Need Harmony Tuning Pegs for 1950's uke

BeachDog

BeachDog

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I'm restoring my father-in-law's 1950's Harmony uke. He passed away and this is the only thing I have of his. I need 2 tuning pegs like the one in the photo. I have new pegs that I bought on eBay but really want to keep it as close to original as possible. "Pop" was a kind man who worked as a photo engraver at the Daily News in NYC. He used to play uke and harmonica in a band with some friends. Since it was this uke that got me started playing, I'm really looking forward to playing it. String suggestions would also be welcomed. I have a new set of concert Hilos that I'll use unless somebody has a better suggestion. Thanks!
 
The Ping pegs from the Elderly link here:

http://elderly.com/accessories/items/UP26.htm

Might be the closest you'll come to finding something new that will work w/o much widening of the mounting holes; but do note that the "string end" of this is slightly taller than what is likely on the harmony. Another course of action that might work for you is to look for a cheaper "in need of repair" Harmony on ebay or similar that you could scavenge the tuners from to get as close as possible. Those tuners were used on a bunch of ukes from the period, you might even find some non-Harmony brand uke in a similar state to scavenge from... Aquila strings are probably your best bet to get a consistent sound out of it as "MM Stan" linked as to well.

Good luck in your pursuit & especially since part of your desire is to honor the memory of "Pop".
 
Gmoney said:
The Ping pegs from the Elderly link here:

http://elderly.com/accessories/items/UP26.htm

Might be the closest you'll come to finding something new that will work w/o much widening of the mounting holes; but do note that the "string end" of this is slightly taller than what is likely on the harmony. Another course of action that might work for you is to look for a cheaper "in need of repair" Harmony on ebay or similar that you could scavenge the tuners from to get as close as possible. Those tuners were used on a bunch of ukes from the period, you might even find some non-Harmony brand uke in a similar state to scavenge from... Aquila strings are probably your best bet to get a consistent sound out of it as "MM Stan" linked as to well.

Good luck in your pursuit & especially since part of your desire is to honor the memory of "Pop".
Click to expand...

The Pings look like what I already have. Thicker stem size. Thanks for the heads-up on the taller stem. And I do have my eye on a "needs work" Harmony on eBay. It'll cost me (barring any competing bids) $35. I could swap the pegs and put the newer one's on the "needs work" uke. Then I'd wind up with 2 ukes for the price of one. I'd like to have a loaner for our beginner uke jams at the park.
 
Just to add to Gmoney's suggestion that Ping's will work much better if you install them as those old Harmony tuners are pretty sketchy. To use the Ping tuners without altering your uke, one must change the washer that goes between the head of the tuner and the top of the headstock to a flat washer as the one that comes with the Ping's requires a countersink. A simple stainless steel flat washer will make it work perfectly.

I have those same Harmony tuners on a Silvertone (made by Harmony). They tended to bind if the screws were tight, but if I loosened them enough to turn smoothly, they slipped. I added a small brass flat washer between the plastic and the wood, and they now turn very smootly and don't slip. The washer is thin and smooth and it can't even be seen.
 
RyanMFT said:
Just to add to Gmoney's suggestion that Ping's will work much better if you install them as those old Harmony tuners are pretty sketchy. To use the Ping tuners without altering your uke, one must change the washer that goes between the head of the tuner and the top of the headstock to a flat washer as the one that comes with the Ping's requires a countersink. A simple stainless steel flat washer will make it work perfectly.

I have those same Harmony tuners on a Silvertone (made by Harmony). They tended to bind if the screws were tight, but if I loosened them enough to turn smoothly, they slipped. I added a small brass flat washer between the plastic and the wood, and they now turn very smootly and don't slip. The washer is thin and smooth and it can't even be seen.
Click to expand...

Pop's uke already has silver washers on 2 pegs. I thought that was standard equipment with the pegs. I put the A string on and the existing peg holds nicely so I'm hopeful that it'll play nicely when it's all done.
 
BeachDog said:
Pop's uke already has silver washers on 2 pegs. I thought that was standard equipment with the pegs. I put the A string on and the existing peg holds nicely so I'm hopeful that it'll play nicely when it's all done.
Click to expand...

And here I was thinking I was so clever with my solution! Looks like your father-in-law was way ahead of me. I don't think the washer between the plastic (on the back of the head of the uke) and the wood was standard, but I have been wrong before. Mine was plastic on wood.
 
On My Way

I'm hoping that the work will go smoothly. There's not much to do. I had to glue the back because it had separated slightly and I cleaned it up a bit. There's some kind of gunk on the front - don't know what it is but it sorta looks like tar - and it does come off with a bit of elbow grease. Thanks everyone for your help. I'll post photos when it's all done.

You know, what they say about uke players is so true, we're just the nicest people playing a happy instrument. :cool:
 
oh man, i don't know how old this is, but i sure could use a tuning peg for my 1950's harmony uke.

the shaft looks like aluminum (but must be steel), has a tiny screw in it, and the plastic tuner is not round, rather, angular, and stripped inside.

might you have one of THOSE laying around? if not, where would I find one? (I'd prefer to keep everything original looking)


guessing, I would say that the tuning peg is 1/8 inch thick, and 15/16ths inch long from the end of the threaded tuning peg, to the bottom of the "washer" that sets on the top of the uke head.

(I bet you understand exactly what I was saying, right?) Im upstate NY.

thanks buddy
 
even if I could only get the plastic key, it would help. (although, yes, I snapped the screw off INSIDE the tuning peg.)
 
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