Perfection Planetary Pegs

Background

In past centuries, all stringed instruments had strings made from processed gut, and used wooden friction pegs for tuning. Over the years, new strings with higher tensions and a bigger, brighter sound have been developed. The higher tensions have caused the string bass, the guitar, and many other instruments to adopt geared mechanisms as a replacement for friction pegs. Although various alternatives to the friction peg were tried for the violin, viola and cello, for generations the temperamental friction peg has presented a frustrating challenge for players at every age and level of accomplishment. Despite various attempts and workarounds it appeared to be an intractable problem, and for many years a genuinely acceptable solution could not be found.

Finally, in the late 1990's, advances in materials and computerised design methods allowed the creation of the Perfection Planetary tuning pegs. At their heart is a precise, permanently sealed gear mechanism. The advantages of the Perfection pegs are numerous: they offer extraordinary ease in tuning, with phenomenal accuracy, an instrument-friendly installation, and life-long maintenance-free operation. Remarkably, they introduce no new problem or challenge.

Perfection pegs are available now.

Technical Information

The size, shape, weight and taper of the Perfection peg matches the ebony friction peg. Because of this, Perfection pegs retain the traditional appearance of the instrument. In fact, the most prominent indication of the use of Perfection pegs on an instrument is the absence of finetuners on the tailpiece.

In contrast to the wood-on-wood friction of the wooden peg, Perfection pegs rely on internal gears to bring each string to its desired tension and hold it securely in place. In operation, turning the head of a Perfection peg rotates the main gear (the central "sun" gear) which drives three smaller planet gears, that orbit between the sun gear and an outer ring gear. As the orbiting planet gears spin about the sun gear they force the peg shaft to rotate and take up the string. The shaft turns once for every four turns of the peg head. This four-to-one gear reduction gives the Perfection peg the precision to act as a finetuner. The gears are fashioned from the same tough steel alloy that is used for the shafts that drive the rotors on helicopters. The ring gear and shaft are made of aircraft grade aluminium. The working assembly is permanently sealed and lubricated with the same grease used in sealed microscope, telescope and binocular gear assemblies. The peg head is moulded from PBS polycarbonate, often used in car bumpers, while the other end of the shaft is Dupont Delrin. Perfection pegs will not spontaneously slip from a desired position, or stick in an undesired position. The hidden internal gears of the Perfection peg are unaffected by the changes in temperature and humidity that cause wooden pegs to shrink or swell.

The 4-to-1 gear reduction creates a mechanical advantage for the user, greatly reducing the strength and coordination required for successful tuning.

Instrument Safety

Installation of the Perfection peg does not harm the instrument and is fully reversible. No new holes are made when installing Perfection pegs. Trained luthiers possess all the skills and tools required for installation. The reamer used in preparing the peg box for Perfection pegs is exactly the same as that used for friction peg installation. The diameter of the Perfection peg is slightly greater than a new wooden peg, so their fitting does not generally require a rebushing of the peg holes.

Installation of the Perfection peg eliminates the main cause of pegbox damage - the wear of wood-on-wood friction and the cracks that can develop from jamming pegs into the peg holes.

Efficiency

Use of Perfection pegs in a classroom setting, particularly at the elementary and middle schools levels, reduces the time required for tuning and increases the time available for instruction. When the instruments of a young string orchestra have been equipped with Perfection pegs, the time taken by a teacher in tuning the group is vastly reduced. Incidents where cellos need large-scale string re-tensioning (often brought about by climatic changes in storage areas) are largely eliminated. Early arrival times for concerts, formerly required to allow for tuning, can be moderated. Most educators report time savings of 30% or more.

Students with Perfection peg-equipped instruments may be taught to fully tune their own instruments at a much earlier point in their learning, often years earlier. When trained, young students are able to tune without intervention or the need for adult assistance. This engenders the student with a greater sense of control and encourages regular practice, and therefore they progress more readily than students with friction peg equipped instruments. Spending on string instrument repairs associated with pegs and fine tuners, including damage to instruments from fine tuners, is dramatically reduced. Since incidents with friction pegs are a frequent cause of string breakage, expenditure on replacement strings due to such breakage is also reduced.

Availability

Perfection Planetary Pegs for violin, viola and cello, to fit instruments 1/2, 3/4 and full-size, are available through your luthier

Luthier supplies and enquiries, contact:
Twofold Media. 4 Eustace St. Blackburn VIC 3130. Australia
pegs@twofold.com.au
phone 03 9878 0716