Emmline, I am not familiar with the term “peghead”. I think that they are the metal tuning pegs that can be inserted into the regular taped holes in the pegbox. You adjust how hard the peg turns by tightening a screw on the end of the peg. Such pegs are not planetary (have no gears), such as are on guitars, mandolins, sring bases, etc., and don’t look as unconventional on a violin. Do I have that right?
Pegheads are just one label that planetary geared pegs are sold under. So yes, they are geared. I’m finding they go a little flat as they sit in the case, but at least it’s easy to bring them up.
That’s probably just the strings stretching a bit. Even used strings will take a bit to settle in again if they’ve been removed and put back on.
– for the curious.
OK, now I see! “Pegheds” are the same as the Knilling “Perfection Pegs” that we had been talking about from the beginning of this thread.
I didn’t see a picture of them before-they really are neat, since they do look like a real violin peg, and the installation seems to be fairly easy, especially for any shop with the tools.
And no fine tuners needed after installation. Pretty nice!
The pegheads appear to be a terrific idea. It looks exactly like a traditional wooden peg, but inside the peg there is a gearing mechanism that allows a 4 to 1 ratio, which means that you can more easily make fine adjustments with the tuning pegs. However, at $149 (violin) for four pegheads and requiring professional installation, they are expensive. And in contrast to planetary tuners that rely on the gear ratio to hold the tuning, pegheads still appear to be friction pegs, just like the standard ebony pegs. As long at the pegbox is in good shape and the fitting of the pegs has been done carefully, there shouldn’t be much slippage, except for humidity changes.
Actually, Doug, the installation involves some pretty permanent screwing and gluing. The man who installed mine only undertakes it when he has some uninterrupted quiet time, because there’s alteration to the peg holes and you don’t want to botch it. I think it’s like a tattoo–don’t get it unless you’re sure you want it.
Emmline, I was going by what it says at the peghead webpage. It mentions “quick and simple installation”…
"PEGHEDS™ have a brake mechanism with variable friction. Push in to increase resistance, pull out to decrease; exactly like a traditional wood peg.
PEGHEDS™ install in the scroll in a similar manner as traditional wood pegs, using a standard reamer. There are no disfiguring holes to drill. No screws are required for installation.
PEGHEDS™ can be removed easily and traditional pegs fitted in their place, if desired."
It has been some years since I have worked much with violin repair. I do have a standard reamer, as mentioned above, as well as a peg shaver to adjust and restore the taper of the pegs, if needed. I have fitted new pegs and refitted old pegs to newly reamed holes in peg boxes. However, Emmline, in trying to understand the installation process for the pegheads, I don’t see the need for any gluing and installation of screws. I mention this discrepancy because I might be interested in purchasing a peghead set for a personal violin, and I wanted to understand the installation process.
I’m just going by what Mr. Gailes’, who did mine, told me. Perhaps they don’t require such secure installation, but I have no doubt, where my fiddle is concerned, that anything that holds the pegs in place tightly is a good thing! I’m wondering whether, if a violin’s pegbox is well-mannered enough to keep its normal pegs in place, you would even want to bother with the geared ones.
I have read elsewhere, also, that they are commonly installed using glue. I wonder if the pegheads website is just trying not to scare people!
From what I remember reading on the Fiddle Forum, they said that they usually bushed the holes first with a doughnut of wood (supplied I believe), and then reamed the bushed holes to fit the new pegs. It may be that some will not require the bushing if the peg holes are not worn.
That’s right. My fiddle, despite being old, didn’t need bushings.
when i put such things on my banjo i was told the same sort of thing. "can do it yourself, an easy exchange with your current friction pegs. it actually took 75 minutes of a master luthier’s time to get it right.
meir
Please forgive my intrusion, but since I’m involved in both manufacturing and installing planetary pegs, I might be able to offer up a bit of information.
The peg do not actually come with any sort of bushing. In the event a peg hole is already larger than their diameter, one very successful approach is to put in a spiral bushing - much less complicated than a standard re-bushing. When the pegs are threaded into position, it actually reinforces the bushing. If the peg hole is a bit too small, then use of a standard peg hole reamer is all that’s needed to enlarge to the proper diameter.
A couple of points about gluing. We do recommend a very small bit of glue on the threads before final seating of the peg. This merely serves to give a bit of support to the seating of the peg. The glue we recommend is heat releasable, so in the event one might want to remove a peg, touching a soldering iron to the aluminum portion of the shank (between the pegbox and the peg’s head) transmits the heat, making it an easy manner to screw the peg back out of the hole. No damage should occur to the instrument.
A last note: our shop installs thousands of these planetary pegs per month, and each installation takes our staff members about 15 minutes. Granted, they’ve had quite a bit of practice, but one of the “secrets” is that their reamers are marked with the proper depth for installation, so there is very little trial and error in getting the proper initial fit. 
Thanks Gary. 'Twasn’t an intrusion at all.
Also, one quick clarification if I may: the installation time I quoted (15 minutes for our shop staff) is for the complete set of pegs, not for one.
emmline, I don’t think you need new pegs…especially if you have just had your fiddle worked on. I think you need a humidifier…one for the room you keep your fiddle in…I suspect, with it being winter and the heater on and the air dryer, your fiddle is in need of watering!
I have an old (1880-1900) Mittenwald fiddle as a 2nd…it hangs on the wall in my music room…I know when it gets too dry and I need to turn on the humidifier b/c the pegs let go their grip and strings start to fly.
I am a traditionalist, and do not like the planetary pegs.
Sunnybear, I have in many ways considered myself a traditionalist as well. But I confess to not completely understanding what it means in this instance. As regards the violin, by what criteria does a traditionalist decide what to consider or adopt, and what to reject? What are your particular criteria? 
Sunnybear–actually, that ship has sailed. I’ve got 'em and I’m very pleased to be able to tune my fiddle for the first time in…a long time. At least a couple luthiers worked on it, “fixed” it, but it still was possessed by an evil peg gremlin. (My viola, btw, which lives near the fiddle, has no such problems.) Anyway, some things just aren’t worth the hassle.
Gary, I suppose I meant that I like things the old way…not to say that the new is bad, it’s just what I prefer. I don’t want a carbon fiber violin or bow…I like the feel of wood…my main violin is about 100 yrs old…still sort of new, but somehow does not seem right to put a different peg on it…
Having said that , I am happy that emmline has sorted out the problem, and a solution is at hand. I in no way look down or tink less…if it resolves the frustration, and enables more playing time, then it’s all good.
I have never had the sort of problem that she describes, so possibly can’t relate.
emmline, I’m a chef by profession!
A chef! Yay!
To be honest, I like the feel of wood better too. Although my new pegs look normal, and I’m delighted to be able to count on tuning without major peg poppage, I keep the old pegs just to admire their woodiness.