Friction tuners vs. sealed gear???

ejnovinsky · Oct 16, 2011

Wondering why I see so many ukuleles with friction tuners when so many people post having issues with them. Wouldnt sealed gear tuners just overall work, and hold tune better? What is the advantage to friction tuners? Is it just preference?

kenikas · Oct 16, 2011

Friction tuners are usually a bit lighter but quality ones hold just as well as geared, and some folks don't like the "ears" sticking out of the headstock. I've found they both work well and it's just personal preference.

coolkayaker1 · Oct 16, 2011

The "ears" on geared tuners can sometimes interfere with hand positioning for chords.

I agree, I like them both: geared and friction.

Ken Middleton · Oct 16, 2011

I absolutely agree with the previous two comments.

The people who are "having issues with them" post on the forum. The people who like friction tuners don't. Many owners think like me: they are fine with fiction pegs on soprano or concerts, but find geared tuners generally more satisfactory on tenors.

I know a number of professional players who like friction pegs on the instruments they play for pleasure, but for practical reasons use geared pegs on stage.

You mentioned "sealed" geared tuners. Personally, I like open geared tuners.

kissing · Oct 16, 2011

they are fine with fiction pegs on soprano or concerts, but find geared tuners generally more satisfactory on tenors.

I prefer geared on all my ukes, but you are right in that they do have some advantages over geared in soprano and concert. They are lighter weight, which helps it to be better balanced, and for what it's worth, its easier to put new strings on it as it winds quicker.

I used to have a Flea with pegheads. Absolutely loved them, they're the close you'll get to having the best of both worlds (comfortable 4:1 ratio, lightweight and friction-tuner appearance). But a little bit costly and requires some modification to fit on a uke that doesn't already come with them.

ps: But fiction pegs sound really cool! Why have real pegs when you can have fiction ones

Pukulele Pete · Oct 16, 2011

Please , ......only friction tuners on sopranos .

roxhum · Oct 16, 2011

Friction tuners all the way. I think people who have issues with them must turn them too much, like a geared tuner, and that is why they don't like them. They stay in tune as well as a geared tuner.

guitarsnrotts · Oct 16, 2011

Cheap geared tuners generally do function better than cheap friction tuners. If you go with the higher quality frictions like Schaller, Gotoh or the better Grovers like the 1W with the thumb lock or their 85B, they look more traditional and hold tunings well.
I overall prefer friction tuners on my sopranos and concerts for both looks and weight but really don't have a preference on tenors.

ejnovinsky · Oct 16, 2011

Ken Middleton said:
I absolutely agree with the previous two comments.

The people who are "having issues with them" post on the forum. The people who like friction tuners don't. Many owners think like me: they are fine with fiction pegs on soprano or concerts, but find geared tuners generally more satisfactory on tenors.

I know a number of professional players who like friction pegs on the instruments they play for pleasure, but for practical reasons use geared pegs on stage.

You mentioned "sealed" geared tuners. Personally, I like open geared tuners.

Ken thats a good point Im sure there are plenty of people that use friction tuners that have no problems whatsoever, and I even see a post here and there where people complain of issues with geared tuners..(not sure why I specified sealed in this post I should have just said geared considering even I have open geared on my ukulele.) Having no experience with friction tuners though I was curious whether this was a case of tradition eschewing function, or if there was a practical case for both. I guess coming from a guitar background I just have a natural leaning towards geared...

Doc_J · Oct 16, 2011

guitarsnrotts said:
Cheap geared tuners generally do function better than cheap friction tuners. If you go with the higher quality frictions like Schaller, Gotoh or the better Grovers like the 1W with the thumb lock or their 85B, they look more traditional and hold tunings well.
I overall prefer friction tuners on my sopranos and concerts for both looks and weight but really don't have a preference on tenors.

I like the Gotoh & Grover deluxe friction tuners a lot, more that the Schallers. To echo all the comments before, they work great on concerts and sopranos, keeping the weight down too.

It took me a while to get the right touch for tweaking a string with friction tuners. But now just as easy as with geared tuners, provided you have good quality friction tuning pegs.

Pondoro · Oct 16, 2011

I played for 2-3 years with only geared tuners, I bought my first uke with friction tuners and hated them, but now, two years on, I like the friction tuners better. They do require some getting used to.

tigersister · Oct 16, 2011

Both have their advantages and disadvantages. I have geared -- 8:1 open on concert & 16:1 sealed on tenor -- and friction -- modern on soprano pineapple & old fashioned tapered pegs on vintage soprano -- tuners on my ukes, and the only ones I'm not a complete fan of is the tapered pegs. They're not really all that hard to adjust, but they can be more finicky than I am willing to deal with on some days. I'm thinking about replacing them with Pegheads. I've had a chance to try them and I really like them.

Friction tuners vs. sealed gear???

ejnovinsky

Well-known member

kenikas

Well-known member

coolkayaker1

Well-known member

Ken Middleton

Well-known member

kissing

Well-known member

Pukulele Pete

Well-known member

roxhum

Well-known member

guitarsnrotts

Well-known member

ejnovinsky

Well-known member

Doc_J

Well-known member

Pondoro

Well-known member

tigersister

Well-known member

Similar threads