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I tried e-mailing them and I'm getting nothing.

Wanted to know what it was made out of, brass, plastic, etcetera?

I'll be using it for steel-string parlor guitar and ukulele.

I'm also wary that the installation is permanent. They should come up with a temporary way to install them in case one gets damaged and needs to be replaced, or you decide to go with a different system altogether.

Thanks!

plastic over aluminum. I think they're ugly but many customers want them so we install them. I agree wholeheartedly about the "permanent" part. I think to remove one once glued in place you put a piece of leather over the shaft to protect the plastic and twist with channel lock pliers to break the glued threads loose. I haven't had to do that yet so can't comment on the efficacy of this method. I contact them at info@pegheds.com.

I've used them on two ukes. They are not plastic, but aluminum. I buy them from Pohaku.

http://pohakushop.com/?product=peg-head-tuner

I've never known for sure if the ones from Pohaku are the same as the ones on the official site. But they work great.

Make sure you note which are the lefts and which are the rights and keep them marked. I use a piece of tape on the tuner button. It's impossible to tell them apart if you mix them up. But you can tell by the threads which is which. The lefts thread into the wood in reverse, the rights standard.

The way I have been installing them is to drill a 1/4" hole using a peghead template and then ream out with a taper so that the hole is big enough to let the tuner slide it and be flush with the top of the peghead. Then you can start twisting from there to cut the threads. You can then take them in and out as needed while finishing up the instrument. At the very last I put some tightbond on the threads and put them in one last time. Make sure to keep the holes clean so the tight bond can work.

If the fit is very tight, cut a small piece of leather and wrap around the stem and use pliers to twist it in. If you're having to work with the pliers too much, ream out the hole a bit more.

I've had to replace one after being glued in. I used a heat gun and gave a small amount of heat on the top side of the tuner which broke the tightbond free pretty easily.

Good luck! They are great. Super light weight.

Brad


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I used them on a flamenco guitar I built and I think they are fantastic. I thing they look just fine too. From a few feet away you would never be able to tell they are not ebony friction pegs.

For a uke, why not use ebony friction pegs?

Pegheds have 4:1

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Pat

The only ones I've used are for flamenco guitar and they appear to be plastic over aluminum but it may be just a coating of some kind. One needs to handle them very carefully so as not to damage/scratch them. I've been installing ebony friction pegs on guitars for over 50 years so perhaps I can be forgiven for finding these geared pegs ugly and bulky looking. I'd never put them on a guitar for myself. The other thing that is problematic with the geared flamenco pegs is the peg hole reamer is 1/25 taper instead of the standard 1/30. These cello peg hole reamers are expensive and a nuisance to use because of their length. The most annoying part of the reamer I have is the handle can't be removed so I can't chuck it in the drill press. I need to shop for another one with removable handle or buy a second one and saw it off so I can use it in the drill press.

Your instructions above are very good and using titebond instead of the recommended ca seems logical. I have several sets to install in the next batch of guitars and think I'll follow your titebond suggestion.

I followed Peter's instructions here: http://www.pohakuukulele.com/how-to-ins ... ead-tuners

I would be curious to know if the coating is the same on the tuners he sells vs. from the official source you've used in the past? There is a coating, I'm not sure what it is. I did put a little more titebond than Peter's instructions, he says to use a dot. I also tend to ream the hole a little larger than he recommends so they go in easier. I worry too much about overuse of the pliers / leather and damaging the tuner.

So far so good though!

Brad

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"Pegheds have 4:1"

I can see the virtue of this for steel strings, but is it that much of an advantage for relatively low tension nylon strings?

Of course it is - the gear reduction makes tuning super smooth and easy. For steel strings, the 4:1 ratio makes it a questionable deal except on low tension banjo strings.

Chuck Herrin is amazing - he even figured a way to make a geared fifth peg for banjo that also looks exactly like an ebony friction peg.

And, he did make some 16:1 for steel strings, but I really don't see all that much need for them from a historical perspective, and I do wonder about how robust the gearing is.

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Cheers,

Frank Ford

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I emailed Peter about the tuners on the Pohaku site. See below:

Brad - 1) Are the pegheds from Pohaku the same as these http://pegheds.com/? and 2) If not, do you know what the differences are?

Peter - What I have are pegheds.  I list them with both spellings because I assume that people will spell it both ways. I recently changed the illustrations and descriptions to have the 7543, 8543 and 844 designations included because some people ask by the numbers.

Hopefully that helps.

Brad

Edited to note: Peter did say that the shaft is powdercoated and the buttons are plastic coated. So, mystery solved!

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I've used them since 2005.
Love them !
Look great /do not crack or change shape & size because on humidity .

Mike

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Mike Collins

Thanks for all the great information and suggestions.

I'm now looking at Wittner, since theirs' do not require glue. They don't look as cool, nor are they customizable.

Hmmm.. they do say no glue needed. How are they pulling that off?

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I haven't used these so take this for what it's worth. The barrels have little ridges on them that are most likely the mechanism that's supposed to keep them from slipping without gluing and allows them to be used in either direction.

I'm intrigued by the higher gear ratio.

I have yet to find anyone who carries the ukulele version.

I wouldn't use Wittners on a steel string guitar just like I wouldn't use Pegheds. I have used Peheds with steel strings on a dulcimer though and I use them regularly on some of my ukuleles. The lower weight keeps the instrument more balanced when you don't use a strap while playing. That's especially helpful on smaller ukuleles. You can get Pegheds with real ebony buttons if you don't like the look of the plastic.

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
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FWIW I didn't glue in the Peg Heads on my Flamenco.

Pegheds screw into tapered holes. So long as they are screwed in tightly and don't shift you would not need any glue.

There is a competing design that is different from Herrin's, which, from what I have heard, doesn't work as well. Pegheds use a small diameter but long helical gear on the end of the button that engages with the rest of the mechanism inside the shaft. The alternative has the gearing inside the buttons. There's not as much area of tooth engaged, so they're said to be more fragile.

Interesting. I have only put them in two instruments, but getting it just right with the tapered reamer where it's snug but you aren't cranking on it has eluded me. I have a set downstairs. Sounds like I need to practice on some scrap and then mark the reamer. Then again, I would need to make every peghead the same thickness, or near it, for that to work. I'll give it a test. Thanks for the info!

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You need to be careful with that idea of marking the reamer. On my last set, the diameter of the right hand threaded ones was different from that of the left hand threaded ones.

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com

I don't remember that being a problem, just get it close and it will screw right in. Of course the neck I used was Spanish Cedar, if it's maple then that might be more difficult. And of course make sure you get a high quality reamer