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What kind of performance should I expect from tuning pegs?
Tuning pegs, fine tuning
Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 Topic Rating: 5 (1 votes) 
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PopFiddle

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February 19, 2014 - 12:24 pm
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I've handled a few violins and now I am playing my own (viola) and one of the things I've noticed is how hard they are to tune precisely.  I've tried the lubricants made for tuning pegs, sparingly, and it doesn't seem to make much difference.  You are either a little flat or a little sharp and squeezing it into position for the right pitch seems impossible.

Is it just technique, or should I expect something a little less sticky in my tuning pegs? 

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Kevin M.
Nicholson, Pa
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February 19, 2014 - 1:19 pm
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Your pegs should turn smoothly in a perfect world but in reality they stick and bind or they slip. That is why we have fine tuners, get it close than fine tune.

 

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PopFiddle

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February 19, 2014 - 1:40 pm
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Kevin M. said
Your pegs should turn smoothly in a perfect world but in reality they stick and bind or they slip. That is why we have fine tuners, get it close than fine tune.

 I was watching the video review of the Fiddlerman Soloist violin and he made it a point to explain that the tuners were carefully set up.  He also mentioned that fine tuners were not usually used on higher end violins.  This suggests to me that either technique plays a role in working past sticky pegs, or it is possible to do something to the pegs to make them work smoother.

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Oliver
NC

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February 19, 2014 - 9:29 pm
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Fine tuners are often viewed as extraneous metal devices that can do nothing but upset the natural resonances of a violin.  Maybe that is true but I would never get thru a summer's humidity with swollen pegs without fine tuners.

 

When you come to a fork in the road, take it.

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Fiddlerman
Fort Lauderdale
February 24, 2014 - 7:58 pm
Member Since: September 26, 2010
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Two very good points.
1) Good experienced technique allows you to tune any violin with less effort
2) Better violins are usually set up with more precision, including the pegs and their accuracy for tuning.

I'm pretty sure that almost all smooth working pegs are dressed with Hill Peg compound.
http://fiddlershop.com/hill-pe.....pound.html

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

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