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Guitar bridge pins come up slightly when tuning?
Yes I made sure I did everything properly. I've been redoing this for 2 days because I'm a little nervous about it popping out when I'm playing. The ball end isn't anywhere it shouldn't be. It's right up against the pin slot and below the saddle. Trust me I checked so many times that I've lost count. They just pop up a little when I tune. Is this normal? I replaced my old strings. They're lighter than the original ones where. Not extremely lighter but just a gauge. I want to know if it's okay for the pins to come up a bit when I tune the guitar or if this is a problem. It makes me a bit nervous to play. All of them are doing this.
1 Answer
- husoskiLv 75 months agoFavorite Answer
Sounds like a steel string acoustic. I can't think of anything else with bridge pins and ball-end strings.
It's common for bridge pins to creep up a little when first tuning up after a string change. The ball ends settle in as you bring them up to full tension. Just push them back down again.
It's less common for pins to move when tuning strings that are already up to tension. Unless you are doing radical alternate tuning changes, there's just not that much tension change involved.
If you find you're moving the tuning knob more than a fraction of a turn when just tuning up to play, check for other problems. (Too many windings of a string around the tuning peg can cause tuning stability problems. If you have more than 2 or 3 wraps of any string, you might want to check out a few string-change tutorials online before your next string change.)
PS: This may just be something this guitar does. I wouldn't worry about injury. I've heard of people getting eye injuries from broken strings--when they put their face up close to them while tuning or doing something ill-advised like cutting old strings while still under tension. Even then it's "heard it from somebody who heard it from somebody."
A ball end has more mass, therefore less speed from the same force, as a broken string end. I've never had a scratch from a broken string. (...but I've stabbed myself several times on cut string ends at the tuning pegs. Doh!) One more likely danger with a pin coming all the way out is losing the pin. (If you have bone pins and a dog, well, you get the picture... :^)
