Ed wrote: "I would put them on all my instruments, if I could afford to do
so."
So, what do they cost? I took a quick look at the Peghead website, but
didn't see any price information. Perhaps it is there somewhere, and I just
didn't look long enough or hard enough. I am interested because I am having
a new instrument built (which has already passed five due dates! When, oh
when, will it be ready?) and would be willing to consider them based on your
testimony, Ed.
-----Original Message-----
From: Edward Martin
Sent: Friday, August 17, 2012 12:23 AM
To: Ken Brodkey ; Lute List
Subject: [LUTE] Re: Mechanical Pegs
OK, Nancy asked me to jump in, so I will.
The first experience with these pegheds was on Dan Winheld's 8-course
lute. I really liked them, a lot.
Then, about a year ago, I took my first plunge with these gears
(pegheds). I had them installed on my 6-course vihuela, and they
immediately solved many, many problems. First off, baroque guitars
and vihuelas (probably renaissance guitars) have problems, in that
the traditional peg goes through only one hole, as opposed to two
holes for a lute. Therefore, the vihuela has a greater tendency to
slip. The pegheds remedied this problem, and I later decided, last
early spring, to have them installed on my 11-course lute. My
11-course baroque lute partner, Tom Walker, also has a lute that is
an exact match to mine, and he also has pegheds. So, I have
experience with 4 instruments in pegheds, (very limited with Dan
Winheld's 8-course, however). It improved my 11-course instrument
dramatically, with better tuning. This is especially important when
using gut, and all these instruments are entirely strung in gut.
By the way, Tom'sa lute was just 5 days old (!!) when he received it,
and we had a concert that night. The hall filled with people, and
the heat and humidity went up. The gut strings were so stable with
pegheds, that we had NO TUNING for the entire concert, with exception
of tuning diapasons to a different key!! That in itself is remarkable.
Plainly put, I love them. They are unbelievably smooth, as in a very
expensive guitar machine. They are adjustable in tension - as with a
traditional peg, push them in and they will be tighter, pull them
out, and looser. Whether in a tight or loose setting, they are
smooth. They never slip, never stick. This summer, with all the
humidity, I had no problems with stuck or slipping pegs.... they
stay, it pitch, where you put them. Speaking of tuning, they are
geared at 25% as compared to a peg. For example, if one wanted to
tune a half step sharp, one turns the gear 4 times further than when
using a traditional peg. That makes for much more accurate tuning,
as they will not skip too sharp, as compared to a traditional peg. I
find myself tuning more, but very much faster than before, and yes, I
tune sometimes while playing. Tuning with pegheds is actually a joy
now, as I can tune more accurately, and much faster. No more sore
fingers trying to turn stick pegs!!
We all know what it is like to adjust to a certain pitch... we play
around, get it where we want, let go, and it slips with traditional
pegs! Now, I have trust, so I can quickly adjust, without fear of
slipping; yes, I can no adjust tuning "on the fly" while playing.
As for weight, Dan Larson has on his web site, comparisons of the
weights of pegs vs. pegheds. Different types of wood make different
weights in pegs. Pegheds are , if my memory serves me correctly,
just 2 grams more, or so. I cannot distinguish any difference in the
weight of the neck or instrument, and the pegheds made, in my
opinion, no difference whatsoever in sound, other than sounding
better because I can now tune more accurately, therefore sounding
better. No, the 11-course lute does have any perception to added weight.
There are 2 drawbacks:
1. When changing a string, because the pegheds do not slip, one has
to un-wind the peghed to get the old string out. This is not a
problem, as the added time (perhaps 7-8 seconds) lost is nothing,
compared to the time saved in fast and accurate tuning.
2. For those that only want authenticity, pegheds were not used in
old times. Neither was nylgut, nylon, carbon, or perhaps wound
strings for that matter! Many people who saw them on my lute this
summer were fooled, into thinking they were ebony (they are not).
Thanks for asking..................I would put them on all my
instruments, if I could afford to do so.
At 12:45 PM 8/16/2012, Ken Brodkey wrote:
Has anyone tried the mechanical pegs made by Pegheds? I have a
customer who is interested in replacing his traditional pegs with
these. Any comments are much appreciated.
Thanks.
Ken
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Edward Martin
2817 East 2nd Street
Duluth, Minnesota 55812
e-mail: e...@gamutstrings.com
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