Gotoh fine tuning screw snapped .. ??

[elkoki]

Went to fine tune my guitar when it just snapped off , has this happened to anyone else ? I have the trem blocked , wonder if that had something to do with it ?

Contacted Gotoh they said it’s impossible it would break with normal use lol, but somehow mine did ? I only use this guitar at home and it wasn’t bumped into anything , there’s no damage on the trem or guitar lol just a little bit of discoloring from use . A bit disappointed this happened after so little use from a made in Japan trem

 

[Omzig]

Mad never seen that happen in 30+ years of making and modding....So they didn't offer to replace the fine tuner free of charge for you? if not id get a few pic's of this up on their facebook/IG/twatter feeds and see how they like it

 

[Crash Dandicoot]

I believe this is what you'll need. I know it's Ibanez but IIRC they're the same:



Either you got the one in a billion that shouldn't have passed QC or you somehow over-torqued it. Very odd; regardless, I wouldn't use this case as a reference point for all MiJ trems. Your situation is beyond a statistical outlier, it's practically unheard of.

Assuming you have enough thread left underneath the tail of the bridge removal should be pretty easy. If you don't, hopefully you're handy and own an extractor set.

 

[elkoki]

Mad never seen that happen in 30+ years of making and modding....So they didn't offer to replace the fine tuner free of charge for you? if not id get a few pic's of this up on their facebook/IG/twatter feeds and see how they like it

Nah they didn’t offer anything , they said to take it up with the shop I bought it from , bought it new from an eBay seller almost 2 years ago , don’t think they’d offer a replacement . Will just have to buy a new set ($45) or try an Ibanez replacement as it seems to be the same visually .

 

[elkoki]

I believe this is what you'll need. I know it's Ibanez but IIRC they're the same:

View attachment 120462

Either you got the one in a billion that shouldn't have passed QC or you somehow over-torqued it. Very odd; regardless, I wouldn't use this case as a reference point for all MiJ trems. Your situation is beyond a statistical outlier, it's practically unheard of.

Assuming you have enough thread left underneath the tail of the bridge removal should be pretty easy. If you don't, hopefully you're handy and own an extractor set.

Thanks I’ll look this one up

 

[bostjan]

Never happened to me.

I don't really have anything constructive to add, but here is a set of six for $40: https://www.ebay.com/itm/292981723101 (if the Ibanez is a direct replacement, you might honestly spend just as much one one or two pieces, since Hoshino is notoriously high on their replacement part prices)

But I just love how every manufacturer's stock response when you message them "the thing broke" is always "the thing cannot break, this is your fault!"

 

[CanserDYI]

I have a very hard time believing any sort of fall would have only that one single screw break with zero physical damage anywhere else on the guitar, that's what I find funny.

 

[Edika]

Well manufacturers can claim that their product is flawless but nothing has 100% yield. It might be 99.9%, most of the times its in the high 90's, and take out the ones that will fail testing and inspection, then you have the freak one or two that seem fine but fail out of the blue.
Hopefully you can find replacements relatively cheaply or get stainless steel variants for extra strength!

 

[aesthyrian]

haha wtf where you doing man? I've never seen this even on the cheapest pot metal licensed floyds.

When you contacted Gotoh, did they not send you a new screw? If not, Rich at Ibanezrules sells single fine tuners for the Edge which is Gotoh made so I'm assuming it would work?

 

[Crungy]

My guess: it was made on a Monday or Friday.

Of its not binding in there, you might be able to grab it by the threads with some small pliers and turn it so it comes out the top like normal.

 

[elkoki]

haha wtf where you doing man? I've never seen this even on the cheapest pot metal licensed floyds.

When you contacted Gotoh, did they not send you a new screw? If not, Rich at Ibanezrules sells single fine tuners for the Edge which is Gotoh made so I'm assuming it would work?

Got my guitar off the wall , saw it was slightly out of tune , went to fine to it and it broke off like nothing , like literally effortlessly snapped off . I was shocked .. as you can see my guitar and trem are in relatively good shape and there’s definitely no damage like it had been bumped or fallen. Gotoh offered nothing , and their response came off kind of rude to be honest .. they also said they don’t sell parts directly either . Only replacements I found of them were on eBay for a complete set for $45 shipped , kind of a rip off for 6 screws but oh well I guess . I’ll try and see if I can find some cheaper substitutes

 

[aesthyrian]

Wow, that is super lame of Gotoh. Bastards.

 

[Crash Dandicoot]

I love me some Gotoh stuff but yeah, it wouldn't have been a lot on their end to send you a replacement. I can understand why they didn't, it's just... kinda weak of them, tbh.

Slight tangent but related: I bought/installed some Hipshot locking tuners on a guitar nearly 10 years ago and somehow managed to lose the high E ball bearing while doing a refret on it a few months back. I e-mailed Hipshot asking if I could buy a single bearing or what the bearing size was so I could find one myself, and they sent me an entire new tuner assembly. Up in Canada with no shipping charges, no cost, nothing. I bought those tuners from some random distributor nearly a decade ago, lost a small part well outside of any base warranty (if their was one, anyways) and the manufacturer freely replaced the entire thing. It was a very classy gesture and I'm 200% more inclined to run with Hipshots these days. Gotohs are great and cost effective but service like that stands out massively, to me.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Went to fine tune my guitar when it just snapped off , has this happened to anyone else ? I have the trem blocked , wonder if that had something to do with it ?

Contacted Gotoh they said it’s impossible it would break with normal use lol, but somehow mine did ? I only use this guitar at home and it wasn’t bumped into anything , there’s no damage on the trem or guitar lol just a little bit of discoloring from use . A bit disappointed this happened after so little use from a made in Japan trem

What part of the US are you in? I have some extra’s, I can mail one out to you.

 

[elkoki]

What part of the US are you in? I have some extra’s, I can mail one out to you.

I’m in California , if you could that would be amazing .

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

I’m in California , if you could that would be amazing .

Pm me your address

 

[elkoki]

I love me some Gotoh stuff but yeah, it wouldn't have been a lot on their end to send you a replacement. I can understand why they didn't, it's just... kinda weak of them, tbh.

Slight tangent but related: I bought/installed some Hipshot locking tuners on a guitar nearly 10 years ago and somehow managed to lose the high E ball bearing while doing a refret on it a few months back. I e-mailed Hipshot asking if I could buy a single bearing or what the bearing size was so I could find one myself, and they sent me an entire new tuner assembly. Up in Canada with no shipping charges, no cost, nothing. I bought those tuners from some random distributor nearly a decade ago, lost a small part well outside of any base warranty (if their was one, anyways) and the manufacturer freely replaced the entire thing. It was a very classy gesture and I'm 200% more inclined to run with Hipshots these days. Gotohs are great and cost effective but service like that stands out massively, to me.

Yeah I’ve had some experiences like that too , some companies are real classy like that . Even Fishman Fluence who isn’t necessarily known for their customer service , I messaged them once because a hook up wire was missing from the package and they sent me a whole new wiring set lol . D’addario as well , they once sent me a bunch sets because I received an old package of strings that broke as soon as I got them (no issues with saddles either) anyway we can all appreciate when companies go out of their way like this

 

[Grindspine]

What part of the US are you in? I have some extra’s, I can mail one out to you.

Wow, that is some SSO community awesomeness in support!

Gotoh has nearly flawless quality and QC inspection, but a single piece of metal with some metal fatigue or an impurity isn't something they should shun either.

I have a B.C. Rich from around 1988-89 with Grover Rotomatic tuners. In 2010, one of the 20-some year old tuners stripped on the internal threading; it was loose, but the nut around the post would not unscrew. I emailed Grover about it; they asked that I mail them the broken one after having a luthier remove it. About a week after, I received a replacement from them. Grover is pretty epic for being so supportive. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Grover or Gotoh in most cases, as they are both typically superb quality. Metal parts do occasionally fail though.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

I’ve had this one on my TFS6 from back in 1995, then the knife edges had worn down after 25 years, so I got a new one for it just a couple of years ago. They’ve been around since at least 1991 when EBMM was putting them on the first EVH sighs.