Fine tuners or just pegs?

[onlyadream]

Which do you prefer to use?

I like fine tuners, partly because I don't have the experience of using just pegs with the fine tuner on E, and that it seems easier to be in tune. But I can't exactly judge yet.

[bryan]

Fine tuners are handy and make tuning easier but there is an amount of tone loss due to the extra weight on the tailpiece and string end. Once you get the knack of using just the pegs I think you will find them easy to use. There are also machined tuning pegs available but are bit more pricey.

[Fellow]

Most violinists use just one fine tuner on E.

I use built-in fine tuner tailpiece (Witner) and together with a e-tuner (quartz),clip-on kind. Fast and accurate.

I never like to have 4 fine turners on a violin from day one. /yuen/

[Karla]

as a beginner the ease of use is more important to me than the tone that is lost (almost negligable btw to me) in using them. I use 4 fine tuners in a built in tailpiece and see me doing that for quite some time.

[Gray Violiner]

I've gone without a fine tuner on the E string before, but it's living dangerously since it's so easy to explode an E string when tuning it using the peg. Price of strings what they are, I didn't go "tunerless" for very long, but I did like the sound without one.

[noahmyviolin]

I've got fine tuners on the A and E, because I can't wind my fingers around the pegs on the right side of the scroll. Also, I agree with Gray Violiner about exploding the E. I did that once on a brand new E string, and have never tried it since!

[redd]

I use a hill type fine tuner on just the E string. I currently have Obligatos on my violin and i probably only adjust them like once every few days. They are very stable once they break in.

[DR. S]

Get rid of the fine tuners all together and go with Knilling type geared pegs. I hope these overcome the stigma of "beginner equipment" and become mainstream, even for the professional they make tuning faster, easier, and more accurate. The multiple fine tuner arrangement (on strings other than the E) are always the sign of a beginner - kind of like training wheels on a bike. I am always amused when I see an advertisment where a group of instruments are shot to capture an air of culture and sophistication and the violin has four fine tuners and a cheap varnish job.

[Fellow]

I had a violin with Casper pegs years ago. It was a nightmare. I don't know the Knilling gear thing. I hope it won't work like Casper monstor.

Actually I manage quite well with just one fine tuner because I keep all four pegs in top working condition.

Four fine tuners on a violin,as you said, like having a training wheel on a bike. (no body says it better) /yuen/

[jmaj]

Quote:

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Get rid of the fine tuners all together and go with Knilling type geared pegs.

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I second that.

[rufviol]

Fine tuner on the E string, just pegs for the rest is pretty standard and not difficult to work with either, even for relative beginers.

Bottom line, it is difficult to tune strings that barely stretch, like the common steel E, without some sort of fine tuner at one end of the string, whether at the tail piece or peg, so wear eye protection if you insist on doing so

[bryan]

I still have Caspari pegs on my second violin. Mine came factory installed (in 1961) and they still work great. If you keep them at the proper tension they will not slip and turn firm yet smooth.

[Fellow]

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I still have Caspari pegs on my second violin. Mine came factory installed (in 1961)..........

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Hi,

As long as your Caspari's Pegs works well, then it is great. Mine (same,but incorrectly spelled it as Casper) was factory installed too. There was a brass screw in the middle of the peg no one knew what it was for and it was hard to turn (my teacher tried turn it)

even with a screw driver. In a short time the thread of the screw wore out (rounded) and the bushing fell apart. I took the violin to a luthier for repair and they suggested to buy a new violin (same suggestion as my teacher),no one in the shop knew anything of this kind of pegs. They did not learn this in hteir violin making schools, I guess. My violin of densed grain spruce top and of impressive maple flames back was trade with another less quality violin but of better tone?( talking about upgrading I was happy for a little while)?. /yuen/

[bryan]

Yuen, that's what I have heard about the other Casparis out there. I guess I got lucky and have a good set . . .

[Steve_W]

I like tailpieces with integrated fine tuners; currently using a Pusch, considering swapping it for a Bois d'Harmonie. I'd always used a single fine tuner but my current instrument came with the Pusch and I've found it useful in some situations, particularly in playing dance gigs when it has come in handy for making fine adjustments while somebody else is taking a solo. The Pusch is decent but I've been bothered by its difficulty in swapping out strings; I find the balls on some string brands work easier than others with it.

[bryan]

The Bois is a pretty big price jump from the Pusch. Are they worth the extra $$$?

[rudall]

How difficult is it to fit strings into the Pusch? A few minutes isn't bad if they are on there for six months. Which strings are easier/harder? Dominant, Tonica, Obligato for example?

Thanks.

Andrew

[mossmusic]

It depends what climate you are in!! I am a pro violinist. Seattle was fine for pegs, but now I live and perform in a subtropic warm/hot/humid climate. My first outdoor gig, my well adjusted pegs swelled up and stuck and I could not tune, my whole band waiting for me!

Now I have the wonderful, lovely, french carved wood Les Bois d'Harmonie tailpiece by Eric Fouilhe'-Luscombe with four very light weight carbon fiber fine tuners on all my instuments. Very pro, very classy, and very convenient!! I wouldn't be without!! Available in US via Johnson String Instrument in two styles, French or Hill, and choice of four woods. In fact, I have an extra french boxwood; if you want try one, email me.

[Steve_W]

Quote:

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How difficult is it to fit strings into the Pusch? A few minutes isn't bad if they are on there for six months. Which strings are easier/harder? Dominant, Tonica, Obligato for example?

Thanks.

Andrew

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Dominants are problematic; the A & D strings are very difficult to get seated correctly, because of the large balls and thick windings. Pirastro Tonicas and Eudoxas have slightly smaller ball ends and work fine. Haven't tried other brands (other than the Kaplan E, which also fits fine) but a friend who has a Pusch uses Zyex strings and she got frustrated enough with it that she just went back to a standard tailpiece. You're right; it's not a big problem if you're only worried about changing strings every few months but I'm more concerned about breaking a string in a performance situation where I don't have the time to mess with it. Hasn't happened yet, though! -Steve

[bryan]

Quote:

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It depends what climate you are in!! I am a pro violinist. Seattle was fine for pegs, but now I live and perform in a subtropic warm/hot/humid climate. My first outdoor gig, my well adjusted pegs swelled up and stuck and I could not tune, my whole band waiting for me!

Now I have the wonderful, lovely, french carved wood Les Bois d'Harmonie tailpiece by Eric Fouilhe'-Luscombe with four very light weight carbon fiber fine tuners on all my instuments. Very pro, very classy, and very convenient!! I wouldn't be without!! Available in US via Johnson String Instrument in two styles, French or Hill, and choice of four woods. In fact, I have an extra french boxwood; if you want try one, email me.

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Is the price difference between the Pusch and the Les Bois worth the jump? PM me about the price for the extra one you have:).

[MANFIO]

I met Michael Tree somedays ago (see my post in the Pegbox). He was using what seemed to be an Acusticus tailpiece with four built in fine tuners in his contemporary viola.

It's a question of taste. In the violins I make I use a Hill type fine tuner just in the E string. I use the same in my violas, on the A string.

I remember a young player, she was very good and had perfect pitch, she took 5 minutes to tune my (already tuned) violin!

[nebuch]

“The multiple fine tuner arrangement (on strings other than the E) are always the sign of a beginner…”

Not quite true.

A #2 German setup (tuners on the E and A) is quite common in Europe.

[bryan]

Quote:

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“The multiple fine tuner arrangement (on strings other than the E) are always the sign of a beginner…”

Not quite true.

A #2 German setup (tuners on the E and A) is quite common in Europe.

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I agree. The Jargar violin A string (steel core) is a very popular string among professional players.

[Andrew Victor]

Quote:

“The multiple fine tuner arrangement (on strings other than the E) are always the sign of a beginner…”

Not quite true.

A #2 German setup (tuners on the E and A) is quite common in Europe.

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True! If you've noticed, Anne Sophie Mutter uses the two-tuner setup.

I have recently (a few years ago) installed Bois d'Harmonie tailpieces on 5 of my violins and on one viola. I figured it was a gift I'd earned by age 67 when i would rather uses my fingers for playing than twisting sometimes reluctant pegs.

This is the one brand of tailpiece with integral fine tuners I have found that can allow retention of all the tonal quality I had without any fine tuners (but a Hill E tuner).

In spite of the visual beauty of the Pusch tailpieces I found their biggest disadvantages were not the difficulty of installing new strings, but (1) the nonlinearity of their tuning range and tendency for the easily bent plastic "tuning plates" to slip and (2) the way they deadened the tone of the violins (I tried them on) compared to either a standard tailpiece or a Bois d'Harmonie.

Andy

[ABC]

I agree with Andy, Bois is the best choice. If one day you want to go without fine tuner on a Bios, you can just unscrew the tuners and use it as an ordinary tailpiece.