My gold colored Schaller straplock came apart, in my hands last week, and I lost a spring or something that locks the keeper pin. Used a Grolsch washer for the week, works good.
Ordered a new black Schaller straplock without realizing it would not fit tight on the existing gold endpin screw shoulders.
It works okay but makes me nervous, so I want to replace the gold endpin screw with the new black one.
I understand tension should be relaxed on the strings to keep the tailpiece from launching.
Is it likely that the cone and or spider will shift around once all of the strings are loose?
What is all of y'alls advice for replacing the endpin straplock screw?
Thanks!
JMan
Slack the strings, but keep some tension (I tried dropping my low G nearly an octave and it seemed about right - YMMV). Maybe remove strings 1 and 6 to lesson the tension overall if you're putting new strings on anyhow. Maintaining downward pressure on the tailpiece should keep the TP in place while you make the change. Note the position of the cone adjusting screw relative to the palmrest hole - I doubt that the cone/spider will shift, but if it does, you'll have a reference point to realign to. There's typically not a lot of tension on the endpin screw - the tension is taken by the TP, and the screw's just holding it in place.
Edited by - badger on 05/22/2023 16:53:24
It's been a bunch of years since I performed this operation and the memory is a little sketchy.
As I recall, I placed maybe four pieces of blue painter's tape across the back part of the tailpiece adhering to the wood on both sides, then loosened the strings a fair amount, being careful to not allow anything to shift around under the coverplate, took out the old screw and replaced it with new one, removed the tape, then tuned it up to pitch.
I might have kept my free hand on top of the tailpiece as insurance, don't recall off the top of my head.
I don't know if this is the official reso luthier method but it seemed to do the job.
Naturally someone else posted at the same time, in this case badger.
I like his method. I don't recall if the painter's tape program is something I came up with on my own or someone else gave me the tip.
Thanks badger and Mark,
Your suggestions and tips make me less nervous for the task.
J
Pretty sorry of Schaller to design new strap locks that are not backwards compatible by the way.
They claim there is backwards compatibility, so I went to YouTube and it opens up a can of worms.
I didn't realize they redesigned the product, the newest version was released in 2018.
I still have a couple extras of the old version sitting around in the tool chest since you only use one at a time for a reso or a lap steel with a strap.
Here is the corporate video of the newer S-Lock.
Edited by - MarkinSonoma on 05/23/2023 12:28:28
Huh.
That is interesting. I bought the original strap lock in 2021 from the Beard shop, could be that it was a pre-2018 product.
The new model does seem improved, with the knurled hand tightening simple and the locking mechanism appears to be more skookum.
I just got home from a couple days away and hope to install the new tailpiece pin this afternoon.
J
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