SuzukHammer
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2010
- Messages
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I had used the search function on the board for a number of reasons. wow. imagine that That's amazing unto itself.
I read about some guy's solution to friction tuners. He said, "just tighten the screw once your tuning is set." ok, so I need to walk around with an philips screwdriver in the mornings? Ok. So be it. Its my lot in life.
I had bought a pink Mahalo for my workmate's daughter. THey live in Indonesia and he can't afford to buy even cheap ukes. He said he fixed the friction tuners on the pinky Mahalo. So, I need to find out what he did for the fix and we can compare notes. In the meantime, he said her 2 year old brother got jealous and wants a uke too.
So I bought a load of cheapy Mahalos yesterday. Why? To see if I could fix the friction tuners and use them as giveaways to kids. The colored Mahalos are like kid crack. But they just can't stay in tune nor are the strings worth anything. They end up being bangers and wall flowers.
Can they be put to good use? Or is the requirement for a phillips screwdriver too much for a 2 year old??
My impression was that the molded friction tuner parts were no good because they were not roughed up after molding (trimmed either) and likely there was no friction on the painted face of the headstock for the friction part to grab.
I was right on both assumptions.
I sanded down and roughed up the places that needed friction and then employed the tightening of the screw idea I got here from the UU.
(Rant on) Honestly, does anybody have a contact at Mahalo?? WHy aren't those chinese workers doing the right thing for the friction tuners?? why??? It would save my time and ukes wouldn't have such a bad rap if the friction tuners were functional out of the box. (rant over)
My first fix responded well. I'm gonna check if first fix holds tension in a couple of hours and then I'm gonna put new strings on and see if the Mahalos can be converted to something playable.
Then it will be giveaway time for some lucky Indonesian here at the hotel.
I read about some guy's solution to friction tuners. He said, "just tighten the screw once your tuning is set." ok, so I need to walk around with an philips screwdriver in the mornings? Ok. So be it. Its my lot in life.
I had bought a pink Mahalo for my workmate's daughter. THey live in Indonesia and he can't afford to buy even cheap ukes. He said he fixed the friction tuners on the pinky Mahalo. So, I need to find out what he did for the fix and we can compare notes. In the meantime, he said her 2 year old brother got jealous and wants a uke too.
So I bought a load of cheapy Mahalos yesterday. Why? To see if I could fix the friction tuners and use them as giveaways to kids. The colored Mahalos are like kid crack. But they just can't stay in tune nor are the strings worth anything. They end up being bangers and wall flowers.
Can they be put to good use? Or is the requirement for a phillips screwdriver too much for a 2 year old??
My impression was that the molded friction tuner parts were no good because they were not roughed up after molding (trimmed either) and likely there was no friction on the painted face of the headstock for the friction part to grab.
I was right on both assumptions.
I sanded down and roughed up the places that needed friction and then employed the tightening of the screw idea I got here from the UU.
(Rant on) Honestly, does anybody have a contact at Mahalo?? WHy aren't those chinese workers doing the right thing for the friction tuners?? why??? It would save my time and ukes wouldn't have such a bad rap if the friction tuners were functional out of the box. (rant over)
My first fix responded well. I'm gonna check if first fix holds tension in a couple of hours and then I'm gonna put new strings on and see if the Mahalos can be converted to something playable.
Then it will be giveaway time for some lucky Indonesian here at the hotel.
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