How Many Use A Battery Operated String Winder?

[ChrisE]

I’ve been using the ever popular Black and Decker with a head from a hand winder jammed on the end, but I just upgraded with a adapter instead of my home made version jammed on the end.

[bufflehead]

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'm still smug, arrogant and superior, and I'm still using a hand crank. (And, I'm proud to add, my pickup truck still has hand hand-cranked windows.)

[leonski]

I'm old school. However, I have nothing against power winders. The previous owner of my SCGS D/PW used a power winder and scarred the sides of the headstock pretty good. So good, in fact, that I got him to take off another $300 off of what was already a good price.

[Rosewood99]

Originally Posted by llew

I have one too. Love it!

What he said.

[lfarhadi]

Originally Posted by gmel555

I wonder if tuner gears are designed to hold up at that speed.

Unless you are winding for so long and fast as to generate heat in the gears, I don't see the risk. Personally I use the Planet Waves bit on my black and decker.

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by Tico

Attachment 24936

I have one of these too. I used it for a while. It was a slight improvement over hand-winding, but not really that big a deal or that much faster. At the moment, all of my guitars have locking tuners, including my acoustic. So it sits and stares at me. It was cheap. I might use it again at some point. Since I have it I'll keep it in case. But I don't think I'd buy it again, having done plenty of stringing without it and enough with it to know it's not that big a deal.

-Ray

[gmel555]

Originally Posted by Brooklyn Bob

You get to an age where you don't know what to say when people ask you what you want for Christmas so I'm in.

Ah, now THAT just might be the "straw" that puts one in my hands. Thanks

[PetesaHut]

Originally Posted by Russell G

Just curious ( just another way of saying I'm sitting here with nothing to do!).
Do you use the time-honored hand crank string winder or the fancy-schmancy battery operated one???

I purchased one about two weeks ago, no regrets

[Wade Hampton]

Haasome wrote:

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)

Then Mycroft wrote:

Originally Posted by 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.

Same with me. I have one, but it really doesn't take very long to use a string crank to wind a string by hand, and with the acceleration provided by the powered crank it's easy to wind the string too tightly. I have no doubt that if I practiced with it I would become much better at using it, just like it took me a little while to turn into parking spots as easily when I bought a car that was longer than my old one.

But it's not a tool that I need, frankly. If I was standing at a workbench stringing guitars all day long, yes, I'd want one. But I rarely restring more than two guitars in one session anyway, so for me an electronic stringwinder is "surplus to requirements."

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Bob Womack]

I watched a guitar tech tune up a guitar with a DeWalt Power Screwdriver with gyro speed regulation and that was all she wrote. I had to have one. The next Christmas my wife put me out of my misery.



The gyro regulator keeps you in control of speed. Nifty.

Bob

[cyclistbrian]

Originally Posted by Goodallboy

Old school hand winder. I once saw the damage a powered winder can do to a headstock and that cured my need for power tools near my guitar.

Oh I know that can't happen to you if you're using one, but it might have happened to me so I choose to eliminate the risk involved with something I didn't actually require to get strings changed.

My wrist muscles have doubled in size.

Many years ago on this here forum some distraught member from the U.K. had scraped the heck out of the headstock of a new Martin with a battery winder. I remember it being a once in a lifetime kind of purchase for that guy, something he'd saved for over the course of a long time. Still think of that post from time to time and hope that dude found a way to enjoy that guitar regardless.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

I watched a guitar tech tune up a guitar with a DeWalt Power Screwdriver with gyro speed regulation and that was all she wrote. I had to have one.

The gyro regulator keeps you in control of speed. Nifty.

How does that "gyro regulator" work? Is there a way that you can set it so that it doesn't go too fast, other than a trigger that makes the machine go faster if you squeeze it harder? That's what's on mine, and I don't like it.


whm

[dhockenbury]

I use the Dewalt also. Perfect for string changes as the variable speed is highly precise and controllable. The trigger is depressed and held to activate. You use your wrist to control speed and forward/reverse. I use mine with a Music Nomad winder bit that I wrapped with moleskin to eliminate any marring. Works great.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by Brooklyn Bob

You get to an age where you don't know what to say when people ask you what you want for Christmas so I'm in.

Cranks of power screwdriver are both nice stocking stuffers.

I bought several of the very nice Dunlop cranks and turned new handles for them to give to some of my playing buddies for Christmas presents. They end up being sort of a poor man's version of Frank's Cranks!

[ChrisE]

Some of you mentioned the fear of having the power winder go spinning out of control and ruining your headstock.

From personal experience with my little AA powered Black and Decker I’d say you have nothing to worry about. It doesn’t spin fast enough or have enough power to damage anything if you’re even remotely careful with it.

I’d say it’s a great string winder but a pretty poor screwdriver.

Mine sounds like the batteries are almost dead even when it has brand new batteries. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever changed the batteries since I’ve had it.