Am I able to repair the pegs on my violin?

Question

A couple years ago, my cousin gave me her old violin that she never played, and it is for sure over fifty years old. When she found it, the pegs were really loose and they will not stay in their place at all. The violin itself is in pretty good condition, just a couple scratches here and there, and apart from the pegs, the only things that need replacing are the strings, which is not a big problem at all.

Is there any way I could get the pegs to stay in their position myself without having to pay a whole lot of money to replace them?

Answer 1

As Mark says, there are various products you can coat your pegs with to increase friction. Your local music shop will probably have something.

In the past I have even used rosin in an emergency but it will leave dust and mess over time.

Answer 2

As much as you can buy substances to increase the friction on the pegs or build them up, if they are really that loose then you're going to have a hard time getting them to work properly. Usually parts on instruments tend to be expensive (or cheap and adversely affect the sound quality), but with the case of pegs even good ones are relatively cheap (as far as violin parts go anyway!) and a new set can make a heck of a difference. So I wouldn't necessarily rule out just coughing up for a new set of pegs, it could save a lot of time and effort later (nothing worse than a string slipping hugely out of tune half way through a performance!)

However, I've often seen people have this trouble and the cause isn't the pegs themselves, but simply that they're not pushing them in enough. Pegs are tapered, with the end where the string goes thinnest, and the end where the handle is thickest. If the string is wound in such a way that the peg sticks out too far, it will inevitably slip.

Answer 3

Here's the trick I learned from an excellent violin maker many years ago.

If you are not comfortable changing strings, take your instrument to a violin shop and ask them to show you. They won't charge you and you'll save yourself the trouble of breaking stuff. If the pegs are too small for the holes, take it to the shop and get new pegs. There's an art to making them work right. (As a side note, some student-level pegs have a screw inside the peg that adjusts the tension. These instructions are NOT for that situation. If you see a screw in the peg and the pegs don't work right, go to the violin shop.)

If you are comfortable changing the strings: Take the string off the peg, take the peg out of the peg box. Use a regular graphite pencil (#2 or otherwise) and color the part that contacts the peg box. You should have a stripe around the peg close to the skinny end and one close to the wider side, but do not color the area where the string winds. Without putting the string back on, put the peg in its spot and turn it a few times. Use more graphite if it doesn't turn well. Ideally, a little firm pressure should move it smoothly and it should stay stuck when you let go. (If the peg falls out and you can't get it to stay with its own friction, take it to the violin shop and ask for help!) When it turns smoothly and stays put, you are ready to put the string back on and make some nice music!

I do this every time I change strings, or whenever the seasons change and the pegs get sticky or slippy. It works way better than peg dope. It got me through conservatory, a master's degree, and I've been a professional violinist for a long time.