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alternatives to machine heads?

So I really like the idea of taking non-musical parts and making a musical instrument, or at the very least, making the part yourself. Using machine heads is sort of like cheating to me and sort of kills the spirit of "this something I threw together with crap I found in my garage."

Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by Jeff Foreman on May 31, 2016 at 10:09pm

Love this idea! On a side note regarding salt: I build wood core fiberglass boats and I find that salt from sailing, once it gets to the wood, draws lots of moisture from the air. During a phase of making some tobacco pipes I learned a trick for fixing loose tenons. Beeswax. With a good coat of it on the dowels (and probably also friction pegs) followed by a little back-and-forth to create friction - and thus, heat - the dowels or pegs should snug up nice and tight. I haven't had the opportunity to try this out for myself yet but I plan to. Just thought I'd contribute something I learned. It definitely works a treat on my pipes!

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Permalink Reply by dexter on April 17, 2018 at 3:50pm

Thanks for the post Ted. I like your idea. Pretty cool. I think I am going to try that.

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Permalink Reply by Order99 on October 13, 2011 at 4:29pm

Okay, now THAT is a nice set of tuners-and no shaving or reaming! Might have to try that when my 'almost-free' supply of mechanical ones runs low....

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Permalink Reply by Seaman Jay on October 13, 2011 at 10:59pm

@Ted - wow, that looks great! A bit like a medieval siege engine (a trebuchet I saw in Warwick,UK?)

It's very clean yet authentic. A master build, indeed.

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Permalink Reply by MichaelS Country Boy Guitars on October 14, 2011 at 2:20am

Marshall, I use guitar tuners because they work, tune easily and stay that way while I try to play. I have made wing nut and bolt tuners, they worked ok but not as well and the real cost of them if I had to buy the parts is more than a cheap tuning machine. I'm not using them because they are the easy way out, and I think they are a real option.

If you really want to do something different go to a mom and pop music store that carries unique instruments from around the globe and check out how they have done it. My local shop has many African and Asian instruments with very crude tuners, not much different from Teds. You may get some good ideas there. Good luck and have fun with it.

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Permalink Reply by Hayden A Butler on October 14, 2011 at 3:10am

On this one I had used a screw

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/tuning-machine-made-out-of-a-sc...

On this one two locking nuts and a bolt whith a hole in it where chosen - as seen faintly at the bottom

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/biddley-bow-1/prev?context=user

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Permalink Reply by Marshall Novak on October 14, 2011 at 3:05pm

That is awesome! Thanks!

Ted Crocker said:

I made one using dowels as a simple tuner. The screw at the base end pulls it tight to the headstock and it stays in tune. I sprinkled salt in the recess for friction.

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Permalink Reply by Bert the Welder on October 19, 2011 at 6:14am

I think what Marshall said has been misread. "is sort of like cheating to me". He hasn't made a generalizing statement. Just described his personal preference. :)

Ted: WOW! Those are awesome! And the use of salt is very trick!

One thing I find gets lost in the idea that factory/"professional" made instruments sound way better is why? Sound is one of the few things that is so much a personal taste. A beer can mic sounds like a beer can mic. If that's the sound you want then best to use a beer can mic. CBG's sound like CBG's. Why buy a $2000 Les Paul when you want a fence wire on a gas can sound?

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on October 22, 2011 at 5:27am

Bert,

No issues with Marshall's personal prefs; I think everyone is just doing the same thing back, expressing their preferences.

And lest we forget, the original Lester Pohlfuss was an inveterate tinkerer. The famed Log was a simple pine plank with two halves of an Epiphone soundbox glued to either side of it: almost a CBG ;-) Like any other endeavor that starts relatively simply, the application of lots of money can render things more beautiful in the eyes of many. Factory-made guitars sound good, and so do CBGs. The kewl thing is seeing both just plain folks and pro musicians pick up a CBG, and being amazed that anything that simple could sound that good.

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Permalink Reply by Yankee Dog on October 2, 2013 at 8:28am

me thinks you hit a sore spot there Mr. Novak. Personally I agree with you 100%. However I also agree with those that say it is just too hard and that machines just do the job too well. So I use them, with my eyes wide open.