I've been a professional cellist for 40 years and I've had mechanical pegs installed on all three of my very good cellos they've been on for eight years I love them I've never had one peg slip yet no matter winter summer fall or spring.
This video was so helpful! As a teacher, I’ve replaced numerous strings over the years, but this is the first time changing out strings since having Wittner pegs installed on my violin. Thanks so much!
Great presentation! Very informative!! I recently installed a set of Knilling Planetary pegs on one of my violins which I have enjoyed tremendously. However, I do believe the Wittner has a higher gear ratio thus eliminating the need for fine tuners and making it much easier to "tweak in" as you explained in this video. The Knillings work beautifully but I do find it a bit more challenging if I only need a fine adjustment. For my next project I think I'll go with the Wittners! Thanks so much for this!! Liked and Subscribed!
Excellent video on putting graphite on the nut when strings are off too. Some forget that. Excellent showing placement of strings on the peg! The first geared pegs I did I messed up by putting strings first on the furthest pegs. Doing so made it difficult to install on the G and E pegs. You did an excellent video on the proper way!
Great video, thanks! Excuse me does the wittner pegs have a line on the barrel of the pegs? Or on the pegs that reveal that it is plastic? Or they hasn't any line or something weird... And my other questions is... what happens with the tip that we will cut so that it does not protrude through the hole, it gets a different color or something like that? 😱 Thanks!!!
This is a great question and one I should do a video on. The ends of the pegs are cut to length and then, through a series of sanding and finishing with a file, the ends can be made to look like every other wood peg out there. The ones on this video were not cut by me and the client didn't want to bother with cleaning them up, but it can be done. I start with 320 sand paper then work through 600 and 1500. This often is plenty but if I really wan them looking just so, I'll then take a hand file and buff them just a touch to get the look I want. Easy to do and only takes a moment.
I would be concerned about removing all of the strings at the same time, such that the loss of tension on the top plate could loosen the sound post and if the wood is really dry, the sound post could fall over, which turns a rather quick job into a longer job. I'm sure you know what you are doing, but I would be a bit more conservative in my approach. Is that excessive wear on the fingerboard such that it could stand to be planed a bit? Is that a groove under the A string or just silver residue from a silver wound A string?
Yeah just like Geared pegs for Guitar & now more musicians are accepting them these days. In fact Baroque stringed instruments didn't have any fine tuners which allowed the top to vibrate more freely. So on the modern stringed instrument we can use Geared pegs so that we don't need fine tuners on that tailpiece just like in the baroque setup.
This is a great video, I watched because I am considering these tuners on my daughter's violin, and wanted to know what we're in for as far as changing strings. Peg winder and go in the right order and no issues- got it. Did have a wry laugh at the discussion of how long strings last, though. I remember fondly those days when she was 6 and I could get away with changing strings once or twice a year! At 11, she's going through a set at least every 2 to 3 months, sometimes more frequently- which does line up almost exactly with that 120-130 hours of playing, for her. (She's a fiddler/folk musician and prefers the sound and feel of Dominants, so not the most expensive strings out there but certainly not the cheapest. Big oof when she goes through phases of playing 4 hours a day and chopping hard on them and ends up getting barely a month out of a set of strings!)
I'm glad this was of some help to you. Be super proud of your young lady! It sounds like she is making great progress and developing a love for the instrument. Strings, though not cheap, are a lot cheaper than many other vices she could have! :)
@@repairmasterclass I've always said the most expensive part of homeschooling my kids was letting them decide to study music. The instruments have their own insurance policy now 🤣
4:52 So we'll recycle those old Flatwound Strings, time for some fresh ones. Yes Modern Strings for Bowed instruments are Flatwound. They were invented as early as 1874 & they were originally designed to replace the Gut Strings on bowed instruments cause 1) the Flat surface makes bowing the strings easier, & 2) they last many times as long which puts them at a lower more affordable price.
My Flamenco Guitar came with Wittner tuners installed, but they need to be replaced. The Luthier OVER-glued the threads into the headstock. I cannot get them to budge. I tried hesting them, torquring them, used a rubber mallet... I need to remove these, without damaging this expensive Flamenco Guitar. Please offer advice on this. Thanks.
Well, for starters, if they used glue at all, they installed them wrong. Sorry, that sucks. If they are glued in, let's hope they used only a Hide glue which cracks under pressure. If they used a wood glue...you've got an issue on your hands. I'd start with a dowel rod cut down to the size of the tuner. Place the dowel on the peg (where you wrap the strings, they'll come out down through the headstock) and then tap it with a mallet - canvas or raw hide mallet works best, plastic mallet will also work but no metal hammers here. If after a few taps of the mallet, at the pressure you'd knock on a door of an old person who can't hear well but no more than that, if the peg does not come out then I'd stop and find yourself a really good tech who can heat the headstock up safely to loosen whatever glue was used incorrectly...and that's possible but tricky. The safer bet may be to just drill out the peg if it's still stuck and start over. Good luck!
@@repairmasterclass Thank you... There's a metal washer, visible just underneath the top peg shaft. It appears to be positioned to prevent the bottom of the string-hole peg from being pushed / tapped downwards- at least, it appears that the washer has that purpose- as well as allowing the upper shaft to pivot. The plastic sleeve abutted against the metal washer was the "weak link" & that's where one broke. So, I just snapped a hardened steel bit. It bent, under the torque. I am going to try to tap the pegs through, with a mallet. Personally, I would have just kept the 1:1 ratio pegs- not that a 16:1 ratio isn't useful. So, this is a bit much.
Taking the fine tuners off is an option - one I prefer to do for a few reasons -but not everyone takes them off. When I install a set of Wittner pegs, I take the fine tuners off while the strings are already off the instrument to save time but, if you already have the Wittners in and the strings tuned up, just loosen them, remove the fine tuner and re-tune. Easy.
@@stevenj9970 Adjusting a bridge is as common as tuning. Your bridges moves every time you tune, it moves with every weather change. Keep in mind, the purpose of this video is to demonstrate the easiest way to restring these mechanical pegs; if you have wood pegs then other options are available, but you’ll still have to adjust your bridge. Want to learn how? Check out the courses I have available on line.
@@repairmasterclass As I mentioned I’m a professional musician. I have played in a symphony orchestra for 40 years here in Chicago. Your video seems to demonstrate how to change strings using the geared pegs, which is fine however a player would never take all the strings off and then have the bridge fall over because they would have to have it reset by a repair person-players would change one string at a time and then move onto the next string. Naturally the bridge moves around clearly that happens, and occasionally you need that adjusted but if you’re a player you simply wouldn’t take all of the strings off and chance the sound post falling over. A repair person might do that, yes.
I've been a professional cellist for 40 years and I've had mechanical pegs installed on all three of my very good cellos they've been on for eight years I love them I've never had one peg slip yet no matter winter summer fall or spring.
This video was so helpful! As a teacher, I’ve replaced numerous strings over the years, but this is the first time changing out strings since having Wittner pegs installed on my violin. Thanks so much!
You're welcome.
Great presentation! Very informative!! I recently installed a set of Knilling Planetary pegs on one of my violins which I have enjoyed tremendously. However, I do believe the Wittner has a higher gear ratio thus eliminating the need for fine tuners and making it much easier to "tweak in" as you explained in this video. The Knillings work beautifully but I do find it a bit more challenging if I only need a fine adjustment. For my next project I think I'll go with the Wittners! Thanks so much for this!! Liked and Subscribed!
Excellent video on putting graphite on the nut when strings are off too. Some forget that.
Excellent showing placement of strings on the peg!
The first geared pegs I did I messed up by putting strings first on the furthest pegs. Doing so made it difficult to install on the G and E pegs. You did an excellent video on the proper way!
I chg strings on my cello every year
Thank you so much! This video really helped me
D'addario Helicore Strings would be a good upgrade.
The Wittner stringing crank makes a difference because now all you have to do is turn the handle
The string winder really helps overcome that downside.
yes. it. does.
@@repairmasterclass That means all you have to do is turn the handle.
Great video, thanks!
Excuse me does the wittner pegs have a line on the barrel of the pegs? Or on the pegs that reveal that it is plastic?
Or they hasn't any line or something weird...
And my other questions is... what happens with the tip that we will cut so that it does not protrude through the hole, it gets a different color or something like that? 😱
Thanks!!!
This is a great question and one I should do a video on. The ends of the pegs are cut to length and then, through a series of sanding and finishing with a file, the ends can be made to look like every other wood peg out there. The ones on this video were not cut by me and the client didn't want to bother with cleaning them up, but it can be done. I start with 320 sand paper then work through 600 and 1500. This often is plenty but if I really wan them looking just so, I'll then take a hand file and buff them just a touch to get the look I want. Easy to do and only takes a moment.
@@repairmasterclass thanks for your answer! 😃 Blessings 🙌
I would be concerned about removing all of the strings at the same time, such that the loss of tension on the top plate could loosen the sound post and if the wood is really dry, the sound post could fall over, which turns a rather quick job into a longer job.
I'm sure you know what you are doing, but I would be a bit more conservative in my approach.
Is that excessive wear on the fingerboard such that it could stand to be planed a bit? Is that a groove under the A string or just silver residue from a silver wound A string?
Yeah just like Geared pegs for Guitar & now more musicians are accepting them these days. In fact Baroque stringed instruments didn't have any fine tuners which allowed the top to vibrate more freely. So on the modern stringed instrument we can use Geared pegs so that we don't need fine tuners on that tailpiece just like in the baroque setup.
❤
This is a great video, I watched because I am considering these tuners on my daughter's violin, and wanted to know what we're in for as far as changing strings. Peg winder and go in the right order and no issues- got it.
Did have a wry laugh at the discussion of how long strings last, though. I remember fondly those days when she was 6 and I could get away with changing strings once or twice a year! At 11, she's going through a set at least every 2 to 3 months, sometimes more frequently- which does line up almost exactly with that 120-130 hours of playing, for her. (She's a fiddler/folk musician and prefers the sound and feel of Dominants, so not the most expensive strings out there but certainly not the cheapest. Big oof when she goes through phases of playing 4 hours a day and chopping hard on them and ends up getting barely a month out of a set of strings!)
I'm glad this was of some help to you. Be super proud of your young lady! It sounds like she is making great progress and developing a love for the instrument. Strings, though not cheap, are a lot cheaper than many other vices she could have! :)
@@repairmasterclass
I've always said the most expensive part of homeschooling my kids was letting them decide to study music. The instruments have their own insurance policy now 🤣
@@roguejaina I 100% understand this comment! Our instruments can be expensive, but oh so worth it!
10:20 So here's the High E String & yes it's a Steel String.
a carbon fiber soundpost would help
4:52 So we'll recycle those old Flatwound Strings, time for some fresh ones. Yes Modern Strings for Bowed instruments are Flatwound. They were invented as early as 1874 & they were originally designed to replace the Gut Strings on bowed instruments cause 1) the Flat surface makes bowing the strings easier, & 2) they last many times as long which puts them at a lower more affordable price.
You know or can just cut it?
2:43 So yeah use a String winder cause all you now have to do is turn the handle.
My Flamenco Guitar came with Wittner tuners installed, but they need to be replaced. The Luthier OVER-glued the threads into the headstock. I cannot get them to budge. I tried hesting them, torquring them, used a rubber mallet... I need to remove these, without damaging this expensive Flamenco Guitar. Please offer advice on this. Thanks.
Well, for starters, if they used glue at all, they installed them wrong. Sorry, that sucks. If they are glued in, let's hope they used only a Hide glue which cracks under pressure. If they used a wood glue...you've got an issue on your hands. I'd start with a dowel rod cut down to the size of the tuner. Place the dowel on the peg (where you wrap the strings, they'll come out down through the headstock) and then tap it with a mallet - canvas or raw hide mallet works best, plastic mallet will also work but no metal hammers here. If after a few taps of the mallet, at the pressure you'd knock on a door of an old person who can't hear well but no more than that, if the peg does not come out then I'd stop and find yourself a really good tech who can heat the headstock up safely to loosen whatever glue was used incorrectly...and that's possible but tricky. The safer bet may be to just drill out the peg if it's still stuck and start over. Good luck!
@@repairmasterclass Thank you... There's a metal washer, visible just underneath the top peg shaft. It appears to be positioned to prevent the bottom of the string-hole peg from being pushed / tapped downwards- at least, it appears that the washer has that purpose- as well as allowing the upper shaft to pivot. The plastic sleeve abutted against the metal washer was the "weak link" & that's where one broke. So, I just snapped a hardened steel bit. It bent, under the torque. I am going to try to tap the pegs through, with a mallet. Personally, I would have just kept the 1:1 ratio pegs- not that a 16:1 ratio isn't useful. So, this is a bit much.
After I install the Wittner pegs should I just unscrew the little finetuners on the tail piece? Or should that be done before installing pegs?
Taking the fine tuners off is an option - one I prefer to do for a few reasons -but not everyone takes them off. When I install a set of Wittner pegs, I take the fine tuners off while the strings are already off the instrument to save time but, if you already have the Wittners in and the strings tuned up, just loosen them, remove the fine tuner and re-tune. Easy.
I've never seen anyone take all of the strings off to put on new strings as a player that's not advisable because the bridge will need to be reset...
@@stevenj9970 Adjusting a bridge is as common as tuning. Your bridges moves every time you tune, it moves with every weather change. Keep in mind, the purpose of this video is to demonstrate the easiest way to restring these mechanical pegs; if you have wood pegs then other options are available, but you’ll still have to adjust your bridge. Want to learn how? Check out the courses I have available on line.
@@repairmasterclass As I mentioned I’m a professional musician. I have played in a symphony orchestra for 40 years here in Chicago. Your video seems to demonstrate how to change strings using the geared pegs, which is fine however a player would never take all the strings off and then have the bridge fall over because they would have to have it reset by a repair person-players would change one string at a time and then move onto the next string. Naturally the bridge moves around clearly that happens, and occasionally you need that adjusted but if you’re a player you simply wouldn’t take all of the strings off and chance the sound post falling over. A repair person might do that, yes.
I think it’s graphite not carbon!🙏