Tuning a peghead

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Tuning a peghead

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Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

Tuning a peghead

Hi all.

I´ve made a small video on how to tune pegheads. It can be seen on my blog

http://news-from-the-workshop.blogspot.com/2011/02/tuning-peghead.html

And here as well

Comments please.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 20 2011 16:53:04

Richard Jernigan

Posts: 3430
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA

RE: Tuning a peghead (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

Hello Anders--

A beautiful and great sounding guitar!

What material do you use for pegs? Is ebony better than rosewood?

On bowed instruments the ebony pegs are set in maple. Does this work better?

Fine tuning by pulling the string, or pushing it down between the nut and the peg works even better when a cejilla is in place.

My '67 Ramirez blanca had rosewood pegs for a good 20 years, but they never worked well. I complained to Jose III. Instead of overhauling the pegs, he offered to replace them with machines. Eventually I had it done by Kenny Hill's shop.

One big advantage of pegs is that it discourages people from asking to play your guitar

RNJ

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 20 2011 18:31:15

TANúñez

Posts: 2559
Joined: Jul. 10 2003
From: TEXAS

RE: Tuning a peghead (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

Loud powerful guitarra Anders. I like it very much.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 20 2011 18:42:22

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: Tuning a peghead (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

Nice video Anders. Do you put any kind of "peg dope" on the pegs? I've heard of graphite, soap, etc.
I still haven't made a peghead, but I would like to. I installed geared pegs on a guitar and I like those a lot actually.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 20 2011 18:48:21

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Tuning a peghead (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

quote:

One big advantage of pegs is that it discourages people from asking to play your guitar

Thats true.
Yes, I make my own pegdope. A mixture of homemade soap, a tad of local olive oil and a very fine pumice powder. I would add some graphite powder if I could find some.
I´ve made around 15 pegheads I think. Its full blooded pleasure. Like riding an old Triumph motorbike.
I´ve made a few pegheads with maple bushings and to be honest, its not something that´ll change your life.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 20 2011 20:50:00

Escribano

Posts: 6415
Joined: Jul. 6 2003
From: England, living in Italy

RE: Tuning a peghead (in reply to Andy Culpepper)

quote:

Do you put any kind of "peg dope" on the pegs? I've heard of graphite, soap, etc.

Here comes the legendary Ander's hippy soap and pumice advice

I have had an Anders peghead for years and it's not an issue to tune, as long as you dope now and again and push in the pegs with the heel of your hand to lock them. It tunes a lot faster than machines because of the 1:1 ratio but you need some finesse like Anders shows to adjust, compared to tuners.

I have also been told by pros that they prefer tuners for stage work. It is a non-issue for most of us and in my opinion pegs give a dryer sound and shorter sustain on a blanca, so it sounds "má' flamenquita". The head is also a lot lighter and better balanced.

Stretching the string by pulling or depressing behind the nut applies to all guitars to varying degrees - I used to do this on my electric. It loosens everything a fraction and takes some of the 'knots' out of the set-up.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 20 2011 20:52:42

estebanana

Posts: 9351
Joined: Oct. 16 2009

RE: Tuning a peghead (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

Jesus Christ you're a crusty looking dude. No wonder you're so cranky.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 20 2011 21:13:21

at_leo_87

Posts: 3055
Joined: Aug. 30 2008
From: Boston, MA, U.S.A

RE: Tuning a peghead (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

nice playing! and great sounding guitar!

do you think the stretching and pulling of the strings will make them wear out faster? or maybe effect the intonation?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 21 2011 4:59:04

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Tuning a peghead (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

If you stretch and pull very hard, maybe you´ll get some negative side effects, but its not necessary to do so.

Yeah, Stephen, Sunday morning, no shower, just directly into the workshop. But at least I´m not afraid of showing how I look. Do you prefer me to make a drawing of myself. (insider joke)

I´ll put on my cutie tie and shower next time

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 21 2011 7:04:14

Kevin James Shanahan

Posts: 407
Joined: Oct. 10 2010
From: Wooli, NSW Australia

RE: Tuning a peghead (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

That guitar sounds amazing , man that was verging on metal . Hey would pencil led in a mortar and pestle work as graphite powder , I don't need an answer , play me an entire piece anders por favor .

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Peace.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 21 2011 9:05:00

NormanKliman

Posts: 1143
Joined: Sep. 1 2007

RE: Tuning a peghead (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

quote:

I would add some graphite powder if I could find some

Should be availabe in a good ferretería: grafito en polvo (locksmiths, etc.)

quote:

Jesus Christ you're a crusty looking dude. No wonder you're so cranky.

Ni El Cabrero, vamos.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 21 2011 15:40:45

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Tuning a peghead (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

Kevin. Pencil lesd would work. Its not pure graphite though. Actually, a good way of maintaining pegs is to rub them with a 5B drawing pencil when changing strings.
Norman, I´ll give it a try. Thanks. El Cabrero is a goodlooking handsome Clint Eastwood clone. The local woman find him to be sexy. I´m just a guiry scumback with weird hairs and cold nordic eyes.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 21 2011 16:09:02

NormanKliman

Posts: 1143
Joined: Sep. 1 2007

RE: Tuning a peghead (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

quote:

El Cabrero is a goodlooking handsome Clint Eastwood clone.

Yes, that's what I meant.

quote:

The local woman find him to be sexy.

Well, I wouldn't know about that, that's your responsibility to do something in that department!

quote:

I´m just a guiry scumback with weird hairs and cold nordic eyes.

Y el alma flamenca...¿no? Maybe local women like somebody who looks and acts different. But if they like you too much maybe you'll have problems with the local men!

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 21 2011 17:16:32

Sean

Posts: 672
Joined: Jan. 20 2011
From: Canada

RE: Tuning a peghead (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

Fat ebony pegs get a deserved bad rap, the way the wood shrinks makes them go oval and a bitch to use, the fatter the more pronounced the problem. They definitely need to be thinned down like Anders does, it makes them way easier to tune with less headaches. I heard from a baroque guitar builder fruit woods like Euro plum, pear are better, less tangential to radial shrinkage then ebony and easy to make look like ebony.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 21 2011 17:19:43

edguerin

Posts: 1589
Joined: Dec. 24 2007
From: Siegburg, Alemania

RE: Tuning a peghead (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

quote:

graphite powder if I could find some

Another place to try would be a shop selling spare parts etc. for cars. It's used as a "lubricant" for locks...

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El aficionado solitario
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 21 2011 17:24:44

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Tuning a peghead (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

Sean, Pear and other fruit trees is very beautifull and I would never "ebonize" the pegs. The problem is that I dont know where to buy pegs made from fruit trees and I´m not going to make my own pegs from scratch. Would you recommend Rosewood over ebony? or maybe boxwood.

Ed, I´ll look into it. The problem is that spaniards are real ignorants in many aspects

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 22 2011 7:23:08

Stephen Rees

Posts: 32
Joined: Oct. 4 2007
From: Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire

RE: Tuning a peghead (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

Anders .... Bruce Brook should be able to help you with info about fruit wood pegs.
have a look here..... http://www.brucebrook.co.uk/pegs.htm

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 22 2011 7:56:11

rodpacheco

Posts: 80
Joined: Apr. 19 2010
From: Mexico

RE: Tuning a peghead (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

Great video Anders,

I actually mentioned it to you when you gave me advise on peg fitting, hoping you would check it out and be of use to you and others.

I get my pegs from a shop in Pennsylvania, USA. Called Dov-Schmidt Music. The specialize in violins, violas and cellos, but the Viola Pegs that I got from them are beautifully turned, and very cheap comparing to the costs per peg.

They sell sets of 4 pegs starting at 6 dollars, going up to 25 dollars or so, per setof 4 pegs. They have boxwood and pear and apple, olive, tetul, walnut, rosewood and ebony. Check it out, the quality of the pegs I receive is excellent!! very well priced. Shipping was very cheap as they only use USPS and may take little while, but they get there well packed.

Hope that can be of use to you all!

here's the link! http://www.dov-music.com/index.htm

Saludos,

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 22 2011 18:57:17

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Tuning a peghead (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

Thanks both of you. I´ve saved both pages
I havent found any pictures of viola pegs made of fruit tree wood.
A problem could be that most clients want ebony because it looks right.....

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 23 2011 8:09:40