A, kind of, hidden feature

[loocnmad]

Took the tuners off my Cutlass and noticed this. The washers don't just rest on top, they fit down into the hole a bit.

Roasted maple has a reputation as being brittle so I'm thinking it's to reinforce the holes. It's the same way on my 2017 Valentine but not on the 2016 Axis SS. Regardless, I thought it was cool.

 

[DrKev]

"Roasted maple has a reputation as being brittle"

A completely unfounded reputation, I'd guess. Certainly the first I've ever heard that. Music Man have been using roasted maple since about 2012. They have a ton of customer service data since then. If they had a significantly higher warranty return rate on roasted maple, they'd have a problem. Instead they're introducing it out onto an increasing number of models, as much of the guitar industry is doing too.

 

[GWDavis28]

Those look like they are pressed in sleeves from your picture.

Glenn |B)

 

[tbonesullivan]

Yeah, they probably press in a bit. Definitely better than the flat bottom washers that can slide all over the place as you tighten the tuner retaining bolt/sleeve.

 

[loocnmad]

Don't get me wrong, I love the roasted necks and wish more builders would use them. I'm no luthier by any stretch but even John Suhr, who builds with roasted, did say to be careful with it and drill holes just slightly larger to be safe.

Either way, I take it as a sign of quality and was happy to see it. From my other thread, I swapped the tuners and it was a great experience. I got to keep the stock washers which look nicer with the beveled edges anyway.

 

[TripHazard]

I quite fancy trying a set of Graphtech ratio tuners

 

[Astrofreq]

I used to have a Strat with a hidden feature of not staying in tune.