Higher End Tuning Machines?

the.ronin

the.ronin

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I know Waverly makes some nice open geared and friction tuning machines for ukes and Rubner has some really nice open geared ones. Any others?
 
Gotoh UPTs are as high end as I need to go
 
There are those Robson from the UK and the Swiss Schertler. I believe both of these are hand made and very high precision.
 
My Martin C1K and Kanile'a came with Grovers, they work great, that's as high-end as I need, unless you just want to spend extra money.
 
Waverly, Gotoh UPT and Pegheds are all sufficient for me but if I wanted "really super-duper nice" I think I'd go with some amazingly beautiful Robson tuners.

http://www.robsontuners.com
 
I like my Gotoh UPTs. I have 2 instruments that had friction tuners that I replaced with these. Big improvement.
I have an inexpensive uke with geared machines. I have found that I knock it out of tune on some chords when my hand hits the peg sticking out the side.
 
Ukulelerick9255 said:
Rubners are best at a somewhat affordable price the Robsons are a fortune.
Click to expand...

Those Rubner tuners are nice. Schertler tuners are really smooth, but heavy.

I was surprised how good the open gear Hipshots on my Aaron Oya tenor are. They seem pretty light and small, like made for a uke.

uketuner3_1.jpg
 
Last edited:
I had a call from a custom maker in Texas who wants lightweight, positive action geared tuners that are unobtrusive. He is going to "bling" the buttons his own way to make them unique in the dictionary definition of the word. It is a mutli thousand dollar custom creation. He specifically wants the ones with the shorter shaft so the focal point is not the hardware. It will be worth the wait to see what it will be. It is so wonderful to have so many options beyond a wooden tapered rod stuck in a tapered hole.
 
I don't know if anybody mentioned them, but STEALTH Keys have a lot going for them. I have a set an Anakole custom, ordered by the original owner. I'd never seen them before. They seemed so diminutive at first they sort of didn't make sense. But their appearance has grown on me over the last couple months. The 18:1 tuning ratio is touch odd for a uke, but that was easy to get used to as well. They make some beautiful tuners. The ones that sit atop the peg head are especially beautiful to my eye.
 
I bought the Rubner with Snakewood for my new uke from Beau Hannam should get it in about three weeks.
 

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Something not addressed is the look of the tuners. Long before I became a PEGHED distributor, I disliked the look of grips out to the side. It reminds me a blimp shot of the Indy 500 cars. By no means am I a "purist",but I prefer the grips to be out of the way and out of sight. I am not fond of a 16:1 ratio on a ukulele. I can see it as needed on a guitar string, but not a ukulele.
 
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