At Ramírez Guitars we are going to tell you about the Peghead pegs, which imitate traditional wooden pegs. This way, we keep the aesthetics, but we get the precision of a mechanical headmachine.
Discover the characteristics of the Peghead pegs, which we have introduced in some of our models such as the Tablao Guitar!
Wooden pegs
Guitars used to have wooden pegs, but they were replaced with the arrival of the mechanical headmachine, which is much more precise, causes fewer tuning problems and is easier to use.
A few guitarists still like them, but they are the minority. Normally, when they see this type of peg they run away and want nothing to do with the guitar, because it is more cumbersome and can give you the odd unpleasant surprise in a live performance.
Mechanical headmachine
Some headmachine makers realised that wooden pegs looked very good, so they created headmachines with the look of wooden pegs but with an internal mechanism. Their system means that only the outer peg moves, while the rest stays fixed.
This way, to tune the guitar you turn the peg slightly and, to go up or down by more than a tone, you pull the mechanism out a little and turn it until you find the right tuning. Then you gently push it back in to lock it.
This keeps the tuning fixed, so it does not move as it did with wooden pegs.
Wooden pegs vs. mechanical headmachine
There is also some controversy over this type of peg, because some people think that wooden pegs give the guitar a better sound.
From experience, we think the benefit is not big enough (for many people the improvement in sound is imperceptible) to justify sacrificing the comfort of a very precise headmachine and the security of a mechanism that gives you no trouble at a live concert, in a recording, or in a guitarist’s life in general.
If you want to renew your guitar’s headmachine or discover other accessories, take a look at our selection of Ramírez headmachines and accessories.