Gibson tuning peg

EcoWarrior

Hi all, is it possible to remove just the plastic end of one of these tuning pegs?  Not sure how they are fixed on (I would guess glued).

WezV

Sometimes they break off and you can fit new ones by heating up the shaft and pushing a new one on

ICBM

Yes, as Wez said - if you heat the shaft with a soldering iron you can pull the key off and replace it with another one the same way.

EcoWarrior

Thanks everyone.  Is it possible to buy the plastic 'key' part separately?  I can't find a source for one.  The tuner I am after is a Gibson Deluxe one but with 'button' keys as per below.  IfI could buy the button keys separately that would be great ;-)

ICBM

I've never seen the buttons available separately, but you can find a set of cheap acoustic guitar heads with the right keys you can take them off and transfer them. The problem is that there are so many very slightly different shapes and colours that you will almost certainly have to do all six if you want them to match, which is time-consuming and a pain…

There are also some - mostly older - keys which look similar but are made from thermosetting resin rather than thermoplastic and will not soften no matter how much heat you put in, so make sure you get the right type!

I have a vast number of second hand machineheads which I keep for this purpose so I can usually find a fairly good match - if you can't get anything I'll see if I can borrow one of those tuners to match a single key to.

SteveRobinson

AllParts have them
http://www.allparts.uk.com/products/plastic-buttons-for-gluing-or-melting-onto-vintage-style-keys-oval

Edit: but currently have no stock. They will order them for you though

EcoWarrior

That's great!  Thanks for your help everyone.  Appreciate the offer ICBM, that's very kind.  I will have a dig about ;-)

ICBM

SteveRobinson said:

AllParts have them
http://www.allparts.uk.com/products/plastic-buttons-for-gluing-or-melting-onto-vintage-style-keys-oval

Edit: but currently have no stock. They will order them for you though

Aha! I'd never seen those before. Although rather typical that they're out of stock…

They do look pretty similar to the Gibson ones too.