Summer tuning your instrument

My fiddle is a French instrument called Renoux built in 1936. She's got the most beautiful voice but is very picky when it comes to the weather. Living in Vermont can make keeping her in tune quite a challenge.

In the summertime, my pegs stick. Because I don't have a tailpiece with fine tuners this can make it very difficult to fine tune each string as the wood swells in the humidity making it almost impossible to turn the pegs. So what I usually do is take off each string one by one and goop the peg so it slides more easily inside the peg box. The goop is called peg lubricating compound and looks almost like a crayon. The trick is to take your string off and just put a little dab around the peg and restring it. Then do the next. Be sure not to put too much of the goop on. If you do the peg will become too greasy and won't hold the string in place. Just a little dab is all you need.

You can find the peg goop in any violin shop and possibly any music shop (though I haven't actually looked in other music shops). It's pretty cheap and can make a world of difference.

Well, there is your tip of the day. My pegs were sticking and I had to goop them up so I figured I'd pass the word along.

Happy gooping!