S_Heriger - Posted - 11/18/2012:  06:41:21

I found some earlier posts dealing with these pegs, but couldn't find one that did a direct comparison. 

I want to install geared tuning pegs on my main fiddle, which I'm going to start using in competitions. I've read reviews on both brands, and they tend to slant toward the Perfection pegs. I briefly owned a fiddle with Wittner pegs and felt they worked okay, but I didn't own it long and never had a chance to compare them directly. 

For those of you who have them, or those who sell and install them, I would love to hear your thoughts about which brand I should use. Based on reviews alone, I'm leaning toward Perfection/Knilling pegs. 

Thanks... 

richdissmore - Posted - 11/18/2012:  07:01:48

woodwiz likes perfection tuners i like them all so Diane G. husban in stalls wittner pegs and likes them i don,t know? i would ask them what they think witch may be best to use

musekatcher - Posted - 11/18/2012:  07:41:09

I gave some observations on both here:



fiddlehangout.com/archive/7887



There are pluses and minuses for both.  Another observation:  The Perfection peg button material is easier to buff than the Wittner Finetune material.  In the end, some instruments may benefit from the Wittner gearing and installation, although the materials and notchyness reveal their gearing.  The Perfections are easier to camoflauge. 

Edited by - musekatcher on 11/18/2012 07:47:59

Diane G - Posted - 11/18/2012:  08:22:47

Hi our shop out here in SoCal,,,near San Diego only uses the Wtitner Fine Tune Pegs. most of the professional violin shops here in San Diego and also up in LA are using Wittner's. They are easier to install and can be removed if you want to sell the violin and keep the pegs to re-install in your next violin. We started using the Perfection Pegs about 6-7 years ago and had difficulties with two sets...the D peg failed on one and I cannot remember the other failure. You have to be sure to spiral bush and buy the correct size of pegs for your pegbox holes. The Perfections thread in to the hole and so the pegs have to be installed correctly otherwise you'll be unwinding the string. My husband is a luthier, he does not feel that the materials on the ends of either peg are more difficult to cut and file (you need very sharp tools when working on stringed instruments. Any peg instillation is going to require some luthier knowledge of pegbox, pegs and bushings to have a well finished assembly. A tiny drop of crazy glue is recommended by this lutheir (although the instructions say otherwise), to secure them in the peg holes. I think the Wittner are the new generation of pegs and more professionals are going to this brand over the other. See this article.
I have Wittner's on 3 of the violins I play on...2 for orchestra and one for fiddlin". All three are vintage American violins.
Stay tuned. Diane in SoCal

EuzABETH PITCAIRN FITS WITTNER FINETUNE PEGS T() RED ...
elizabethpitcairn.com/p...ittner.pdf
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View

OTJunky - Posted - 11/18/2012:  10:46:12

quote:

---

Originally posted by S_Heriger

I found some earlier posts dealing with these pegs, but couldn't find one that did a direct comparison. 

I want to install geared tuning pegs on my main fiddle, which I'm going to start using in competitions. I've read reviews on both brands, and they tend to slant toward the Perfection pegs. I briefly owned a fiddle with Wittner pegs and felt they worked okay, but I didn't own it long and never had a chance to compare them directly. 

For those of you who have them, or those who sell and install them, I would love to hear your thoughts about which brand I should use. Based on reviews alone, I'm leaning toward Perfection/Knilling pegs. 

Thanks... 

---

FWIW, here's a link to a comparative review article from Seery Strings in CT.

seerystrings.com/geared%20peg%...view.html

Probably it's going to be that individual string shops like the pegs they sell - otherwise they wouldn't be selling them.

--OTJ

Andah1andah2 - Posted - 11/18/2012:  11:32:21

Gosh,  I'm thinking of these also and just don't know.  I'm looking forward to hear from the other in-house luthiers here.  My understanding is that the posts from a few years ago are obsolete now because modifications have been made to some pegs since then.  In a recent conversation with Woodwiz, my recollection was that he was using the perfections for a while but now prefers the Wittners but I could be wrong and don't want to put words in his mouth.  

I was thinking Wittners myself,  but its that rougher, clicky movement that folks speak of that is shying me away.  The P pegs sound like they are easier and smoother to move.  That's just what I found from my research, not first hand.

Edited by - Andah1andah2 on 11/18/2012 11:33:19

S_Heriger - Posted - 11/18/2012:  11:58:46

I'd also heard that changes had been made, which was why I wanted to hear some up-to-date feedback from people using or installing both brands in their latest incarnation. Thanks for you feedback, Diane G! Also, thanks OTJunky... that's one of the reviews I'd read earlier that favors the Perfections. 

Edited by - S_Heriger on 11/18/2012 11:59:38

Diane G - Posted - 11/18/2012:  12:34:54

I think both companies have had to make some changes to the turning mechanisms inside. They both turn smoothly, but you can feel a small "bump" when you tune sharper( UP) One of the other reasons that we like Wittner's is that the part that turns (to tune the pegs) is inside each of the peg heads of the peg where as the Perfections, the tuning mechanism is inside the barrel of the peg and they are 4 tiny gears and maybe that is what failed on the two sets we had to replace...we did replace them with Wittner's.
Read some of the reviews with an eye to who's selling them and who getting paid to review or use them. Buyer beware sort of thing. If major violin shops are using them then you know that they have to be top of the line. You might call violin shops in your area and them what they use and why! Did you google Wittner fine tune/Perfection pegs and look at the company's webpage for both...it could be educational for you. If you decide on either...I would spend the extra money to have a violin shop...not a music store...install them so they are trouble free.
Stay tuned. Diane

irfiddler - Posted - 11/18/2012:  15:12:16

Ask yourself what is your reason for wanting geared pegs. Easier to tune? Improved tone?

I had Wittners installed on two fiddles I use for crosstuning in the last 6 months and I am still getting used to them. I thought it would be easier to tune - but I don't find that it is and so far I am also finding they go out of tune a little more often than they used to when they had only fine tuners. It also takes me longer to change strings which is important if a string breaks when you are playing out. But I know some fiddlers who are thrilled with their geared pegs, so everyone has different experiences and I am still getting used to them.

Another decision to make is whether to keep your fine tuners if you do go ahead and make the change. I had new tailpieces without fine tuners installed at the same time and wish I had kept my fine tuners. I find I need both. Some say that the tone improves without fine tuners. Hard for me to say about that - one way or the other. Others on this forum will have more information about that.

By the way - good luck in your competitions if you decide to go that way - they are a great way to gain confidence and really make you focus. You learn so much just watching the other entrants too. Try to pal up with a good backup guitarist if you haven't already - they are worth their weight in gold and can make or break you! But then that's another subject....

KCFiddles - Posted - 11/18/2012:  15:33:00

I have been installing Perfection Pegs in all my better 5-strings for the last four years, but I have installed some Wittners lately, as well.  To me, it's a toss-up.  Each have strengths and weaknesses.

The earlier Wittners were bumpy, but the latest sets I've installed aren't, and feel pretty good. The heads on the Wittners are fat, compared to regular pegs, and I'm not yet convinced that the installation is as secure as Perfection Pegs, but it's maybe a little easier.

Perfection Pegs need to be installed to just the right depth to keep the inside step on the shaft flush with the pegbox wall, and you have to watch your threads. They tune great, turn smooth, and you can push them in or loosen them slightly to adjust how well they stick, just as you do regular pegs. The last 10 sets I got were polished better than they have been in the past so the heads don't have to be filed and buffed.

The only complaints I've heard about any of them are Diane G's and I suspect there may have been some error or misuse there.  I did have one customer who didn't like Perfection Pegs, but everyone else has loved them.

Bottom line: they both are good products and work well, IME, although I have MUCH more experience with Perfection Pegs. I was at a concert given by a customer who has been performing, rehearsing and recording full time for the last three years with one of my 5-strings, and the Perfection Pegs are working fine. That's an equivalent to 10 to 20 years amateur use.