Hi Leslie,
No you don't remove the sides. Remove the 3 or 4 screws below the tuner face - 2 screws are on the string side in the corners near the handle fixings, the other 2 (or one sometimes) is on the battery side and quite obvious. You may need to remove the antenna tip next by unscrewing it. Lift the facepanel up at the antenna end, guide the antenna through the hole and whilst holding the tuning slider, slide the facepanel away. The little metal balls will be caught by the magnet as it slides off. The perspex strips can be removed by sliding them out of their channels - sometimes stuck a bit with gunk but they will come free.
When refitting locate the tuning slider back in place and roll the balls down the channels & the magnet will catch them.
Steve
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