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we all have lots of pro level tools bu i am looking for a pro level string winder. i envision it being made of brass with ball bearings for smooth operation.
Does anyone know if such a thing exists or do i have to ask dave collins to make me one?

This is a nice one.


http://mnluthier.com/merchandise.html#winder

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Best one I ever used was chucked into a drill with the clutch set very low.


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What the heck is a pro level string winder? To me a good tool or anything for that matter is something that accomplishes its task efficiently and accurately --- and frankly the $1.00 plastic number works just fine and the $3 version you chuck in an electric screw driver work even better.

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Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

I would'nt want to be without my winder chucked in a small drill with smooth trigger speed control and easy reverse. I have a dedicated 3.8v Metabo for it.

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Pat

The turbotune string winder. Used to be a Dean Markley product, then it was Dunlop, and now it seems to be off the market. If you can find one though, that's all I'll ever need. Chucked in my cordless drill, full speed, no clutch - takes some practice to get timing down, but I can generally get strings pretty dang close to tuned straight off the drill - zip zip zoom done. Soft plastic doesn't marr tuner heads, and has stepped slots molded in to the head to fit a variety of tuners. I can't see ever needing anything else, and can't figure out why they seem to be off the market.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

+1 for using a drill with a Turbotune winder. It's like being a pit crew at the Indy 499 (taxes ya know.... ) and as Dave said zip, zam and those puppies are loose and ready to be pulled.

I'm using my 10 year old original Festool drill after I took it apart and could not get it back together and handed Dave a bag of parts to repurpose with his research and found my completely reassembled AND working Festool drill on my bench the next day! I was very glad to get it back.

Use a drill with a stable flat bottom to avoid the tendency that some drills have to fall over....

What makes using a drill not only WAY faster but much more efficient in my view is that for some instruments how we may wind the strings can actually play into the instrument being better set-up. Strats for example that lack a second string tree with the classic G string break angle over the nut is too shallow causing the vibrating wave to breach the face of the nut resulting in intonation issues with a drill I can use the entire string making my winds go right to the peg head face creating a better break angle. If I had to watch myself using a manual winder this would be more difficult and time consuming.

Dave does and can tune with a drill. I tune manually not trusting myself.... I fully expect to come into the shop one day and find my Festool modified and now fully integrated to a Peterson Strobe Tuner where the integration includes a now auto-clutch that slips when the tuner says the string is tuned to pitch.... Next he will likely set the things to tune two steps up, stretch the string and then relax it to proper pitch.... Nothing seems to be impossible in our world I'm telling ya....

Totally feasible -- Dave needs to get on it!

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Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

http://www.tronical.com


Ken Jones
Mountain Song Guitars

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Mountain Song Guitars www.mountainsongguitars.com

I imagine a pro level string winder to be a tool with some heft, some sort of bearing system for smooth operation, and a nice shiny finish to make you feel special!
I am well aware of all of the options commercially available and the winder Terrance suggested is closer to what I have in mind. I got thinking about it after a plastic winder fell apart in my hand as I was trying to get a guitar strung up. The problem with a drill mounted winder is you have to go get the drill, then it's out of power, then you need to get the battery, then you need to find the winder bit, etc.
I think a really well made "pro" winder would be just as fast as a drill
So if Dave won't make me one, I'll make one myself! (I've already ordered the parts, prototype coming soon!)

Here you go even claims to be "State of The Art"

http://www.amazon.com/Tenor-Professiona ... B00S3BEW1G

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Build it cause then you know it's Made in the USA or **insert your country**

Very cool Sam - let us know what you come up with, please?

Regarding the cumbersome drills my Festool has two batteries, both 10 years old now and on their last leg but still able to give me nearly a week of service. My charger, came with the drill is on my bench so the swap takes all of 4 - 5 seconds.

In addition to winding strings like an Indy pit crew with my drill and my brad point 3/16th bit I all ready to drill out pin holes after a bridge reglue. Or ream an end pin hole for that cool new LR Baggs Anthem. Or make quick work of the six pin holes I need, sometimes twelve... for a bridge plate cap. Or, or, or, or.....

No offense intended, ever my friend but it just seems that a dedicated, single purpose string winder though very cool is such an, er, well.... one trick pony... However if you can tap into the the new market for 50 shades of grey paraphernalia your market could be limitless.

Batteries not included, some assembly required.

Oh yeah, I wanted to comment on the post about auto-tuners. The G*bson e-tune thing that I've worked on a couple now with seems to be a piece of cheap, plastic junk IMO.... And not just because G*bson excreted it either.

There is something that just seems to be a huge mismatch to my design eye to be seeing some G*bson Iconic models from the 50's with this new, genuine imitation plastic or should I say "tone Plastic" nylon geared, chromed plastic fantastic that turns and grinds your instrument into tune.... More specifically although they do work IME this thing, the e-tune unit is NOT going to still be in service 50 plus years from now and will have to be ripped out and replaced with conventional tuners.

But as they say about in the long run..... we'll all be dead anyway....

Pro -- even says so -- so it must be!

http://www.amazon.com/Ernie-Ball-4117-P ... ing+winder

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Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

I've been using one of these. Works fine for me.

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

The next generation of the Gibson E-tuners are now more robust
And are capable of of storing multiple tuning presets but still seem to me to be "plasticy" and just dont seem right on a classic design.
In Gibson's infinite wisdom, they are considered part of the guitar's electronics and if you swsp thdm out for conventional tuners you will have voided the electronics warranty on the instrument.

Rick Davis had a bunch of nice ones: http://seattleluthiers.org/alessi-quality-string-winders/

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

Sam,
When you build the ultimate peg winder put some gearing in it to allow it to give at least two turns on the peg for every turn of the handle.

Here's the one Marty gave me a few years ago Sam. I think all the hardware was from the "little boxes" section at Ace. It is very ergonomic and a joy to use.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

This is my ultimate peg winder. Hope her health improves soon!



Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

I agree - there's nothing like a really good tool. Not being able to find a decent string crank, I finally set about making some for myself, with full length bearing handles, and have been using them for the last few years. Heath issues, and the press of a busy shop slowed my progress on these things, but sometime in the not too distant future I may have something more to show. Maybe I'll get some finished to take along to the A.S.I.A Symposium next month.

Here's a shot of those first ones:



There's a little one for mandolin, a big one for big button Schallers, and a medium size for the oval and "butterbean" open style guitar gears (Richard Hoover has that one). I'm using resilient plastic for the "chuck" end, so it would be difficult to scratch a plastic button or the side of a peghead.

The handle is seven degrees offset from the axis of the tuner rotation to accommodate wrist angle and help keep the barrel aligned as it turns.


Labor intensive project, yes!
But fun. . .

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Cheers,

Frank Ford

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