"Stamped" Wings

[rosewoodsteel]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v51/rosewoodsteel/Cnv0136.jpgHi-
Does anyone have a Custom with "stamped" wings.
I am looking at one that had "PRS" stamped on the end (ending at the point) of the tuner wings (face up). None of my guitars has this.
The guitar I'm referring to is an 89 CU24. 5 wings are stamped "PRS", one is not. Have these been replaced or do some early CU's come this way?

[Bruce O'Donnell]

There were some stamped wings, not sure what the story is. I seem to recall a thread about this on the old PRS Forum when John Mann was posting, and for some reason recall him stating that his company Mil-Com Industries (now MannMade USA, who made the original one-piece trems) had made wings at one time. Don't quote me on that until I run it past John for a sanity check. Other companies may have provided samples to PRS and stamped them. I know PRS has obtained sample batches of parts from different vendors from time to time, because I have very unusual (but 100% legit) winged tuners on my Artist II.

http://planetjes.tripod.com/ArtistII.jpg

[phretbored]

I think one of my early Customs has those stamped wings.

[89 Special]

I sure could use one of those "stamped wings" if someone would like to sell me one. I have a 1989 Special that has five of these. The "G" tuner however is just the plain wing style. Not only does it not match, it's not working very well. I tried Magdon's and Garrett Park with no luck. If someone has some spare parts laying around I would love to purchase a treble side example.
Thanks

[CarlWerkmeister]

Not to be too anal but did you notice that one of the hold down screws at the top of the tuner is also different?
Good luck in your search, these kinds of unusual variations can be very hard to find. I looked for over a year for a tuner that was only made for about a year. Sounds like this may be even tougher.

[rosewoodsteel]

Carl-

I bet I know what tuner you were looking for.
I have a guitar that has a replaced tuner.
The originals have wings that are approximately 5/8" from the top of the shaft to the top of the wing. (Most wings measure 3/8").

Is this the type you were looking for ?
(I am still looking.)

[rosewoodsteel]

Regarding the "stamped wings"-

They are cleaner and newer looking than the other wing/hardware, so they were added somewhere along the line.
I'm just wondering if the stamped ones were common on Standards or CE's.

Phretboard-
What year CU had the stamped wings ?

Bruce-
Thanks for the heads up about the thumb screw.
Also, if you happen to contact John Mann, could you fill me in on anything you find out.

Thanks.

[olslowhand]

Hi. Bill McDowell asked me to post some info regarding locking tuners...

My name is John Mann and I owned Mil-Com Industries Inc (aka MannMade USA). I made 99% of all the locking tuners in existence. The ones you see in the 1st photo, with PRS "stamped" into them are actually powdered (sinthered) metal units. But the part in the upper left with no logo appears to be a machined part made by me.

PRS tried this method 3 different times over the years, starting in the early 90's. The switch over was prompted by cost factors, however they never truely proved as succesful or reliable as the machined parts I supplied. Many parts failed by cracking right at the string break point. This was mostly due to the microscopic voids inherent in PM (powdered metal) parts. PM parts are made by compressing ground metal (as fine as baby powder) under extremely high pressure and then heating it up until the metal flows. The parts are then hardened by a heat treatment process. It's kind of the same as building a sand castlewith a bucket as a mold... if you will... Machined parts were made from solid bar stock and then heat treated to the necessary hardness.

I don't have an exact count, but I am sure if I dig around, I can come up with some spares if anyone is interested. Could also consider making a limited batch if there is a need for them.

[Bill McDowell]

nice to see you on the forum again John!

[CarlWerkmeister]

Carl-

I bet I know what tuner you were looking for.
I have a guitar that has a replaced tuner.
The originals have wings that are approximately 5/8" from the top of the shaft to the top of the wing. (Most wings measure 3/8").

Is this the type you were looking for ?
(I am still looking.)
rosewoodsteel....not looking...looked for...and found...:D
They are the ones with the "dome"..
http://pic5.picturetrail.com/VOL83/523419/1649468/76928430.jpg
Not only did I find a few spares in case I break one...I found an full set of the complete tuners!!!....Yes, I spend way too much time on ebay...:eek:

[rosewoodsteel]

John-

Thank you for sharing your knowledge, information and personal history regarding the winged tuners! As players, we seldom think about the technical side of how a part is made (speaking for myself).

I was first drawn to PRS because of their (your) incredible trem systems.

Thank you for your attention to detail and uncompromising quality.

Welcome to B&M.

[Aldwyn]

No stamps on the wings of my 88 CE... But the bottoms are stamped.

[rosewoodsteel]

Carl-

You found extra "tall-boys" !!
Wow. Most of the people I've talked to about them don't even know they exist.
When I picked up my 88, the high E tuner was replaced with one of the shorter versions.

Would you be interested in parting with one ?

[CarlWerkmeister]

I broke one on an '88 NAMM Custom and found some just before I sold it. You can use the other wings on them but they're kind of a PITA. I did sell a couple of the spares a little while ago but then bought another guitar that had those tuners installed so I'm not ready to let anything go at this point!!!
Kind of funny as I had not seen these in quite a while and then I found two guitars in quick succession that had them!!

[rosewoodsteel]

Carl-
My 88 is a NAMM as well !
Maybe they had a bunch of them around right before the show.

If you happen to change your mind, please let me know.

:)

[cswolfe]

I nominate this thread to be saved. Not that dragon output isn't important, but I'm not positive it's the only thread we should ever save. ;)