Ken Longfield
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield
3 weeks ago
1,242 posts

Like Robin, I was able to identify them because I have a Blue Lion with those tuners.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Lilley Pad
Lilley Pad
@lilley-pad
3 weeks ago
49 posts

Hey thanks you guys are the best. I’m sure glad I asked the question first before I started messing around with them.  I could have made things a lot worse, that's the problem about doing something that you don't know what you're doing 

Robin Thompson
Robin Thompson
@robin-thompson
3 weeks ago
1,507 posts

@matt-berg The main reason I could identify the tuners is I have 8 of them here in my house.  

Matt Berg
Matt Berg
@matt-berg
3 weeks ago
104 posts

I stand corrected for misidentifying the tuners.

Robin Thompson
Robin Thompson
@robin-thompson
3 weeks ago
1,507 posts

I can vouch for the quality of this type of Schaller tuner-- they were on a Blue Lion I came by used several years ago.  As has been suggested, the tuner screws on these rarely need attention.    

Ken Longfield
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield
3 weeks ago
1,242 posts

If the dulcimer is a Blue Lion as Robin suggested those are Schaller tuning machines. Here is a link to the Schaller website. These are very high quality tuners made in Germany.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

John C. Knopf
John C. Knopf
@john-c-knopf
3 weeks ago
429 posts

Planetary pegs are probably the best type of tuning peg to use on a dulcimer.  They are also the most expensive, but consider how they're made:  There is a main shaft with a gear on it in the center of the peg's casing, with 3 planetary gears arranged around it that make the turning action smooth and accurate, and change the turns ratio from 1:1 to something like 4:1.

Strumelia
Strumelia
@strumelia
3 weeks ago
2,343 posts

Yes just to clarify-  those screws are not supposed to function to 'hold' the string's tuning in place after every time you tune. They are just supposed to make it a little easier or harder to turn the tuning peg- tightening or loosening the tension of the tuning machine, not the string. As Dusty said, it might be only needed once in a great while. If you notice a tuned string slipping lower in pitch because the peg will not hold it at its note, then that might be a good time to tighten the screw of that peg just a little- only until the peg holds the string in tune sufficiently. If you tighten the screws too much they can strip/stop working.




--
Site Owner

Those irritated by grain of sand best avoid beach.
-Strumelia proverb c.1990
Robin Thompson
Robin Thompson
@robin-thompson
3 weeks ago
1,507 posts

The tuners in the photo @lilley-pad posted are of very nice planetary-type tuners and are not inexpensive.  In the photo, they're on what I'm pretty certain is a Blue Lion dulcimer.  The type of tuners pictured can be seen here on a Blue Lion: https://www.bluelioninstruments.com/Dulc.pix/IIW.jpg  


updated by @robin-thompson: 05/05/25 06:29:12PM
Dusty Turtle
Dusty Turtle
@dusty
3 weeks ago
1,815 posts

You should not normally have to do anything with those screws. Over time, however, the tuning pegs might get too stiff or loose and you adjust them with those screws.  You probably only need to adjust them once every ten years or so.  If you don't have a problem tuning your strings, don't mess with those screws.

Some tuning pegs have much tinier little screws, and sometimes they are on the other end of the post.




--
Dusty T., Northern California
Site Moderator

As a musician, you have to keep one foot back in the past and one foot forward into the future.
-- Dizzy Gillespie
Nate
Nate
@nate
3 weeks ago
402 posts

That is the same impression I got, matt. On very simple instruments you often see these types of screws that are meant to hold the tension of the string, and typically they cannot support more than 10 lb at most

Anything beyond that starts to dig into the plastic


updated by @nate: 05/05/25 03:51:32PM
Matt Berg
Matt Berg
@matt-berg
3 weeks ago
104 posts

Those appear to be ukulele tuners.  I tried them once, I thought they worked poorly and never used them again as they do not work well with steel strings.   as far as I could tell, you tighten the screws and then tune the string and hope the tuner holds.

Lilley Pad
Lilley Pad
@lilley-pad
3 weeks ago
49 posts

Hi kids just trying to increase my education here I noticed a pair of tuning pegs. I was wondering what they are called and what are the little adjustment screws on the end for?Are you supposed to loosen the screw and then tune the string and then tighten the screw back down tight, I don't get it.  Seems like an awful lot of work if that's the case. Hope the photo was attached