Installing Peghead tuners in a Flea

All: I don't think this is a "luthier" topic so am posting it here.

I'm replacing the "stock" tuners on my Flea with Pegheads. Has anyone done this themselves? I've looked at the instructions on the FleaMarket site, It sorta looks like I'll need to ream out the "stock" hole just a little (I did test fit one Peghead).

I really don't want this to turn into a friction tuner debate, thanks...

Steve

Hmmmm, no one, eh? I just might try and attempt this. If you see a discounted-price Flea for sale in the Marketplace you'll know it didn't work out...

Steve

I have the Pegheads on 2 of my fleas and they work great and look great!

You do have to ream out the original tuner holes. Go slow and check for fit after each pass with the drill. I do not believe that you need to push the drill bit all the way through though. Once you have the fit, reinforce with glue. Enjoy. I do not think you can damage a flea. My child has tried several times, but has failed to truly hurt it.

NerdicusMaximus said:

You do have to ream out the original tuner holes. Go slow and check for fit after each pass with the drill. I do not believe that you need to push the drill bit all the way through though. Once you have the fit, reinforce with glue. Enjoy.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. We'll see how this works out.

Steve

The job is done. One Firefly and one Flea now have Peghead tuners. I'm going to wait overnight to let the dab of glue set before I tune the ukes up.

The replacement was very easy to do, however I'll caution that =>very<= little material needs to be removed. I used a wood reaming tool from the local hardware store. I chose that over a similar sized drill bit since the Pegheads are tapered and so is the reamer. You do want a tapered, not uniform, hole.
And please, let's not let this degenerate with comments over that last sentence.

Test fit the Pegheads before and during the job. You want the barrel end to barely reach the inside of the headstock. Oh, and have I mentioned that *very* little material needs to be removed??? Again: Test fit. I found you should need to screw the Peghead tuner in that last little bit to get the Peghead to fully seat. Then back the tuner out, dab a bit of wood glue on the threads and reinstall. Remember: to screw the tuner in to seat it, it's Righty Tighty.

The slight downside I see is that the headstock is very slightly marred from the bushings using by the Grover (?) tuners originally installed. Suggestions for touching this up are appreciated. It's more noticeable on the walnut Firefly headstock (perhaps walnut veneer?).

I purchased the Pegheads here: http://www.pegheds.net/index.html. I consider the prices and service very reasonable. IIRC the vendor is an inmate here.

All disclaimers apply. Instructions apply only to Fleas & Flireflies (maybe Flukes, we won't talk about them), Use At Your Own Risk, YEMV, YMMV, YHME, etc.

Steve