Dearmond M75t question

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Hi guys, I was referred here from another forum. I have a question concerning my Dearmond M75t and I was told this was a good place to ask.

I can't keep it in tune - at all - and it's driving me crazy. I really like the sound of this guitar. I was considering changing the tuning keys but now I'm getting some more info that says it may be the Digsby.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Should I change out the tuning keys? If so - to what type/brand? What about drilling?

Or should I just lube up the Digsby and check the nut?

Thanks for your help

AL
 
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I had the same problem on my M75T. As has already been mentioned, the return-to-pitch situation is severely compromised by the extreme string angles incurred between the arm roller, the tension roller and the bridge. The spring is simply not capable of overcoming the friction mounting up there. In my humble opinion, the tuners are fine and it would be a waste of money to replace them. Tuners don't generally slip anyway, although cheaper ones can be a bit sloppy or gritty. Forget the concept of roller bridges too - I've never seen the rollers on a roller bridge roll! On any guitar with a Bigsby or the like attached, the bridge just gently rocks back and forth with the movement of the strings as the arm is waggled. Some folk seem to think that if they lubricate the string slots on the bridge then the strings will slide around nicely in there and not get stuck when the vibrato is used. How the heck that can happen with at least three of the strings being wound and, consequently, having a very high friction quotient of their own sitting on the knife-edge saddles of a tune-a-matic, is beyond me! Lubricating the nut and making sure the slots are nice and smooth, however, would be very sensible.

My advice would be to simply bypass the tension roller and run the strings over the top of the arm roller directly to the bridge. There is enough break angle to cope with this (it ends up being about the same as on a Bigsby equipped Gretsch Duo-Jet, for example) and the friction is far less than with the tension roller incorporated. The trem should operate far more happily and return to pitch will be vastly improved. Once I realised this was a going concern, I removed the tension roller entirely from my own M75T. As has also been mentioned, the neck angle on the M77T was more shallow and the same type of trem does work more efficiently - I guess they must have realised there was an issue with the earlier model.

Anyway, give this a try before you take any drastic measures. I think it's a quick and simple solution to the problem and I hope it works for you - it certainly did for me.
 
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