Construction Of Wood Tuners So That They Stay In Tune?

[Metallion]

What if one were to do a tuner of wood like on a Cello or a Flamenco guitar, how do you do to prevent it from turning/reversing out of tune and still slide well enough for tuning?

[doug]

They need to be installed sideways so they can grip in two places along the shaft. The peg holes must be reamed to fit the finished taper of the peg. You will have to use that peg shaper tool to match the reamer taper. Just like on a violin, the pegs get loosened a bit for tuning then pushed in to keep them there.

Not sure why you want avoid modern the technology new tuners offer. It certainly is a time tested method so there's no reason to doubt it will work.

[Bryan316]

This gives me an idea... I wanna make tuners that look like great big hex bolts. Rusty, nasty, uuuugly, METAL!

[Mattia]

They need to be installed sideways so they can grip in two places along the shaft. The peg holes must be reamed to fit the finished taper of the peg. You will have to use that peg shaper tool to match the reamer taper. Just like on a violin, the pegs get loosened a bit for tuning then pushed in to keep them there.

Not sure why you want avoid modern the technology new tuners offer. It certainly is a time tested method so there's no reason to doubt it will work.

Uh, no, they really, really don't. Look at any number of baroque or romantic small guitars, or any modern flamenco, and you'll see friction fit pegs in solid headstocks. You need a tapered reamer to match the peg to the wood, and preferably a fairly tough, solid wooden peg (boxwood, ebony) slotting into a slightly softer wood that helps bind it in place.

This works reasonably well for gut or nylon strings (lower tension application), but if you want modern tuning stability with higher tension steel strings, just use traditional tuners, like doug says.

[TemjinStrife]

I have played cello for 14 years. Friction tuners are a *****. If I could easily change them for the geared type on my cello, I would.

[dpm99]

I have played cello for 14 years. Friction tuners are a *****. If I could easily change them for the geared type on my cello, I would.

Dude, you should build a cello.

[anderekel]

I have played cello for 14 years. Friction tuners are a *****. If I could easily change them for the geared type on my cello, I would.

Dude, you should build a cello.

That's exactly what I was thinkin'

[Bryan316]

A flying V cello.

You know you want to.

[akvguitars]

With a floyd rose!

Edited July 7, 2008 by akvguitars

[aidlook]

They need to be installed sideways so they can grip in two places along the shaft. The peg holes must be reamed to fit the finished taper of the peg. You will have to use that peg shaper tool to match the reamer taper. Just like on a violin, the pegs get loosened a bit for tuning then pushed in to keep them there.

Not sure why you want avoid modern the technology new tuners offer. It certainly is a time tested method so there's no reason to doubt it will work.

Uh, no, they really, really don't. Look at any number of baroque or romantic small guitars, or any modern flamenco, and you'll see friction fit pegs in solid headstocks. You need a tapered reamer to match the peg to the wood, and preferably a fairly tough, solid wooden peg (boxwood, ebony) slotting into a slightly softer wood that helps bind it in place.

This works reasonably well for gut or nylon strings (lower tension application), but if you want modern tuning stability with higher tension steel strings, just use traditional tuners, like doug says.

How come Nylon strings are lower tension? Nylon strings are usually a bit thicker, wich to me spontaneously makes it seems like it would need higher tension for the same pitch.

[Maiden69]

Sorry but flamenco guitars don't use those pegs, they use mechanical tuners.

[dpm99]

With a floyd rose!

You could work the trem with your left leg too! Women would fall at your feet for sure.

[borge]

They need to be installed sideways so they can grip in two places along the shaft. The peg holes must be reamed to fit the finished taper of the peg. You will have to use that peg shaper tool to match the reamer taper. Just like on a violin, the pegs get loosened a bit for tuning then pushed in to keep them there.

Not sure why you want avoid modern the technology new tuners offer. It certainly is a time tested method so there's no reason to doubt it will work.

Uh, no, they really, really don't. Look at any number of baroque or romantic small guitars, or any modern flamenco, and you'll see friction fit pegs in solid headstocks. You need a tapered reamer to match the peg to the wood, and preferably a fairly tough, solid wooden peg (boxwood, ebony) slotting into a slightly softer wood that helps bind it in place.

This works reasonably well for gut or nylon strings (lower tension application), but if you want modern tuning stability with higher tension steel strings, just use traditional tuners, like doug says.

How come Nylon strings are lower tension? Nylon strings are usually a bit thicker, wich to me spontaneously makes it seems like it would need higher tension for the same pitch.

lower mass

[Mattia]

Sorry but flamenco guitars don't use those pegs, they use mechanical tuners.

Modern ones do. Traditional ones do not. Google image search for 'flamenco tuning peg' for images.

Re: nylon, they're nylon (= plastic) cores or entire strings, which requires less tension to tune up than steel.

[Maiden69]

Sorry but flamenco guitars don't use those pegs, they use mechanical tuners.

Modern ones do. Traditional ones do not. Google image search for 'flamenco tuning peg' for images.

Re: nylon, they're nylon (= plastic) cores or entire strings, which requires less tension to tune up than steel.

I just googled it, first time I seen them in my life, and in PR you can hardly find a steel string, all the acoustic guitars sold are flamenco style. I wouldn't mess with those things even if they were the only ones available in the market.

[TemjinStrife]

A flying V cello.

You know you want to.

http://www.woodviolins.com/html/CobraCello.html

I really want to get a decent solidbody cello one of these days, but I don't trust my luthier skills enough to actually build one.