Blasphemy...not digging my UPT tuners??

Astein2006

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OK So I own a 2015 Kamaka standard. It came with UPT tuners. I have played it a lot over the past three years and have never bonded with the tuners. They are great function wise but I never liked the look of them. They seem a bit bulky on a soprano and I can feel the weight of the headstock every time I pick it up. I've tried to look past this because they function so nicely but I'm at a point where I would really like to convert it to some really nice and LIGHT frictions tuners. Is this blasphemy?? I feel crazy for even suggesting it. The big hurdle is where to begin. Are the holes for the UPT tuners too big to put in Friction tuners? I'm not an expert in this area. How much retrofitting needs to be done? What friction tuners would you suggest? I've read good things about the Gotoh UKA deluxe and Waverlys, although I read they are also heavier which I want to avoid. Has anyone had this experience either with UPT's on a Kamaka standard or on any soprano and wanted to go back to friction tuners?
 
UPT holes are 10mm diameter - too large for all friction tuners. You will have to fill the holes and start again; sounds dramatic, but not hard for a good repair guy. Or you could fill, then ream for peghead tuners that are light weight yet still geared. Your average non-geared Gotoh works well too.
 
I wonder if the Waverly friction tuners would fit a 10mm hole?
 
"Waverly tuners will work properly in peg holes with diameters between 7/32" and 1/4" (5.56mm to 6.35mm)"
- from Stew Mac site
 
"Waverly tuners will work properly in peg holes with diameters between 7/32" and 1/4" (5.56mm to 6.35mm)"
- from Stew Mac site

I guess there's no way back without leaving evidence of plugged tuner holes once UPT tuners are in place.
 
I guess there's no way back without leaving evidence of plugged tuner holes once UPT tuners are in place.

Thats what I was afraid of. It's not a deal breaker keeping the UPT's but I'd really love to lighten up the headstock. I've thought about Peghed tuners. I' dont really want to mess with the value of the Kamaka either. Not that I plan to sell it but I do intend to leave it to my kids someday. What to do.
 
I wonder if I should just leave well enough alone and do what we all do. Buy another ukulele. But this time with friction or Peghed tuners.
 
I wonder if I should just leave well enough alone and do what we all do. Buy another ukulele. But this time with friction or Peghed tuners.

See if someone will trade. I bet there are some UU folks with a recent vintage Kamaka soprano with friction tuners who would love to have yours with UPTs.
 
Thats what I was afraid of. It's not a deal breaker keeping the UPT's but I'd really love to lighten up the headstock. I've thought about Peghed tuners. I' dont really want to mess with the value of the Kamaka either. Not that I plan to sell it but I do intend to leave it to my kids someday. What to do.

My OXK was head heavy to begin with and became more so after I upgraded to LPT tuners. I'm using one of Lori's Uke straps to support the head while I attempt to play.
 
I wonder if I should just leave well enough alone and do what we all do. Buy another ukulele. But this time with friction or Peghed tuners.

Now there you go. A perfect reason the buy a new uke if I ever heard one.;)
 
Now there you go. A perfect reason the buy a new uke if I ever heard one.;)

Yea.......and most of us don't even have a reason, we just buy one because. You are Golden!!!!!
 
Amen!! So now I'm planting the seed for an all mahogany soprano/alto or concert(with friction or Peghed tuners). Would love one of Aaron Keim's Beansprout all mahogany alto ukuleles. Although I don't think I can rationalize that money right now. Kiwaya's concert ukes look great too. I haven't even received my new build from Fred Shields and I'm already planning my next ukulele. I have bought or ordered five ukuleles in the past month. I am in the thick of a case of UAS for sure. It's funny. I have to sort of hide my new ukes and bring them out slowly over time or my wife will give me that face. Ha!
 
Funny - I have a tenor that is very body heavy; I put UPTs on because I love their functionality, and it brought the balance back towards the head! Bonus!!
 
Waverly friction tuners are actually lighter than Grover 6s.


Scooter
 
Interesting. I am really not digging the Peghed friction tuners on my Martin tenor. It seems that everyone is out of stock of the all-black Gotoh UPTs. In both standard and long sizes. (The headstock is 13mm thick so I need the longs.) So I wait and I wonder...
 
Have you had a look at the old friction tuners that Kamaka used to use for decades before switching to UPT? They looked much bulkier and weren't exactly light weight. Hardly any lighter than a set of UPTs. Actually, as many luthiers will assure you, having a certain amount of weight at the headstock is a good thing, and there is a fair chance that a drastic decrease of weight might interfere with the entire voicing of an instrument.
 
Have you had a look at the old friction tuners that Kamaka used to use for decades before switching to UPT? They looked much bulkier and weren't exactly light weight. Hardly any lighter than a set of UPTs. Actually, as many luthiers will assure you, having a certain amount of weight at the headstock is a good thing, and there is a fair chance that a drastic decrease of weight might interfere with the entire voicing of an instrument.

So I picked up my Kamaka from my luthier yesterday. I was having it looked over and the strings changed. When I picked it up the first thing he said to me was "I love these tuners". I sort of laughed to myself and thought I am keeping the tuners. After the string change to fluorocarbons from nylon it made a huge improvement and I stopped thinking about the tuners. Funny. I guess I will keep them and just think about tuners for my next build or buy.
 
Amen!! So now I'm planting the seed for an all mahogany soprano/alto or concert(with friction or Peghed tuners). Would love one of Aaron Keim's Beansprout all mahogany alto ukuleles. Although I don't think I can rationalize that money right now. Kiwaya's concert ukes look great too. I haven't even received my new build from Fred Shields and I'm already planning my next ukulele. I have bought or ordered five ukuleles in the past month. I am in the thick of a case of UAS for sure. It's funny. I have to sort of hide my new ukes and bring them out slowly over time or my wife will give me that face. Ha!

What's an alto uke? I haven't heard of that, sounds interesting.

I love my concert Kiwaya. I even like to just look at it.
 
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