Planetary pegs?

[emmline]

That's right. My fiddle, despite being old, didn't need bushings.

[piperdoc]

when i put such things on my banjo i was told the same sort of thing. "can do it yourself, an easy exchange with your current friction pegs. it actually took 75 minutes of a master luthier's time to get it right.

meir

[Gary B]

Please forgive my intrusion, but since I'm involved in both manufacturing and installing planetary pegs, I might be able to offer up a bit of information.

The peg do not actually come with any sort of bushing. In the event a peg hole is already larger than their diameter, one very successful approach is to put in a spiral bushing - much less complicated than a standard re-bushing. When the pegs are threaded into position, it actually reinforces the bushing. If the peg hole is a bit too small, then use of a standard peg hole reamer is all that's needed to enlarge to the proper diameter.

A couple of points about gluing. We do recommend a very small bit of glue on the threads before final seating of the peg. This merely serves to give a bit of support to the seating of the peg. The glue we recommend is heat releasable, so in the event one might want to remove a peg, touching a soldering iron to the aluminum portion of the shank (between the pegbox and the peg's head) transmits the heat, making it an easy manner to screw the peg back out of the hole. No damage should occur to the instrument.

A last note: our shop installs thousands of these planetary pegs per month, and each installation takes our staff members about 15 minutes. Granted, they've had quite a bit of practice, but one of the "secrets" is that their reamers are marked with the proper depth for installation, so there is very little trial and error in getting the proper initial fit.

[emmline]

Thanks Gary. 'Twasn't an intrusion at all.

[Gary B]

Also, one quick clarification if I may: the installation time I quoted (15 minutes for our shop staff) is for the complete set of pegs, not for one.

[Sunnybear]

emmline, I don't think you need new pegs...especially if you have just had your fiddle worked on. I think you need a humidifier...one for the room you keep your fiddle in...I suspect, with it being winter and the heater on and the air dryer, your fiddle is in need of watering!

I have an old (1880-1900) Mittenwald fiddle as a 2nd...it hangs on the wall in my music room...I know when it gets too dry and I need to turn on the humidifier b/c the pegs let go their grip and strings start to fly.

I am a traditionalist, and do not like the planetary pegs.

[Gary B]

Sunnybear, I have in many ways considered myself a traditionalist as well. But I confess to not completely understanding what it means in this instance. As regards the violin, by what criteria does a traditionalist decide what to consider or adopt, and what to reject? What are your particular criteria?

[emmline]

Sunnybear--actually, that ship has sailed. I've got 'em and I'm very pleased to be able to tune my fiddle for the first time in...a long time. At least a couple luthiers worked on it, "fixed" it, but it still was possessed by an evil peg gremlin. (My viola, btw, which lives near the fiddle, has no such problems.) Anyway, some things just aren't worth the hassle.

[Sunnybear]

Gary, I suppose I meant that I like things the old way...not to say that the new is bad, it's just what I prefer. I don't want a carbon fiber violin or bow...I like the feel of wood...my main violin is about 100 yrs old...still sort of new, but somehow does not seem right to put a different peg on it...

Having said that , I am happy that emmline has sorted out the problem, and a solution is at hand. I in no way look down or tink less...if it resolves the frustration, and enables more playing time, then it's all good.

I have never had the sort of problem that she describes, so possibly can't relate.

emmline, I'm a chef by profession!

[emmline]

A chef! Yay!
To be honest, I like the feel of wood better too. Although my new pegs look normal, and I'm delighted to be able to count on tuning without major peg poppage, I keep the old pegs just to admire their woodiness.

[Martin Milner]

I am a traditionalist, and do not like the planetary pegs.

I assume you don't use a shoulder rest, chinrest or fine tuners either, Sunnybear? These are all modern additions to the world of the violin and thus are not traditional.

Come to think of it, presumably you don't play in concert pitch either, and that's also a 20th century invention.

Joking aside, where does one draw the line at what is and isn't traditional? If fiddles start being manufactured with planetary pegs pre-installed, in 50-100 years time will these be considered traditional?

[emmline]

Now you've done it MarMil...You've gone and invoked the whole where do we draw the line tradition question which often sparks great flaming battles in the ITM world.

[Sunnybear]

MarMil, shoulder rests, chin rests and fine tuners have been around for a while...I used a poor word when I said "traditionalist", in a sense...

I am not the one to decide what is traditional for other people.

....and yes I do use a shoulder rest, sometimes use gut wound strings when I want to deal with tehm, and really like A440 quite a bit.

[Martin Milner]

MarMil, shoulder rests, chin rests and fine tuners have been around for a while...I used a poor word when I said "traditionalist", in a sense...

I am not the one to decide what is traditional for other people.

....and yes I do use a shoulder rest, sometimes use gut wound strings when I want to deal with them, and really like A440 quite a bit.

I'd like to try gut sometime, but strings are so expensive in the UK. I'm in the US in a couple of weeks, so I might try to pick up some strings while I'm there.

I'm not going to rush out to get planetarised, but if I had the peg problems Emmline has had, I'd be thinking hard about it. Happily my instruments (mostly Gligas) have been fine with pegs & built in fine tuners.

I confess I'm fairly traditionalist too, I like the wood, and would not like to have a carbon fibre fiddle or bow!

[Jay-eye]

Well, mainly it was just that the one I had--the one my sister had many years ago--was higher than average, and seated in such a way that it didn't fit me.
The one I have now is of the standard black wood variety (don't have a brand name, sorry,) sits lower, and has the little tail extension that crosses over the tailpiece of the violin.

They seem to refer to that one as a 'Guarneri', I think. I went for that sort too - very comfortable, with a lot of lattitude for not always putting your chin in the same place if you don't want to!

(Must change that avatar!)