Peghed Tuner Problem (again)

[TBB]

I posted a while ago about the problem I was having with the A string on my Pohaku not staying in tune. At the time I wasn’t sure whether the problem was the string or the tuner, well it’s definitely the tuner, and following a recent string change it’s got a lot worse.

Several people pointed out to me that the Pegheds are designed to be slightly pulled out / pushed in to decrease or increase the tension when you’re turning the tuners, and I am more than happy to acknowledge that this might still be user error on my part, but absolutely nothing I do seems to make any difference at all. The A string is determined to sit at Ab

Only that one tuner is problematic, although the one for the E string can be a wee bit temperamental at times, but could it be broken? I don’t really want to have to bother Peter Hurney, I’m not in the US and I’m not even sure how he can help. Also, lovely as he is, I haven’t found it particularly easy to contact him via email in the past.

My little Pohaku is almost unplayable at the moment and it’s one of my favourite ukes! Any ideas? Is it possible to sort of reset the Peghed somehow? Or should I just reconcile myself to detuning the whole thing by a semitone. LOL (although not really very lol )


PS Just to be clear, these are Peghed branded geared tuners, not old fashioned violin style friction tuners

 

[TBB]

Ok, I actually think the whole tuner unit is turning in the hole. What are the chances that I might be able to sort this out myself?

 

[John Colter]

As I understand it, Peghed tuners are threaded into the headstock and they are handed (R or L), so that the tension of the string is always tending to tighten the peg into the headstock. What you describe could be caused by a LH threaded peg being fitted where a RH thread is needed - or vice versa.

Or maybe the thread is stripped in the headstock, allowing the peg to be pulled out of tune by the tension of the string.

 

[TBB]

What you describe could be caused by a LH threaded peg being fitted where a RH thread is needed - or vice versa.

Urgh, that sounds horribly possible, thanks John. Looks like I need someone who knows what they’re doing (ie. not me) to look at it.

 

[John Colter]

Urgh, that sounds horribly possible, thanks John. Looks like I need someone who knows what they’re doing (ie. not me) to look at it.

If I lived a bit closer (or a lot!) I would offer to check it out myself. It ain't worth putting it in the post or making a five hour round trip by car from Bridgnorth, Shropshire. There must be somebody local to you who can give it the once over.

Best of luck,

JC

 

[Nickie]

I had Peghead planetary tuners on my ukulele. They sure looked nice, but I hated them, they wouldn't stay in tune, one was particularly bad at slipping. I took it to a luthier and had them replaced with Gotoh planetary tuners. The luthier had to DRILL THEM OUT OF THE HEADSTOCK!
I don't think I'd recommend trying this yourself, unless you're very handy with power tools.
Some fiddle players put them in their fiddles, but I never will.

 

[Neil_O]

Urgh, that sounds horribly possible, thanks John. Looks like I need someone who knows what they’re doing (ie. not me) to look at it.

Please excuse my idea if it is dumb. If the whole thing is turning then you should be able to remove it and look at the angle of the outside threading mechanism.

 

[John Colter]

I had Peghead planetary tuners on my ukulele. They sure looked nice, but I hated them, they wouldn't stay in tune, one was particularly bad at slipping. I took it to a luthier and had them replaced with Gotoh planetary tuners. The luthier had to DRILL THEM OUT OF THE HEADSTOCK!
I don't think I'd recommend trying this yourself, unless you're very handy with power tools.
Some fiddle players put them in their fiddles, but I never will.

I'm not doubting or dismissing your experience of Pegheds, Nickie, but in contrast I have fitted them to two of my ukes (I did the work myself) and they work perfectly. I even removed them from one uke and onto another with no problems at all.

Only the high cost deters me from putting them on more of my instruments.

 

[TerryM]

Urgh, that sounds horribly possible, thanks John. Looks like I need someone who knows what they’re doing (ie. not me) to look at it.

Here's a MyaMoe video showing Peghed installation and explaining left-hand vs. right-hand threading and how they're lightly glued in place (at least, by MyaMoe).



And one from Beansprout explaining adjustment, and commenting a couple of minutes in that when the threaded body section rotates, it needs to be reset into the headstock (and reglued, presumably).



Good luck. I think Peter would like to know what the problem turns out to be.

 

[EDW]

I had them on a couple of instruments years back and had no issues. I recall the luthier who installed mine said that he put a drop of glue on the threads so they won't turn in the headstock due to user error or some other problem

 

[TBB]

I had Peghead planetary tuners on my ukulele. They sure looked nice, but I hated them, they wouldn't stay in tune, one was particularly bad at slipping. I took it to a luthier and had them replaced with Gotoh planetary tuners. The luthier had to DRILL THEM OUT OF THE HEADSTOCK!
I don't think I'd recommend trying this yourself, unless you're very handy with power tools.
Some fiddle players put them in their fiddles, but I never will.

I love the look of them, but I’ve found them a lot fiddlier than any other tuner I’ve ever had - including some pretty ancient friction tuners! Obviously it’s not very fair of me to judge them on what looks to be a problem with how the tuner is fitted, rather than the tuner itself. And I definitely won’t be going anywhere near my ukulele with a drill!

 

[TBB]

Please excuse my idea if it is dumb. If the whole thing is turning then you should be able to remove it and look at the angle of the outside threading mechanism.

I don’t think it’s dumb at all. I did unscrew the whole thing earlier and I tried to work out if it was screwed in in the right direction, but I got completely confused about which way the strings wound round it and which way you turn it to tighten it and it ended up making my head hurt - so I just screwed it back in again

 

[TBB]

Here's a MyaMoe video showing Peghed installation and explaining left-hand vs. right-hand threading and how they're lightly glued in place (at least, by MyaMoe).



And one from Beansprout explaining adjustment, and commenting a couple of minutes in that when the threaded body section rotates, it needs to be reset into the headstock (and reglued, presumably).



Good luck. I think Peter would like to know what the problem turns out to be.

Thanks Terry, so nice to watch a video with Gordon, took me back! It’s a good explanation of how they’re fitted, as is the one from Aaron (which Mike $ posted when I had problems before) it was very useful, and pretty much confirms that I need a professional to do this job. I did email Peter, although as I said I don’t think there’s much he can do.

 

[TerryM]

Looking at the back of the headstock, the A string tuner should thread in (tighten) by rotating the body (not the button) in a clockwise way. If you've already taken it out, did it remove by turning the body counterclockwise? If so, it's the correctly threaded tuner, and you only need to remove it again, put a couple of drops of cyanoacrylate glue (Krazy Glue) on the threaded section and thread it in tight. (I say "only" having never done it, but I wouldn't be afraid to try it either.)

 

[Ludwig.]

Since Peter himself did a quite detailed step by step tutorial on how to install them I doubt he screwed up on yours.

TECH TIPS — Pohaku Ukulele

www.pohakuukulele.com

Anyway, I have Pegheds installed on quite a few of my ukuleles and the usability seem to differ quite a bit. Most work great, some cause kind of the same problems you are describing. Haven’t had the time to investigate; still too many working options around.

 

[Ukecaster]

Love the Peghed vintage look, and they usually work fine, if installed correctly, but still prefer UPTs by a wide margin. Pegheds have a bit of a learning curve, with the push/pull capability, while turning the buttons, much like real vintage wooden friction pegs. One time, when first using them, i pulled too hard, and the whole button came right off in my hand! The string stayed tuned to pitch, and I just placed the button back on to secure it. Lesson learned.

 

[ksiegel]

I have PegHeds in my Tenor Fluke, my Soprano Firefly, and both of my Donaldsons. I've had all but the Soprano Donaldson for between 10-11 years, and not an issue with the PegHeds.

I had GOTOH UPTs installed in my National, and they're fine... and the RISA Stick has GOTOH look-a-like tuners... the only planetary tuners I've ever thought aren't as good or better than friction tuners...

 

[ploverwing]

Since Peter himself did a quite detailed step by step tutorial on how to install them I doubt he screwed up on yours.

Likely not. But could there be a manufacturing flaw with this one tuner?

 

[TBB]

Since Peter himself did a quite detailed step by step tutorial on how to install them I doubt he screwed up on yours

I agree, and thanks to @TerryM ‘s post explaining which direction the tuner should screw back into the headstock I’m pretty sure this is just a case of the glue failing. Whether or not I’m brave enough* to glue it back in myself is a whole ‘nother matter.



*I’m not!

 

[DownUpDave]

Has your environment dried out at all. If the wood in the headstock is shrinking the fit or tightness on the tuner body could loosen. If that was the case then applying some water based glue could help. It can't hurt, just wipe off any excess with a damp cloth. Good luck