Zum Stage One Lever problem

[Leif Nicklas]

Question for you experienced players. I posted about this last night, but am still having issues. My problem is that my LKR lever lowers my 8 string nowhere near low enough. String 4 is perfect. I contacted Doug and went thru his setup instructions 3 separate times with the same exact result. I tune my LKR so it’s perfect, but then I tune my LKL and it makes LKR not drop low enough. I’m going crazy! Any ideas?

[Fred Treece]

When you release the perfectly tuned LKL, does the open 4th string return to the exact pitch it was before the raise?

Does the 8th string return to open pitch even if the lever doesn’t lower correctly with LKR?

If the strings don’t return to open pitch correctly (no matter what the pulls do), then it could be a problem with the LKR release spring.

[Leif Nicklas]

Yes they return to pitch. It’s just that I can’t tune one lever without the other going out of tune

[Fred Treece]

It could be the pivot screw. You know, the red hex tuning screw on the changer that Doug advises to “never, under any circumstances, adjust this red tuner.” Except if someone unknowingly adjusted it before you owned the guitar. That would be unfortunate, because obviously they must be a pain to get perfectly accurate and I have no idea how to do that.

[Ron Pruter]

Lief, is there play in the 8th string lower pull train when just sitting there? There should be. If not, see the Overtuneing note at the beginning of this section. The nylon tuner might need to be backed out, string tuned back up at the key end and go from there. If this is the case, what happened was, over time, the travel of that pull has been reduced. Simple fix once you understand it.
PS. Did you change the gauge on that string?

[Leif Nicklas]

I haven’t changed the string, because it works perfectly until I tune the raise lever, then it won’t drop back down.

And no, there is no play in the white nut, I think the problem is there some how. When I back the white nut all the way out, my LKR lever lays back in the correct position straight up and down. When I screw the white nut in to tune the lever to F, the lever angles back in. I feel like I really have to screw the white nut in really tight to get the F nore

[Leif Nicklas]

Ron, you mentioned an overtuning section, where can I find that? Sounds like this is exactly what is happening

[Don R Brown]

Just look at the top of the page for this section - it's a "sticky", second one down from the heavy black line.

[Fred Treece]

I can’t believe a call to Doug wouldn’t have involved a mention of overtuning. Definitely check that first. Just one caveat - the Stage One is a Pull-Release type changer, and the rules and remedies for overtuning might not be the same as for an all-pull.

[Leif Nicklas]

I read the over tuning page, but since my steel is different, I was a bit confused how to apply that knowledge to my situation, like how to figure out if I’m over tuned or under tuned, and how to address this on my steel. I do feel like I’m overtuned on my 8 string because it is so tight and there is no play there

[Doug Earnest]

https://www.stageonesteelguitars.com/product-support

Leif, turn your guitar upside down, take a picture looking down on the changer fingers and send it to me. Also take a picture of the end of the changer end endplate showing the tuning nuts and the hollow head hex screws in the end plate that are used to tune the lowered notes. In addition, take a picture showing the LL and LR bellcrank assemblies. You can post it here too if you want. Something is way wrong or there is miscommunication if you have done all the steps in the troubleshooting sheet several times.