Hi guys!

 

I had a little 'accident' and one of my tuning pegs broke off :( So I called the closest guitar shop, explained evertyhing drove there and picked up some cheap (20€) mashine heads. After getting back home I quickly noticed that these mashine heads would be a downgrade in terms of quality and I would have to drill new holes for some screws.

Because I don't want to drill new holes in my headstock to install subpar machine heads I googled like mad to find something that would fit wihout modification.

So I own a Yamaha Pacifica 112J wich is nothing more than a Fender Stratocaster clone, so I ordered original Fender American Standard machine heads. Aaaaaand they don't fit :(

 

So this picture shows the difference between the original yamaha and the fender machine head:

http://i.imgur.com/9QN3w16.jpg

 

So in order to install these I would have to modify the pin holes and move them up a few mm. I photoshopped a pic to show you guys how I imagine this will work out:

http://i.imgur.com/eS8PutD.jpg

 

In order to make this perfect i would need a 2.7mm drill and then meassure everthing twice, but I'm not sure if it is worth the trouble. Unfortunatly Yamaha doesn't sell any replacement parts and I can't find anything that would fit plug and play stlye.

 

So should I send everything back and order some better machine heads that just need to be fixated with a screw OR should I modify my headstock to fit fender mashine heads? Will drilling new holes and placing new screws in my headstock affect the sound in anyway? I just want to make sure I'm not doing anything wrong...

 

Hi guys!

 

I had a little 'accident' and one of my tuning pegs broke off :( So I called the closest guitar shop, explained evertyhing drove there and picked up some cheap (20€) mashine heads. After getting back home I quickly noticed that these mashine heads would be a downgrade in terms of quality and I would have to drill new holes for some screws.

Because I don't want to drill new holes in my headstock to install subpar machine heads I googled like mad to find something that would fit wihout modification.

So I own a Yamaha Pacifica 112J wich is nothing more than a Fender Stratocaster clone, so I ordered original Fender American Standard machine heads. Aaaaaand they don't fit :(

 

So this picture shows the difference between the original yamaha and the fender machine head:

http://i.imgur.com/9QN3w16.jpg

 

So in order to install these I would have to modify the pin holes and move them up a few mm. I photoshopped a pic to show you guys how I imagine this will work out:

http://i.imgur.com/eS8PutD.jpg

 

In order to make this perfect i would need a 2.7mm drill and then meassure everthing twice, but I'm not sure if it is worth the trouble. Unfortunatly Yamaha doesn't sell any replacement parts and I can't find anything that would fit plug and play stlye.

 

So should I send everything back and order some better machine heads that just need to be fixated with a screw OR should I modify my headstock to fit fender mashine heads? Will drilling new holes and placing new screws in my headstock affect the sound in anyway? I just want to make sure I'm not doing anything wrong...

@@Nanshi

I think I might have a set of Yamaha machine heads... They have two pins on them, instead of a hole for a screw, is that right?

 

I'll have to look in my box of stuff. Where do you live? I'll mail it.

 

Otherwise, if you're not comfortable making modifications to the guitar, take it the shop -- get yourself a set of locking tuners as long as you're at it. I like the Grover minis, I put them on every guitar. Once you go for locking tuners, you'll never look back. You'll have to drill holes for the fixing screws -- a little care and it should work out all right, especially if you have a Dremel.

No need to worry at all about tone, it's not like you're chopping off half the neck or anything its only about a 1/32" or 1/16" hole roughly 1/8" deep if I recall.  Remember to measure twice drill once.  Put some tape on the drill bit and don't go past it.

 

I agree with taking to someone else if it seems too stressful to you to attempt.

 

Remember it's just wood and way more stuff on a guitar gets professionally repaired with super glue and toothpicks than you think.  :D

No need to worry at all about tone, it's not like you're chopping off half the neck or anything its only about a 1/32" or 1/16" hole roughly 1/8" deep if I recall.  Remember to measure twice drill once.  Put some tape on the drill bit and don't go past it.

 

I agree with taking to someone else if it seems too stressful to you to attempt.

 

Remember it's just wood and way more stuff on a guitar gets professionally repaired with super glue and toothpicks than you think.  :D

 

As a rule, never look too closely at anything handmade. The art of craftsmanship is all in hiding one's mistakes.

I had to do this before in the past. It is actually really easy. This is what i did.

 

1-filled the pin holes with wood filler.

2-(drill press works the best) find the right size bit, and when you are drilling, hold the neck firm, but let the bit find the hole. It will naturally want to center on the previous hole on its own.

3-put all the machine heads in and line them up on the back side with a strait edge and some clamps.

4- when they are all lined up put some pressure on the back of each machine head. This will put little dimples to mark the pin holes.

5- Mark the drill bit with some tape at the proper depth, and drill the holes.

 

Hope this helps.

If you don't want to do it yourself, replacing machine heads shouldn't be an expensive job, even if there are hole needing filled or re-drilled.

Toothpicks and super glue.  :D

I sent him a replacement machine head -- don't know if he received it yet, but here's hoping it fits exactly.

Thanks to MVega I solved everything, returned all the other machine heads cause the one he sent me fits perfectly :) So again thank you MVega now I can get around the whole drilling part:D

 

But good to know that I don't have to worry about those holes, next time I won't have so much trouble and simply drill new ones.  And now back to practicing. And again thanks for the help, guys!

Thanks to MVega I solved everything, returned all the other machine heads cause the one he sent me fits perfectly :) So again thank you MVega now I can get around the whole drilling part:D

 

But good to know that I don't have to worry about those holes, next time I won't have so much trouble and simply drill new ones.  And now back to practicing. And again thanks for the help, guys!

 

Happy to help!  I have five others, in case any more break :-P

 

Thanks to MVega I solved everything, returned all the other machine heads cause the one he sent me fits perfectly :) So again thank you MVega now I can get around the whole drilling part:D

 

But good to know that I don't have to worry about those holes, next time I won't have so much trouble and simply drill new ones.  And now back to practicing. And again thanks for the help, guys!

 

Happy to help!  I have five others, in case any more break :-P

 

 

Hello there!

I would need one tuner, in case you still have 'em laying idle ... I can paypal you to cover costs ...

Greetings from Madrid

Jorge