Old bowlback

[robbyford]

Hi everyone, a friend of mine bought an od bowlback mandolin from a pawn shop. I had a look at it and deemed it playable but when I tried to tune it one of the tuners just stopped at a certain point and wouldn't budge. Is there some kind of oil or lubricant that I could use on it or is it unfixable?

[Jim Garber]

It depends... sometimes you need to take these apart and really clean them. This one prob hadn't been played in many years. I have a few that are completely rusted which may or may not be worth dealing with, depending on the tuners and the instrument. Whatver you do, don't turn the keys with any force or you may split the gears altogether.

I am sure that many of the experienced luthiers here can recommend other methods of dealing with these.

Jim

[Paul Hostetter]

Here's a page link about reviving old tuners (http://www.lutherie.net/tuner.maintenance.html). Have a look around first.

Don't use WD-40! Use Tri-Flow:

http://www.lutherie.net/tri.flow.jpg

Let it set awhile before trying to turn them. Are there screws holding the cogs down? If so, remove the cogs and clean everything.

[Jim Garber]

I was hoping Paul would answer. he is the resident tuner (as well as other things) expert.

Jim