How Many Use A Battery Operated String Winder?

[gfspencer]

Originally Posted by Tico

I resisted for 55 years.
I felt smug, arrogant, and superior clinging to to the old way using my hand.

Finally I bought one that looks something like this ... a SDOTD for IIRC $12.
I LOoOoOoOVE it ... especially for my slot-head guitar, which requires 17 hands to restring.
... and yes, I've watched all those videos ... all of them.

Attachment 24936

I have one of those. They're great! I also have one of Frank's Cranks. It's a beautiful piece of equipment but I use the battery powered winder more.

[mattwood]

Another B&D cordless screwdriver with a winding peg. Very quick and efficient.

[UncleJesse]

I got the Pyle battery powered string winder on amazon and I love it. It doesn't spin too fast, the winder isn't deep enough to accidentally mark the headstock, and it saves a ton of time.

[Pluedus]

I use a ryobi cordless screwdriver with the peg winder head. The driver has dual speed with reverse and lithium ion battery and didn't cost an arm and a leg. It speeds the process tremendously. If you have multiple guitars to change strings on it's a complete time saver. The music store bought cordless winders are cheaply made and battery live does not last long before needing to replace the unit IMO.

[JAMKC]

Love mine!

[Oldguy64]

I have eleven guitars. One is a 12 string.
Yes, I use an electric winder.
Usually I take them off with the electric, and back on with the hand winder.
Though I have been known to do on and off with the powered winder.
And yes, it’s way quicker.

[DesertTwang]

Originally Posted by Tico

I resisted for 55 years.
I felt smug, arrogant, and superior clinging to to the old way using my hand.

I resisted for 15 years, and I still do. I do feel smug, arrogant and superior clinging to the old way, resting in the comfort of knowing that I have not yet completely surrendered to the unfortunate trend of eliminating the last remaining efforts of physical activity from my life.



Today, it's battery-operated string winders. Tomorrow, it's this:

https://youtu.be/Vy0DDuf8fYw

[Goat Mick]

I'm changing strings every week on multiple guitars so I use a Black & Decker powered screwdrive with a peg turner bit. Saves a bunch of time and effort and I'm actually getting cleaner winds on the tuner posts.

[BrunoBlack]

Not to belabor the point about speed, but I don’t see that as a major issue. What are there, about 10 rotations for each string with a hand winder? And @ 1 second per crank you spend about 10 seconds winding each tuner vs what, 2 seconds? (Or something of that magnitude)

[Mycroft]

Totally old school. I have a powered screwdriver, and a friend gave me an adapter something like 15 years ago. But I seldom use it as I enjoy the Zen of winding with my fingers. I find using the powered winder not much faster, and much more likely to result in messing up the windings.

[Rumblefish]

I have a little drill attachment for my cordless screwdriver. I ordered it from Stew-Mac to meet the free shipping requirement for a few parts I ordered. It works great but at least half the time I use an old school peg winder. No reasoning to it. They're both pretty easy.

[jaymarsch]

Originally Posted by PaulRF

I purchased the same Ernie Ball winder as Tico. Easy to use and it doesn't seem to spin too fast.

I always think that I will buy one of these at some point and never seem to get around to it. I just use an old D'Addario one with the winder, cutter and string puller all in one.

Best,
Jayne

[Goodallboy]

Originally Posted by Haasome

Not to belabor the point about speed, but I don’t see that as a major issue. What are there, about 10 rotations for each string with a hand winder? And @ 1 second per crank you spend about 10 seconds winding each tuner vs what, 2 seconds? (Or something of that magnitude)

I have 8 guitars and I've never changed strings on more than 1 guitar per day, so having multiple guitars isn't a factor for me.

[Earl49]

Originally Posted by mattwood

Another B&D cordless screwdriver with a winding peg. Very quick and efficient.

Same here. I had to change the AA batteries (finally) after about eight years. A motorized winder helps to easily get a nice even winding pattern on the capstan. Extra wraps are useful to help avoid string breakage, because I tune up and down a fair amount.

[stephenT]

I use a cordless screwdriver. Just a thought, if you damage a guitar or yourself with a powered pegwinder, it’s a good idea to stay away from power tools.