Grover tuners on a Rick 4003 - A criminal act to replace them?

[Tech]

So I've got a 1983 Rick 4003 that has some of the old Grover USA tuners, with the funny back section, like this:


Now one of them has been broken for years - you have to hold the back hatch in place whilst you turn the key, or else it will pop off.

I'd like to get it fixed, but this particular part is rare and hard to come by - they were discontinued decades ago and only ever tend to sell in sets, and they seem to go for £150-200 which is pretty expensive.

If I swapped out the tuners for the nearest replacement from Grover (which would probably involve drilling a few more holes - I would take this to a professional to install obviously) how much damage to the value of the instrument would I be looking at?

Thanks,
Mat.

Edited February 4, 2014 by Tech

[Si600]

Do you know anyone either into silversmithing/jewellery or modelling? They may be able to repair the tuner instead of buying a replacement.

[Musky]

[quote name='Si600' timestamp='1391553477' post='2358626']
Do you know anyone either into silversmithing/jewellery or modelling? They may be able to repair the tuner instead of buying a replacement.
[/quote]
+1

Those Grovers are renowned for falling to bits. There's been a lot of threads on RickResource on this very subject.

Edit: A cursory search reveals [url="http://www.rickresource.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=402556"]this[/url] thread. Doubtless a bit more time would find some more details.

Edited February 5, 2014 by Musky

[Musky]

[quote name='Musky' timestamp='1391561447' post='2358720']
Doubtless a bit more time would find some more details.
[/quote]
Like [url="http://www.rickresource.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=381733&hilit=stake+grover&start=15"]this[/url] post.

[GregBass]

I would imagine you are not the only person to suffer with this. Why not buy a set for the extortionate price, then sell the three you don't want to recoup your outlay? Others in your position may be happy to pay enough for you cover your costs for all four.