WITTNER ZW 916-Violin 4/4-3/4, 0.34'' Fine-Tune-Peg for Violin 4/4-3/4, 0.34'' 8.6mm

I absolutely love Wittner products for my all of my string instruments. My general rule for me and my family's instruments: if Wittner makes a product for it, then I almost always purchase it. My wife plays a cello. Wittner fine-tune pegs and the classic ultra-composite tailpiece on it. For my son's violin: wittner fine-tune pegs, the plastic composite chin rest, izny shoulder rest, classic composite tailpiece......same with my viola. For my viola, I'm waiting on Wittner to manufacture and release their classic, ultra-composite viola tailpiece sometime in the spring/summer of 2016. I will certainly be purchasing it and getting it on my viola this year. Old, vintage, antique, old-school ebony and wood certainly has their place in the string music world. I'm just a huge fan of trying to incorporate a little bit of modern materials and engineering into everyday life. The Wittner fine-tune pegs are fantastic. I have never had any issues with any of them failing (and I own six sets). The most difficult part is (a) ensuring you order the right size/diameter and (b) not over-boring the peg holes. I don't even bother cutting or trimming the pegs after I've installed them....it's simply cosmetic. Actually, having the pegs extend slightly past the walls of the scroll gives each of my instruments a unique, one-of-kind look (something I have found very handy when someone else picked up my instrument). Be conservative and take your time on boring the peg holes (if you need to at all).....then push the Wittner pegs in, re-lace your strings accordingly and off you go. I also own the matching or corresponding Wittner fine-tune pegs winder (about $5). You only use this winder tool twice. It's a small plastic tool/sleeve that fits over your pegs and allows you to wind/turn your fine-tune pegs very quickly when you initially lace up your strings. Since the ratio is about 9:1, it's going to take you a little longer to tighten up your strings.....then it's easy to use the same winder tool again when you need to quickly unwind and loosen your strings when removing them. Once the Wittner fine-tune pegs are properly installed, they work so effortlessly. You simply just turn the peg head like a racket wrench just a 1/8 or 1/4 or 1/2 turn at a time until the string comes into tune. I do have a fine tune adjuster just on my E (violins) and A strings (violas and cellos). I have never had any of them slip or strip for have the gear mechanism fail. In fact once the peg holes are bored correctly and the Wittner fine-tune pegs are pushed in correctly, they are nice and firm and tight. I have never even had to replace them (or think about them) again. I find it very refreshing to purchase a product just once and know that it is so consistent and so great, that I find myself completely forgetting about it and take it for granted. I have no idea if using composite pegs changes the sound of the instruments or not because I always put Wittner fine-tune pegs, chin rests, tailpieces and izny shoulder rests on all of my instruments when I purchase them and re-build them. I would rather start with Wittner products as a base (because his products are so great). To change the sound/characteristics of my instruments, I would then change the bow or the bridge or the strings. The Wittner products are absolutely worth the price because it's a one-time purchase. The other great feature is these fine-tune pegs make it soooo much easier for my son to self-tune his own 1/4 size and 1/2 size violins because the peg heads require do not require a lot of torque to turn and adjust. (same goes with my wife and her cello). As you can see from my photo, I did not bother to trim the excess peg that extends beyond the scroll wall. This does not affect tone, stability or performance. It saved a lot of time and (to me) creates a very unique look to my instruments...especially if they go missing.

These pegs work exactly as described. If you plan to install them yourself I strongly recommend the video from a UK company called The String Zone (thestringzone). For one thing, it will help you decide whether to buy the "slim" or "fat" version of the pegs. I also found it helpful to make a practice model of a violin peg box. For my older violin I chose the "fat" (8.6mm) pegs. I drilled 9/32" holes in my maple practice model and then reamed each hole to fit a Wittner peg as described in the video. In my practice session I was able to identify and mark off a "danger zone" on the reamer... which was a great comfort when I went to work on my live violin! You must use a reamer with an exact 1:30 taper. I'm very pleased with the result.

These are excellent replacement pegs for a violin as, once installed, they do not slip. I highly recommend them for any violin upgrade.

Work wonderfully. Hard to figure out which size I needed. 7.6 worked well on newer Chinese violin. Needed 8.6 on older student violin because of peghole wear. Followed directions to ream out slowly and they fit and function perfectly

There have been few technological advancements in the traditional violin. This is def the biggest behind modem strings.I've tried both these and the knilling brand. Wittner nails it of course like always. The knillings thread in and you have to pay close attention to the thread patterns on each peg so should you tighten a string, it will turn the mounting threads in a tightening direction. Mix those up and you will be unscrewing your pegs when you tighten the strings.These mount like traditional pegs IE, held in place by the torsional force of the peg hole versus threaded in.If you have an older violin, don't expect these to fit without bushing the peg holes. Mine is a 200yr old Hopf so the holes were enlarged but, pre tapered bushings are easily found in eee bayy and the job, for a luthier isn't that difficult.I do highly recommend using a luthier though. Simple things can go horribly wrong like cracking your peg box if you aren't using and trained on using the proper tools.The big advantage besides ease, is this let's you take the file tuners off the tail piece and anyone knows, lighter weight equals greater volume.I highly recommend these if you couldn't tell already. They hold great, Mount easily, and decrease the weight of your tail piece.They take nothing away from your violin and add only good things. 100% win

First. I'm a novice with not so expensive but very fine fiddles. And retired with much more time on my hands.So these are designed so that it is impossible to install them on the wrong side of the peg box. Some have clockwise and counter-clockwise "tread/ridges" on the body to hold them from spinning in the holes but the ridges on these pegs are straight lengthwise so which side they are installed on is not a factor.What is important is to note where the rotating portion of this geared peg aligns in relation to the string groove on the nut. I learned this the hard way. The rotating portion of my E-string peg was offset to the left or G-string side of the box. So there was a pretty drastic angle to get to the E-string groove of the nut so that when I did attempt to make it work the angle was drastic enough to pull the peg to the right and out. So the original peg is back instead of a geared E-string peg. The good news. My Stainer rescue fiddle now has a geared G-string peg (great for D-tunes).So if you are a normal person you might want to have a luthier install them.

these were too big for our violin.

These are not cheap, so follow the directions carefully to avoid damaging them. Once installed, they work flawlessly. Don't forget to but a reamer to cut the tuning box holes to fit properly.