Chipped Pegs?

[Tristram]

I was putting on some new Jargar/superflexible strings, when the A-string peg would not stay tight. Every time I would tighten the peg it would slip, forcing me to rewind the string. I ordered some Hills peg compound, and used that.

Same problem.

I took the peg out to apply more compound when I saw it, a chunk of the peg was missing.

I hadn't noticed the piece missing before so I looked for a chunk of black wood, with no luck. So I guess that's why its not staying in place, but how could it happen?

And should I replace the peg, and how?

I've gotten the peg to stay in place a few notes below A.

[tiandao]

How much of the peg is acutally missing? Can you give a picture? A peg should still be able to hold since there are many points of contact even if a part of it was missing. Too much missing would be a problem though, like half of the left side.

Depending on what the peg is made of, the change of weather can have a great effect on the shape. Sometimes the wood swells/shrinks so much that is it put out of round and rendered useless until the weather gets better. Peg compound will not do much unless the peg is relatively round.

Also, there is a way to put on the peg compound. You cannot just slather it on as too much or too little will not work well. First clean off the peg as best you can (paper towel works well; scrub well with it). Also clean out the bushings. Apply an even layer of compound onto the peg where it will contact the pegbox walls. Insert peg into the hole and push with relative force while twisting the peg. The excess will squeeze out and the rest will fill the gaps between and give an effect hold. Keep turning until no more excess squeezes out. Obviously do not wind the string on the peg while twisting the peg. Clean off the excess that comes out and then wind up and tune up. If the peg is alright, then this method will give a good hold.

Hope this helps.

~Lucian

[Tristram]

I've used your advice, and the string is only a few notes below A and it has yet to slip. I'm waiting for the string to stretch before I tighten it anymore.

Also, I have PICTURES!
Note the beautiful hand of a Swedish model.

[tiandao]

Sorry for the late reply.

That chip is nothing big and the peg should hold quite fine. Tighten the string up to pitch and push the peg in tight so that it holds. The more you use the pegs the better they will hold as they will slowly compress to the right shape (unless they are competely out of round, but yours are fine).

Have you checked the string height to see it if it is too high? Sometimes that can cause unnecessarily high tensions, causing pegs to slip.

~Lucian

[Tristram]

I don't think its string height, because I compared my new strings with my old ones and they're the same. But now I have the instrument perfectly tuned and the A string hasn't budged in over a week so I think the peg is fine.

YaY