I'll admit it. I was wrong about friction tuners....

mailman · Sep 2, 2010

Until today I've been dead set against friction tuners. The only ones I had ever used were on my custom soprano. I found them to be infuriatingly difficult to use, and swore I would never buy another uke that had them.

While at UWC2010 I had several other folks play this uke. While he was trying it out, I mentioned to UKISOCIETY that I was having big problems learning to use friction tuners. He looked at them and immediately recognized them as being of inferior quality. Apparently this particular style has been known to be awful.

Recently I read good things in the UU Luthier's Lounge forum about the friction tuners sold on eBay by "taisamlu", a seller from Taiwan. I found his auctions, bid on a set of four tuners, and won the auction. The total cost to me, including shipping from Taiwan, was only eleven dollars and change.

Today I got them installed on my soprano. What a difference! Now I understand what other people have been saying all along....friction tuners aren't bad, they're just different. I now have no trouble at all working with my friction tuners.

If you are like I was, and hate friction tuners, maybe a higher quality tuner will solve your problems, too. I highly recommend the friction tuners sold by taisamlu. The luthier who installed mine (for $10!) even commented about the quality and the engineering of them.

Hate friction tuners? Try a better set!

jtafaro · Sep 2, 2010

I just replaced a set of gotoh plastic tuners on my Ohana SK15BL with precision tuners from Mainline ukes for 20 bucks plus shipping. The difference is like day and night.

haole · Sep 2, 2010

Good friction tuners are better than bad geared tuners! For such a simple design, they vary a LOT in quality.

I always thought that taisamlu was just another one who deals in heavily-inlayed instruments of dubious quality. Glad to hear the tuners are good!

Lexxy · Sep 2, 2010

Is it recommended to switch Geared tuners to Friction tuners? (Was just wondering how it would affect the uke)
And do i bring it to a luthier for a switch? Mine's a KPK concert, if that helps.

ukecantdothat · Sep 2, 2010

It takes a big mailman to admit he's wrong... :nana:

UkeToaster · Sep 2, 2010

let us not forget our good friends at kamaka who use friction tuners on sopranos and concerts!

uke5417 · Sep 2, 2010

Both Elderly and Luthiers Mercantile (and no doubt others) sell decent budget friction tuner sets for $8 to $10. I've gone through a dozen sets, sold as Gotoh, Grover and Whatever. The names seem to change, but all have been fine. They also sell nicer, more expensive ones, but I've never felt the need to spend that kind of money.

As a side note, I recently picked up a dulcimer for ten bucks that had a set of old uke tuners with Martin-style hex fronts, heavy, ringed metal spacers on the back side and the most gorgeous tangerine-colored knobs that one would have mistaken for amber were there no mold lines. I swapped them out onto one of my favorite ukes and was retuning the thing when one of those knobs just disintegrated in my hand. Must've been celluloid or something. Anyway, I still got a nice mountain dulcimer, on which I threw a set of the above-mentioned $8 tuners.

SuzukHammer · Sep 2, 2010

Believe this or not; but, I got the Mahalo friction tuners to work and they hold the tune for at least a day on a soprano.

ALl I had to do was read a recommendation I found on this UU site and the problem was solved.

All I had to do was tighten the screws.

When I looked at the product, I thought no way can they hold a tune. They do with the right amount of elbow grease.

thejumpingflea · Sep 2, 2010

Good for you. I like frictions for their light weight and look. A good set can be very accurate to tune as well!

cletus · Sep 2, 2010

UkeToaster said:
let us not forget our good friends at kamaka who use friction tuners on sopranos and concerts!

My '70s Kamaka baritone has friction tuners. They work just fine so far, but I have not changed the strings yet.
Friction tuners do look very cool to me.

mailman · Sep 2, 2010

Lexxy said:
Is it recommended to switch Geared tuners to Friction tuners? (Was just wondering how it would affect the uke)
And do i bring it to a luthier for a switch? Mine's a KPK concert, if that helps.

I would NOT recommend switching from geared tuners to friction tuners. Doing so would leave several exposed screw holes in the back of the headstock where the geared tuners' mounting screws were.

I don't mean to imply that I prefer friction tuners over geared tuners now. I just no longer dislike friction tuners....

olgoat52 · Sep 2, 2010

gotoh sells a less expensive and more expensive friction tuner. Has anyone tried the more expensive one? I have been considering it. Need to find them with Amber knobs. Expensive http://elderly.com/accessories/items/GUKGB.htm
Less expensive http://elderly.com/accessories/items/GUKNW.htm

sukie · Sep 2, 2010

After trying to like friction tuners for 2 years I have finally decided I don't like them at all. I've even argued here about giving them a try. I give up. ISH!

But, Mailman, I'm glad you have started to like them. That's what great about this world -- there's room for everyone's opinion.

mm stan · Sep 2, 2010

ukecantdothat said:
It takes a big mailman to admit he's wrong... :nana:

I totally agree with what ukecandothat......
From that I hope we all can learn and benefit from it..sometimes you gotta think outside the box..
I'm guilty of the same thing too when I started..the learning curb and experience gained, probally still do..
For me too, I'm always still learning new things and to think things out, and not only in ukulele.

Pippin · Sep 2, 2010

Friction tuners are more tradition-looking, but geared tuners are far more efficient unless you buy planetary-gear friction tuners. For me, I like the precision of geared tuners, but replacing them with friction tuners changes the "balance" of your instrument and that is something you might want to consider before the change.

clayton56 · Sep 2, 2010

Pippin said:
Friction tuners are more tradition-looking, but geared tuners are far more efficient unless you buy planetary-gear friction tuners. For me, I like the precision of geared tuners, but replacing them with friction tuners changes the "balance" of your instrument and that is something you might want to consider before the change.

Friction tuners are the essence of efficiency

donzamacleod · Sep 2, 2010

I have never had a problem with my geared tuners in fact my ukes stay in tune for days. I find friction ones ugly but thats my opinion.

Ingrate · Sep 2, 2010

olgoat52 said:
gotoh sells a less expensive and more expensive friction tuner. Has anyone tried the more expensive one? I have been considering it. Need to find them with Amber knobs. Expensive http://elderly.com/accessories/items/GUKGB.htm
Less expensive http://elderly.com/accessories/items/GUKNW.htm

1. Yes, I bought the Gotoh Deluxe tuners. They're much better than the standard Gotohs I replaced. Even when tightened down enough to hold tune, they're easier and smoother to adjust.
2. Mainland Ukes has what appears to be the same tuner for $20, looking at the enlarged online images.

jeff

UKISOCIETY · Sep 2, 2010

sukie said:
... That's what great about this world -- there's room for everyone's opinion.

I disagree!

UKISOCIETY · Sep 2, 2010

I'm glad I was a bit of help with that. Thanks for the update.

I'll admit it. I was wrong about friction tuners....

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