Tuning mechanisms for stringed instruments

Tuning pins are used on instruments where there is no space for a knob on each string, such as pianos and harps.

Some tuning pegs are ornamented with shell, metal, or plastic inlays, beads (pips) or rings.

The corresponding part of the lute family (including guitar, mandolin, banjo, ukulele) is called the headstock.

A properly working peg will turn easily and hold reliably, that is, it will neither stick nor slip.

19th century and earlier pegs, for use with stretchier gut strings, typically had an even steeper taper of 1:20.

Tapered pegs are also used on older European instruments, such as the Bulgarian gadulka and the hurdy-gurdy, as well as on flamenco guitars.

Manufactured varieties are generally sold in either a small stick (resembling lipstick), a block, or as a liquid in a bottle.

Tuning pegs that are well fitted and properly doped will both turn smoothly throughout an entire rotation and hold firmly wherever the player wishes.

Modern pianos use threaded pins, as do many harps, psaltries, dulcimers, zithers, and other instruments.

Fine tuners are used on the tailpiece of some stringed instruments, as a supplement to the tapered pegs at the other end.

[8] With the screw at the lower limit of its travel, the lever can come close enough to the instrument's top to pose a risk of scarring it.

[9] To avoid damage to the top, the screw may be turned out as far as it goes while still engaging the lever, and the string re-tuned using the peg.

[9] Fine tuners are common on cellos, but some violinists regard them as an aid for beginners who have not yet learned to tune precisely using pegs alone.

Geared pegs for violin family instruments also exist, although they have not gained wide use, which has to do with the extensive and irreversible physical modification that must be made to the peg box in order to mount them, which is often viewed as ruining the aesthetics of the instrument, combined with a bad reputation they acquired due to poorly designed early models that were prone to failure, often with catastrophically damaging results.