Republic Resonator Guitar Forum

My Republic resonator is a very nice instrument with a perfect set up, so it played very well right out of the box. The only claims are the open gear tuners. They were too “vintage” for my taste: they did not work smoothly, and one of them was nearly stuck. I considered replacing the tuners, but found out that they can be made to work as they should.

Tune one string down. Remove the screw that holds the brass gear wheel. Remove the brass gear wheel and remove the capstan worm. Place a small amount of grinding compound on the bearings of the capstan and turn the capstan round for some time. Remove the capstan and carefully clean the bearings and the capstan using a solvent. No trace of grinding compound must be left! Place a small amount of regular multi service grease on the bearings, the capstan worm and the gear wheel. Assemble the tuner and retune the string.

Repeat the procedure on the other tuners, but one at a time.