Tuner Cover on a Steinberger Bass

[jglunt2112]

I was just offered a beautiful little Steinberger Spirit XT25 for a song--pun in tended--and I couldn't refuse it, Steinbergers being my 2nd favorite bass. However, the tuners on this headless wonder are nearly impossible to turn. I want to take the cover off to lubricate the tuners, but I can't figure out how to do that. Does anybody know, or does anybody know where I can find out how to remove that cover? I've tried YouTube but got no help there, and the Steinberger Forum is virtually worthless. (Oops, did I type that out loud?)...Jim

[Ken Baker]

I believe that the tuners need to complete unscrewed and removed. There may be a saddle lock style setscrew on the side of the bridge that needs to be loosened.

I got that info from here and here, and a little creative digging on other sites.

Ken...

[jglunt2112]

As always, thank you, Ken. Years ago, I had the bridge/tuner unit on my Steinberger XL2 apart to replace one of the string cradles that had stripped out. I lubricated all of those all-thread units after replacing that part, then put it back together, all with the help of the only licensed Steinberger repairman in the state of New Mexico. That was in a different century--literally--and I have no idea where that guy is. This bridge/tuner looks exactly the same. There's just no simple, straight-forward way of taking that cover off or removing the bridge/tuner to get to the all-thread tuners themselves, and I don't remember how I finally got that other tuner assembly apart. I still have that bass, but there's no hint in looking at it how I disassembled it or got it back together. Too bad because I'm sure it's way past due for another lube itself. Thanks again. You've pointed me in the right direction...Jim