Peghed tuners: bleah

Bevelsnob

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Peghed tuners

Hi all,

I own a nice Collings Tenor, and love the uke. But I find the Peghed tuners to be imprecise. In fact, I'm surprised Collings chose to use them. They're a nifty concept, with the gears hidden and all, but their accuracy leaves a lot to be desired IMO.

Am I the only one who doesn't like them?
I'm wondering if there's another better product on the market that I could replace these tuners with.

Ideas? Thoughts?

Thanks,
Scott
 
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I just recently encountered Pegheds for the first time on my DaSilva custom, and honestly, I LOVE them. LOVE!! I use an electronic tuner (my ear is not that sophisticated at this point) and this uke rarely even goes out of tune. I can't vouch for how accurate it is, but I think my uke instructor could, and he's never mentioned that I've been out of tune yet.
 
I apologize for going off topic, but dang, your uke is stunning!
 
I'm far from an expert but I feel the same as you. I have had one experience with them and didn't really care for them. They feel "cheap" because of the plastic and I didn't care for the 4:1 ratio, it's more difficult to be precise than a 14:1 tuner. I know the friction tuner "look" is what a lot of folks love, but I don't care for it. I can't vouch for how they stay in tune, but others do say they do that well.
 
I owned a ukulele with Pegheads, and mine stayed in tune, but despite the many who love then, I found them ugly, disproporionately long ooking, frail (if uke slides onto them, they'll break) and they look cheap on an expensive ukulele. That's my take.

Gotoh has the new planetary geared friction style tuners and there's a couple threads on em on UU now. I'll be getting those, without question.
 
My Donaldson has Peheads and while not as precise as 14:1 geared tuners, I think they're more precise and easier than peg tuners I believe they are designed to replace. Until I learned how to properly tighten them, they didn't stay in tune. I've thought about putting them on my Flea even though they are almost the same price as what I paid used for the Flea. That being said, my Koaloha has quality peg tuners that I find relatively easy to tune and it stays in tune.
 
I'm far from an expert but I feel the same as you. I have had one experience with them and didn't really care for them. They feel "cheap" because of the plastic and I didn't care for the 4:1 ratio, it's more difficult to be precise than a 14:1 tuner. I know the friction tuner "look" is what a lot of folks love, but I don't care for it. I can't vouch for how they stay in tune, but others do say they do that well.

I love mine, best tuners I have ever used. yes I agree they are a little fast on getting up or down, but I have had better luck with them over any geared tuner. I love how lite they are (Actually weigh less than most friction tuners). Now the cheap buttons issue; mine are ebony, and they can be made out of almost any wood. Check this site out
http://www.pegheds.net/peghed-picturesdetails.html
pegheds_ebony_button.gif

To each their own. this is my 2 cents.
 
Oh golly, you mean I could have opted for real wood Pegheads instead of plastic? Huh, didn't know... filing this info away for the next custom :)
 
Yeah...wood buttons would make them maybe tolerable - I can't stand the plasticky look of the ones I've seen. They look like those tuners on plastic TV Pal ukes... :)

Seriously, I love friction tuners and don't understand all the fuss about having gears. Once you get used to them good friction tuners are no less accurate and no more difficult to use than geared tuners. And, when it comes time to change strings, give me friction tuners every time - even with a string winder geared tuners are annoying to change strings on.

John
 
I have five Collings ukes and love the tuners. I have had no problem with them.Specs and Options: Collings Geared Ukulele Tuners by Pegheds



Featured on Collings Ukes, these new tuners are incredible, once you understand how they work. At first glance, they appear to be standard friction tuners... beneath the surface, however, they are very technologically advanced, with* a patented planetary gear system providing legendary smoothness and precision.

The 4:1 gear reduction allows strings to be tuned more easily and accurately than traditional wood pegs (or Caspari-type mechanisms which require screw drivers or special keys). Tune confidently and securely with the left hand while playing open strings; even during performance!* PEGHEDS tuners return the fine-tuning function to pegs. Strings slide more freely over the smooth, wide nut than over the comparatively sharp edge of the bridge, where stress is concentrated and equilibrium of tension on either side is more difficult to achieve.

PEGHEDS* have a brake mechanism with variable friction. Push in to increase resistance, pull out to decrease; exactly like a traditional wood peg.
 
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I love the pegheads on my Sailor brand, they stay in tune, are easy to use and I think that they look great. I would recommend them to anyone considering them.
 
I've never had them. My top priority for tuners is accuracy. I don't care so much about looks. If they made 200 to 1 ratio tuners, I'd probably get them. But some people want the look of the old fashioned peg tuners and the Pegheds offer a very good compromise. Better accuracy than old standards and vintage looks. I can understand the people who love them so much.
As to the length of them, I understand they are now making shorter ones specifically for small instruments like ukuleles.
 
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I love them...When I first started playing the uke, I cared so much about intonation that I was constantly checking it. As I got better, I'm not as concerned and I don't need the 18 to 1 gear ratio. I realized that the note can change by how hard I press it, accidentally bending the note, etc. Now I enjoy the uke more than ever as I just play!!

If you really care about being in tune, you wouldn't use a Snark but one that is much more precise.
 
I've got Pegheds on my Fluke and Firefly banjo uke.

They will be on an upcoming custom uke, as well.

I was amazed by how well they work, and the precision and accuracy.

I've got some geared tuners that are great,and some that are "meh". I've got 5-ster planetary tuners on my 5-string (One of which won't hold tight after 25-30 years Doesn't anything last? [haven't called StewMac about it yet, however.]) Keeping in mind that your mileage may vary, I find the PegHeds the best bang for my buck, and intend to stay with them for the long run.

I haven't really been able to get the hang of too many friction tuners as of yet, but have no doubt that if/when I do, I'll be happy with them as well.


-Kurt​
 
I have five Collings ukes and love the tuners. I have had no problem with them.Specs and Options: Collings Geared Ukulele Tuners by Pegheds



Featured on Collings Ukes, these new tuners are incredible, once you understand how they work. At first glance, they appear to be standard friction tuners... beneath the surface, however, they are very technologically advanced, with* a patented planetary gear system providing legendary smoothness and precision.

The 4:1 gear reduction allows strings to be tuned more easily and accurately than traditional wood pegs (or Caspari-type mechanisms which require screw drivers or special keys). Tune confidently and securely with the left hand while playing open strings; even during performance!* PEGHEDS tuners return the fine-tuning function to pegs. Strings slide more freely over the smooth, wide nut than over the comparatively sharp edge of the bridge, where stress is concentrated and equilibrium of tension on either side is more difficult to achieve.

PEGHEDS* have a brake mechanism with variable friction. Push in to increase resistance, pull out to decrease; exactly like a traditional wood peg.

This. I love the tuners on Collings ukes. Best I have encountered.
 
I will always choose pegheads if given the chance. I have them on two ukes and love them. My William King has very nice gotoh sg381 tuners. I think they are 16:1. They are incredibly smooth and look nice on a oversized tenor, but I'd choose the lighter pegheads next time.
 
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