What's the best friction tuner?

Mr Bill

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Hi Everybody,

Gotta say I like friction tuners the best, but some of the
econo-cheapo ones aren't worth a tinkers dam. The Martin SO
has some nice tuners and work really well and I saw a KoAloha
with a different type that were also great.

So What are the best and where can you get em?
How much do you figure they cost?

Many Thanks.

Cheers.
 
Can't answer specifically, but if you are referring to plain frictions the ones fitted on flukes and fleas are great. Never had a problem with them.
 
Mainland 'ukes sell "deluxe" friction tuners for $20, which is as good a price as I've seen for these. I use them on my concert, with no problems.

If it's a soprano, most any tuner should be OK, even those cheapo plastic kind. The string tension is quite low.
 
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I recently bought new friction tuners for my soprano. The ones that came on it were cheap cr@p, and didn't work well at all.

After reading about them in the Luthier's Lounge here on UU, I bought a set from "tiamislu", an eBay seller from Taiwan. He has them available all the time, it seems. Having won the auction, I paid a total of $11 and change....including shipping! Some may cost a bit more, but mine are basic chrome with black buttons. I have them installed now, and couldn't be happier.

I was totally anti-friction tuners before I got these. Now I've changed my tune (pun intended)....
 
What is it you like about friction tuners?
If it's just the looks, I'd just go for peghead tuners, which are shaped like friction tuners, but have the convenience of geared.
I'd choose geared tuners over friction any day when it comes to tuning.
 
What is it you like about friction tuners?
If it's just the looks, I'd just go for peghead tuners, which are shaped like friction tuners, but have the convenience of geared.
I'd choose geared tuners over friction any day when it comes to tuning.

I agree with kissing, geared tuners are more precise with less fiddling and faster...maybe you just prefer the lighter head weight..
Ahhh maybe it's just personal preference....for me, it's an excuse to get a new ukulele..he he Good luck!!!! MM Stan....
 
I bought some Grover friction tuners a while back to replace the factory tuners on my Stagg. The Grovers had about twice as much friction piece (looks kind of like a gear to hold the friction. I have not had any trouple with them at all. I got them because the factory tuners where slipping. The Govers fixed that right up.
 
I like the kind KoAloha uses. MGM sells them with or without the KoAloha logo on them (I think they're Gotoh); shoot him an email.
 
Grover STA-TITE ukulele tuners ,I think they are number 4 . Great tuners. They have little nylon? washers and they are the best I've used.
Please do not put geared tuners on a soprano.
 
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Hi Everybody,

Thanks for the replys, I gonna put them on my Makala MK-C.
The tuners on there are mechanically fine but after some exposure
to Martin and Koaloa equipped ukes I like the appearance much better
and there is really no hassle using them. Sure it takes about 20 seconds
longer to tune but I'm not on a clock.
The pegheads are neat and I may use them in the future but not for this MK-C.
I'll give MGM a call during the week and see what he's got.
Thanks again.

Cheers.
 
www.elderly.com also sells Gotoh. I really like the amber buttons but Elderly does not sell those. Gotoh has two levels. A cheap version and a deluxe version. I plan to try the deluxe version if they are not the same as what comes on the mainland ukes.

The geared tuners are really nice and accurate. Use them on guitars all the time. But I like the weight and look of the fiction tuners on the ukes. I'm not on a clock either.

TWC
 
www.elderly.com also sells Gotoh. I really like the amber buttons but Elderly does not sell those. Gotoh has two levels. A cheap version and a deluxe version. I plan to try the deluxe version if they are not the same as what comes on the mainland ukes.

The geared tuners are really nice and accurate. Use them on guitars all the time. But I like the weight and look of the fiction tuners on the ukes. I'm not on a clock either.

TWC

I ordered the Gotoh deluxes from Elderly. They're great tuners, but weren't Gotoh brand (they were generic). It appears that one can get them from Mainland for just $20. (the black ones shown here are from Elderly)

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