joejeweler
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In my recent order from Stewmac.com i picked up a set of the new Waverly 16:1 ratio geared uke tuners with ebony buttons. At $92.98 not a purchase to be taken lightly, but i had specific reasons why it made sense. If builders begin to stock these in small quantities, the pricing drops to:
(1) $92.98
(3) or more $85.54
(6) or more $79.13
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Ukulele_tuners/Waverly_Ukulele_Tuners.html
After getting them installed on my Kanile'a K-2 S soprano, i can say without hesitation they are worth every cent! I suspect once some of the higher end ukulele makers try them, they will be using them in place of the Grovers. If you're in the market for a custom ukulele or will be ordering one soon,....pay a little more and request these tuners. You'll be smiling all the way "from" the bank!
The Grovers work,....but are simply too heavy with the size needed on the Kanile'a. The thicker headstock needs a bit longer post, and all i could find were the same Grover's with a solid metal button that Kanile'a uses. These are probably guitar tuners, not sure. On my Ken Timms soprano, the PO put on Grovers with lighter black buttons, and i was going to try those but the posts are way too short to fit the Kanile'a. These are the Grovers listed for ukes i guess.
Anyway, when the Waverly open backed geared tuners arrived, i was highly impressed with the quality and functioning. Part of the reason i wanted the change was to lighten the weight a bit, and i knew the smaller ebony buttons would be lighter than the all metal ones on the Grovers.
The upper hole on the Waverly matched up fine with the upper hole from the Grover. The lower hole, however, was a bit lower and came into conflict with the previous hole in the headstock.
I decided to fill the lower holes so that the new (and wider) screws supplied with the Waverlys would get a firm bite in the wood. If these filled holes would have been showing, i would have tried to find a close match to the mahogany. But they were strictly structural support, as the new screw holes would be very near, .....so an easier approach was used.
It was a simple matter to use a couple of the old wooden toothpics and fit them "dry" to the holes. Leave plenty sticking out to give you a handle.
Once i had them easily press fit to the holes by light sanding (cut the fine point off before you start), you can then use the toothpic section to carry a little bead of superglue to the hole, and then go back and cover the 1st 1/8" or so of wood with a thin layer of glue. Protect the headstock from any glue drips if you're a bit messy, but you don't need to go crazy here. A little works fine. I put a few drops of the glue on a plastic baggie to use as a source of supply to work from.
I also used the slightly extended setup superglue,....gives you 20-30 seconds or so. This allows you the time to add a small bead in the hole, go back and cover the end of the toothpic, and then press the wood into the hole to the bottom. Any small excess glue can be quickly wicked up with a small piece of paper towel.
After about 20 minutes, i went back and cut off most of the remaining toothpic,.....with final leveling by careful use of a hand graver used like a small chisel. I use a 2 hand technique to prevent any "slips". One hand works the graver, the other hand helps guide the front of the cutting edge (by pinching the graver sides) so that when the sharp edge clears the "nub" of the toothpick it doesn't wander over to the headstock and nick it up. No accidents this way!
You can see a bit of the old hole to the left (now filled) in the lower Waverly mounting hole. A careful drilling of a pilot hole for the new screws followed, watching the depth so i didn't drill thru to the front of the headstock! Simple to check by drilling a little and stop. With the drill still in the new hole, pinch the drill bit where it exits the tuner base hole. Now pull the drill bit out and lay the drill alongside close to the headstock to eyeball the depth. Go back and drill a little deeper if needed to complete the screw pilot holes. I always add i touch of dry soap scraped againg the screws threads to add a little lubrication to the screws when seating them. Works smooth, and never had a screw break off in a hole.
Other than a faint outline in the finish from the old Grover base profile in just a few places, the conversion is invisable. You really have to look close and tip into strong light to even see that,.....so it's a minor point.
(1) $92.98
(3) or more $85.54
(6) or more $79.13
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Ukulele_tuners/Waverly_Ukulele_Tuners.html
After getting them installed on my Kanile'a K-2 S soprano, i can say without hesitation they are worth every cent! I suspect once some of the higher end ukulele makers try them, they will be using them in place of the Grovers. If you're in the market for a custom ukulele or will be ordering one soon,....pay a little more and request these tuners. You'll be smiling all the way "from" the bank!
The Grovers work,....but are simply too heavy with the size needed on the Kanile'a. The thicker headstock needs a bit longer post, and all i could find were the same Grover's with a solid metal button that Kanile'a uses. These are probably guitar tuners, not sure. On my Ken Timms soprano, the PO put on Grovers with lighter black buttons, and i was going to try those but the posts are way too short to fit the Kanile'a. These are the Grovers listed for ukes i guess.
Anyway, when the Waverly open backed geared tuners arrived, i was highly impressed with the quality and functioning. Part of the reason i wanted the change was to lighten the weight a bit, and i knew the smaller ebony buttons would be lighter than the all metal ones on the Grovers.
The upper hole on the Waverly matched up fine with the upper hole from the Grover. The lower hole, however, was a bit lower and came into conflict with the previous hole in the headstock.
I decided to fill the lower holes so that the new (and wider) screws supplied with the Waverlys would get a firm bite in the wood. If these filled holes would have been showing, i would have tried to find a close match to the mahogany. But they were strictly structural support, as the new screw holes would be very near, .....so an easier approach was used.
It was a simple matter to use a couple of the old wooden toothpics and fit them "dry" to the holes. Leave plenty sticking out to give you a handle.
Once i had them easily press fit to the holes by light sanding (cut the fine point off before you start), you can then use the toothpic section to carry a little bead of superglue to the hole, and then go back and cover the 1st 1/8" or so of wood with a thin layer of glue. Protect the headstock from any glue drips if you're a bit messy, but you don't need to go crazy here. A little works fine. I put a few drops of the glue on a plastic baggie to use as a source of supply to work from.
I also used the slightly extended setup superglue,....gives you 20-30 seconds or so. This allows you the time to add a small bead in the hole, go back and cover the end of the toothpic, and then press the wood into the hole to the bottom. Any small excess glue can be quickly wicked up with a small piece of paper towel.
After about 20 minutes, i went back and cut off most of the remaining toothpic,.....with final leveling by careful use of a hand graver used like a small chisel. I use a 2 hand technique to prevent any "slips". One hand works the graver, the other hand helps guide the front of the cutting edge (by pinching the graver sides) so that when the sharp edge clears the "nub" of the toothpick it doesn't wander over to the headstock and nick it up. No accidents this way!
You can see a bit of the old hole to the left (now filled) in the lower Waverly mounting hole. A careful drilling of a pilot hole for the new screws followed, watching the depth so i didn't drill thru to the front of the headstock! Simple to check by drilling a little and stop. With the drill still in the new hole, pinch the drill bit where it exits the tuner base hole. Now pull the drill bit out and lay the drill alongside close to the headstock to eyeball the depth. Go back and drill a little deeper if needed to complete the screw pilot holes. I always add i touch of dry soap scraped againg the screws threads to add a little lubrication to the screws when seating them. Works smooth, and never had a screw break off in a hole.
Other than a faint outline in the finish from the old Grover base profile in just a few places, the conversion is invisable. You really have to look close and tip into strong light to even see that,.....so it's a minor point.
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