The colored LCD display is easy to read in the dark, making this an ideal tool for performers needing to quickly check their tuning in between pieces. The flexible shaft and 360-degree rotating display allow for easy viewing, and it will accurately pick up the entire range of the instrument from one position. The Pegheds fixed that.As builders and players, we've tuned many thousands of hammered dulcimer with many types of electronic tuners, and we've been inspired to create what we feel is the best yet - the Dulci-Tune.Ĭompact, simple and elegant, it sits on any tuning pin and is ready when you need it and out of the way when you don't. The only one I had real problems with recently was the dulcimer with the Grover patent pegs. Everything else has gears or zither pins. Two of my dulcimers have wooden pegs and one of my fretless banjos has patent pegs. I suspect he plans to build some more traditional-style instruments and he plans to recycle the old pegs. He also keeps all the old wooden pegs he replaces. May does retrofit geared tuners to his dulcimers. They work wonderfully and the gold against the walnut looks great. But my new Warren May came with gold-plated Grover Rotomatics, sealed guitar tuners. I think the main objection people have to guitar tuners is aesthetic. These help keep the unit in place and may need to be tightened slightly once in a while. Sealed units (both guitar and planetary banjo types) also have threaded bushings which circle the string posts and screw into the housing from above. Sometimes the screws will loosen slightly and need to be snugged down. They are held in place with small screws. A drop of oil on exposed gears every few years is about all the service they'll ever need. ![]() Guitar tuners don't require much attention. Ratios have ranged from 8:1 to as high as 18:1.Ī complete set of serviceable import tuners can be had for as little as $10.00! Of course, prices go up from there. While this means changing strings may take longer, fine-tuning a string is much, much easier. A typical gear ratio is 12:1, twelve rotations of the knob to a singe rotation of the shaft. The two big advantages of guitar tuners are cost and a higher gear ratio. (Planetary tuners are also sealed with a lubricant.) Guitar-type tuners are made individually, like planetary pegs, or several mounted to a common plate. There are two types, "open" or exposed-gear, and sealed-gear, in which the gears are sealed inside a casing with a lubricant. They can be mounted on the back of a solid peghead or on the side of a slotted peghead. That's why the buttons on a steel-stringed guitar stick out to the sides, while the buttons on a banjo don't. Guitar-type heads have gears at a right angle. The disadvantages to planetary heads are cost (my Pegheds were $100), not as fine a gear ratio as guitar pegs, and the tension needs to be tightened occasionally, just like the patent heads. But they often require a spline notch or small hole for an anchor post, hidden under the gear housing. ![]() That is, it takes four complete rotations of the knob for the shaft to rotate once. People like them because they are straight, like friction pegs but have a 4:1 gear ratio. Planetary gears (or "heads" or "pegs") are used on most banjos and some dulcimers. There are two types, planetary and guitar-type. Getting the strings just right takes some practice and patience. ![]() Patent heads use a tension screw which often shakes loose or comes loose while tuning.Īside from slipping, friction pegs of any sort are not as easy to tune as are geared heads. Wooden pegs need to be properly seated in their holes and sometimes need a little rosin, chalk, or peg dope to seat properly. ![]() Your wooden pegs are actually superior to the Grover "patent heads." Both hold their tension with friction. A violin repairperson should do it if you're not experienced working with tapered reamers, small files, super glue, and following directions very carefully. It took me several evenings to do the job properly. They work really well and look like traditional violin pegs. I just took very similar pegs off an older instrument I bought used and replaced them with Pegheds.
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