Stringing up / tuner buzz - how many times should i wind?

chadp

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I've noticed, since installing a brand new set of black D'addarios on my concert uke, that there's been a little bit of tuner buzz on the C and the E strings, more-so the E string. could it be related to the fact that i tried to keep as few winds as possible on the tuning pegs? i think i might have messed up when stringing.. which is okay. gives me an excuse to buy aquilas.
 
Not sure exactly what you mean by "tuner buzz". Do you mean buzzing at the nut, as opposed to the tuner? If at the nut, perhaps the new strings aren't the correct diameter for the nut slots. Fewer windings on the tuner peg should not cause buzzing. Buzzing can usually be corrected, but I would make sure of what the problem is first....
 
It's definitely in the tuner. It's almost like the peghead that sticks out is rattling in the bushing it's housed in.
 
Whether they are friction or geared the number of turns do not impact buzzing at a tuner. If the buzz is at the tuner, there is something loose. You just need to tighten the tuner up.

Geared could be the nut on the top of the headstock, that happened to me once. I had buzzing when I played a certain note, even a rattle when I shook the ukulele, but everything seemed tight becuase I couldn't move the nut by hand. I got a wrench and tightened it and eveything is fine, no buzz, no rattle.

On friction tuners, I believe that all you need to do is tighten the screw on the bottom of the tuner. If the bushing is loose, I'm not sure how to tighten that becuase they are geneally pressed in. If it is loose enough to just pull out, you may be able to wrap some paper around it and press it back in... not an easy task if you don't have any equipment to do it and not sure of what you are doing.

I once had a ukulele that had Schallers and I recall tightening a knurled nut on the back of the headstock to tighten the bushing. If you have that type, I think you can tighten the bushing.

Don't know if this helps, but hopefully it will.

John
 
They're geared tuners.. the same ones you see on a lot of lower-mid range oscar schmidts.. mine's a samick greg bennett uk-60. my friend had the same problem on her oscar schmidt and i took it to my local luthier, he fixed it.. but didn't tell me how.

i do have the rotating bushing problem on my chalmers doane uke, but i'm probably just gonna epoxy it back in.

i need to stop playing so goddamn hard. i literally played until my fingers bled the other day. how do you do that on nylon strings? i do not know.
 
I had the same issue with geared tuners on one of my Kalas. The shaft the tuner rattled against the side of the bushing. Clearance was tight, but apparently not tight enough to prevent rattling. I removed the tuner from the headstock and tried various materials to try and dampen the sound. I ended up with a single strip of Scotch tape around the tuner shaft. It was just enough to fill the gap and dampen the buzz.
 
I had the same issue with geared tuners on one of my Kalas. The shaft the tuner rattled against the side of the bushing. Clearance was tight, but apparently not tight enough to prevent rattling. I removed the tuner from the headstock and tried various materials to try and dampen the sound. I ended up with a single strip of Scotch tape around the tuner shaft. It was just enough to fill the gap and dampen the buzz.

YES. you have the exact same problem i have. bushing. that's what those things are called. okay. learned a new word today.

thanks for your advice. :rulez::rulez:
 
Oh, and don't epoxy the bushing. Future luthiers will have all sorts of nasty things to say about you. It's usually just pressed into the wood, or part of it is threaded and "clamps" the headstock. The ones I have use a nut on the top side. Some steel string guitars use the bushing itself as a sort of threaded "nut." If anything, just use a tiny dab of wood glue or something that's easily broken loose if you ever want to change tuners.
 
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