Unfortunately, only the starter grade Erhus are fitted with bronze tuning mechanisms. The intermediate and above models all comes with wooden pegs. So what do you do if you just cannot get to the centre of your AP tuner?
Enter the fine adjusters.
Type 1: China made fine adjusters
They work by hooking the string and pulling the string towards the fine adjuster. Works fine but some users said the screw on the adjuster sometimes screws up. What do you expect a screw to do anyway?
Type 2: Wittner made fine adjusters
Wittner is a German company famous for its music stands and string instruments' tail pieces. Their fine adjusters are made of better materials and work by pushing the string away from the adjusters. Some users commented that it often breaks the string. But I think they push it till the string bends at a right angle. Don't turn it so much and you'll be fine.
Type 3: Do-it-yourself(DIY) fine adjusters
Just take a piece of qianjing string and loop it once around the neck, and once around the string above the qianjing. Tie it somewhere near the qianjing to start off. Adjust the pitch by moving the DIY fine adjuster up and down. Good for purists who don't want any metallic stuff on their Erhu. A bit flimsy though.
So that's all folks.
But for your information I never use fine adjusters on my personal Erhu...
Update: Some commented that the metallic fine adjustors eats bow hairs if you're not careful. Thought I'll leave a note about this here.
