How about putting a sheet metal shim between the strings and the bottom of the nut? Might be a good temporary fix? Edited December 10, 2005 by crafty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swirlslave Posted December 10, 2005 Report Share Posted December 10, 2005 also, did you check with brian here at universal jem? i know hes got some locknut on his site... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted December 10, 2005 Report Share Posted December 10, 2005 You can use the R2 nut and just redo the holes to be used with countersunk screws. It is an fairly easy mod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted December 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Anybody know of a place that has a full range of Schaller locking nuts ? Through a search, I came across an ebay dealer that supposedly has some schaller nuts that mount with wood screws. Then in an email, I asked what radius their 1 5/8" width is, and they said " 15" . That would be ideal, but I fear they are just saying that, because they might have seen this thread here. I know, I sound real paranoid, but that's because the one nut they had listed said the radius is 10". Plus I have ebay dealer phobia . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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