An interest in working up more cross-tuned pieces has me thinking about replacing my fiddle’s tailpiece–switching to one with integrated fine tuners. (I’m using perlon strings, so I’ve been able to get away with only one fine tuner on the E string, but I’ve found that a lot of retuning will blow out the perlons in no time.I’ll want fine tuners with the new set of steel strings.) So, I know I need the tailpiece itself and the tailgut to fasten it to the end pin, and I’ll carefully check the position of my current tailpiece before I remove it. Anything else to be especially careful of when tackling this job, any tips? (I’ve replaced my bridge before, so I’m ok with getting that back into position.)
Please forgive what might seem like a silly question or wisecrack remark, but why do you have to replace the tailpiece? On two occasions I simply added three more fine tuners. They mount in the hole that anchors the string. My electric fiddle has an ‘integral fine tuner’ tailpiece, but it’s really just an ordinary one with four fine tuners already in place. Is there something different about your current tailpiece?
Also, if you’re talking about major retuning (like going from gdae to adad then back again), you’re better off replacing the tuning pegs with geared ones. (Of course, being better off is just my personal oppinion.) Perfection pegs look just like regular pegs but have a 4:1 planetary tuning ratio. Those and a full set of fine tuners (which then become a bit redundant but still nice) will let you change tuning configurations very quickly and accurately.
Thanks for the reply, Tim. I’ve used the kind of fine tuners you describe, but I’d like to go for the kind of integrated tailpiece/tuner combo that you can find at First Quality Music or Stewart Macdonald. My local repair guy just did a lovely job of setting up my son’s half-size with one of these, and I liked the aesthetics and the ease of use. Of course, I could have him do it on mine as well, but I like tinkering, and the parts were easy to find.
Adding fine tuners = adding mass = decreased response. The integrated tailpiece is a far better choice, IMO. A Wittner Ultra costs what, $12-15? For that cost, why not? I like Perfection Pegs better, but that is a much larger cost difference.
Be careful not to jostle the fiddle too much when the tension is all off. You don’t want to jar the soundpost out of place. I made sure to keep my fiddle flat the whole time so as not to give any extra motivation to the soundpost to move.
Plus add-on fine tuners reduce the total string length, may slightly increase the chances of higer-pitched sympathetic vibrations behind the bridge, and change the string angle between bridge and tailpiece. Anything that alters the geometry may affect the sound, and integrated tuners are less likely to do so.
Quite right. The afterlength is very important. I don’t recall the exact tuning, but IIRC the afterlength is 5 octaves higher than each corresponding string. Increases resonance etc.
One main reason I like Perfection Pegs: you will never run out of fine-tuner travel in the middle of a lesson.
One other thing to keep in mind, JS, is that any new tailgut will need to stretch a bit initially, like any other synthetic. This will obviously affect tuning, but also keep an eye on your bridge tilt.
The add-on tuners are said to be fine for steel strings but if you switch back to perlon strings either you take them off or accept that you probably wouldn’t be getting the best possible sound out of your strings.
Tuners integrated into the tail piece are said to not diminish the quality of sound with perlon strings.
When I had perlon strings I didn’t know what I was missing with the add-on tuners.
Long after I switched to steel strings I invested in a Wittner for the appearances.
If I was upgrading to a better fiddle I’d get one with Pegheds.
If you like cross tuning I imagine that’s a good enough excuse for someday investing in a second fiddle.
I found cross tuning to be pretty weird. Its like stepping into an alternate reality (until, I imagine, you get used to it).
I switch the tuning around all the time on my banjo (well, actually by the hour) but doing it on the fiddle makes my brain hurt.
Cool double stops though.
You do that stuff in all over Ireland Irish music, or just the stuff from the north?
So, there are others here using planetary pegs?
I’m kind of glad to hear that, as I’ve always wondered if it was a bit of a sacrilege that I got them installed.
(I must admit though, no one could keep the pegs from slipping in my old pegbox…it was a desperate situation.)
Still, I find that there’s a bit of a tendency even with the geared pegs for them to have snug points and loose points. Pretty much like this: If 12:00 and 6:00 are snug, 3:00 and 9:00 will be a little loose and tuning doesn’t quite want to hold at those points. Sometimes I overtighten a bit to let it slip back.
I wondering if this is something that can be tinkered with by the installer.
Perhaps it’s just the way you’re applying pressure. Pushing in on the geared pegs will increase friction and tension, akin to a standard peg, although not as pronounced. I found that this was necessary on my fiddle’s e string. At least when I had a fiddle with the Perfection Pegs.