Violin Forum/Message Board

Cliff Green · Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 11:08 am Post subject: Pegheads, Wittner Finetune Pegs

Any opinions on the use of Pegheads or Wittner Finetune mechanical pegs. I have no experience with either.

fjodor · Member Joined: 28 Jan 2013 Posts: 60

I have tried the Wittner model and think they work pretty well. It can be a bit tricky to ream the holes to the right size, because they have to be pressed in quite hard to stay in place. I'm planning to install them on my latest violin (that is soon finished) as well.

L P Reedy · Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 6:13 pm Post subject:

I like both and find Perfections (Knilling version of PegHeds) a little easier to install. As fjodor said, you have to be very careful with the Wittners to ream the holes just right. It is VERY easy to slightly over ream them.

Ken Pollard · Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 7:32 pm Post subject:

I've used Wittners a few times, and would like to like them, but I have reservations.

I've used them on a full-size fiddle of my construction, and they were wonderful.

I've used them on a pochette of my construction, and one has been a terrible problem. It slips, that is, the entire peg rotates, at apparently random times. So, possibly a fit problem. Well, certainly a fit problem at some level. But another variable is the wood I used for the pegbox on that pochette -- a chunk of maple I bought from a hardwood supplier, not a tonewood supplier. In carving it, I noticed that the wood was just a little softer than my typical tonewood maple. I suspect it is more subject to both crushing and humidity changes.

The humidity changes are what bother me the most. I haven't resolved the issue in my own mind. If the fit is crucial, and if the pegbox changes with humidity, then that is a problem. The peghole-size can change, disrupting the fit.

I have also used Wittners in older German factory fiddles, particularly those with pegbox cracks. They seem to work, but I don't have a big sample size there, either.

The advantage of traditional pegs, of course, is that they can move in and out a little to compensate for any possible humidity changes, and still work.

The only time I've run across Pegheads is on a cello, which I think I mentioned on this forum, trying to determine what they were. They appeared to be glued on the head side, and floating, making no contact, on the opposite side. Once I was instructed on how to adjust them, they seemed to work fine.

I'll also add that with steel strings and Wittners, I have not been able to eliminate the need to use fine-tuners. Others report that they can get into tune without fine-tuners, but I cannot.

My limited experience. I tend to use traditional pegs for most applications.

I'll add that I'm in Idaho, and humidity can change from quite low (10%) to moderate mid-range (60-80%). If you live in an area with smaller relative changes in relative humidity, you might have relatively fewer issues.

fjodor · Member Joined: 28 Jan 2013 Posts: 60

Ken, I had the same problem with a spinning peg. I glued a very thin spruce shaving around the shaft where it touches the pegbox and presses it in place. (I had reamed the hole a bit too large) Now it seems to hold fine.

The e string in particular would benefit from an additional fine tuner, I think.

Ken Pollard · Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 2:21 pm Post subject:

Hi Fjodor,

Thanks-- and yes, I have use the pseudo-spiral bushing to adjust an overly large hole. And perhaps that solves the problem; I don't know. I could speculate that the glue and shaving seals the open wood in the peghole, and that reduces humidity-based changes in diameter. Or perhaps it is a local wood-density issue, and again the glue/shaving firms it up.

And maybe I'm overthinking it. I do know, though, when we have the shop set up at the fiddlers' contest in Weiser, folks coming over from the wet-side of the Cascades (Portland, Seattle), see significant changes in their pegs, sinking in deeper to the pegbox. That may be mainly the pegs changing, and not the pegbox itself. I just don't know. We do try to get folks to relax, and warn them to keep an eye on the situation when they get back home.

Wood be a funny thing! Confused

L P Reedy · Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 6:24 pm Post subject:

I think installation is the disadvantage of the Wittners. There is virtually no tolerance in the hole size, which should SEEM to be too small. And that applies to both sides of the peg box. PegHeds/Perfections, on the other hand, are threaded on the large side only in a manner that makes reaming less critical and the pegs self-tightening. I never glue them and have installed 35 sets or so.

The gear ratios are different, but that is largely negated by the difference in shaft diameters. Many people do keep fine tuners, especially the integral type, but I don't find a need for them, ESPECIALLY for the e string, which is the easiest of steel strings to tune because of its higher tension.

Ken Pollard · Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 8:02 pm Post subject:

kjb · Super Member Joined: 06 Feb 2013 Posts: 385

maybe that with mechanical tuners there is no need for fine tuners??

Ken Pollard · Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 12:15 am Post subject:

Cliff Green · Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 9:36 am Post subject:

Thanks for the replies. Have you found any problems with mechanical reliability/longevity with either of these pegs?

Ken Pollard · Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 10:17 am Post subject:

L P Reedy · Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 7:29 pm Post subject:

Ken Pollard · Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 1:59 am Post subject:

Ok. I guess I did understand you the first time.

I'll stay with my method.

Cliff Green · Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 11:14 am Post subject:

It sounds like a Kraft paper bushing would be perfect for an over size hole and the Wittner pegs. On their web site Wittner has templates for stuffing made from sandpaper for hole reduction.