Tuning Peg questions

Underground,

The soprano ukulele I am using is just about 60 years old and it has the original tuning pegs on them. When I got it, the screw heads on the back were already stripped a bit and I think I've been giving it too much muscle and they're mashed up a bit more. I just recently noticed the plastic heads were starting to crack as well. Heres a photo.


Does it matter what kind of Friction tuners I buy? I don't mind using them since I've never tried tuning gears, but I wanted to know if anyone had any preference. Thanks!

A nice set of Grover friction pegs would probably work great on it. Be sure to measure the hole size and head thickness to ensure you get the right pegs that will fit.

It looks the tuning pegs on your uke are the very lightweight and inexpensive kind that don't have ferrules. If you don't want to enlarge the pegholes in your uke, you should get the same kind as replacements. I might even have some lying around that I could send you for free if you're in the continental USA (let me know if you're interested in them, and I'll look for them and let you know if I still have them.)

There are lots of better quality and more expensive uke pegs out there that work better, and there are also much better quality and much more expensive uke pegs out there that work quite a lot better. These have ferrules which you press into the pegholes of the uke, so you'd have to enlarge the exisitng holes to the correct dimaeter to install them.

I think these are real good friction tuners:
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Ukulele_tuners/Grover_Champion_Dulcimer_Uke_Friction_Pegs.html

There are two major brands sommonly sold in the USA - Grover and Gotoh. In my opinion, the equivalent Grover tuners work more smoothly than the Gotoh's. Other folks have the opposite opinion though!

If you want geared tuners, I like the Grover open back geared tuners made for ukuleles - they work well, are light weight, and while they require a larger peghole than most friction tuners, the peghole diameter is not much larger than the existing one, so you're not chewing up too much of your peghead!!!
You can get these tuners here:
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Ukulele_tuners/Grover_Ukulele_Tuning_Machines.html

Wow, these responses were fast, Thanks guys!

Loma, I plan on playing this ukulele a lot, so I'm guessing it would be a wise idea to invest in those Grover Champs eh? I'm low on cash as of right now but i'll start saving for them. In the meantime however I'd like to take you up on your offer for those plastic ones if you have them that is. I'll swap you a print of a Vespa Illustration I did when I was in Italy. Here's the link to what it looks like. Oh and I live in Vermont.

http://www.chadcovino.com/vespa.html

Hey covinoch,

I tried to pm you but I got a message back saying your account couldn't receive private messages...

I forgot to look for the pegs this weekend, but I'll scavenge around tomorrow. Even if I can't find the ones I'm looking for, I can still send you some pegs you could use, although you might have to enlarge the pegholes on your uke for 'em.

Your Vespa illustration is very cool!

Send me your address via pm and I'll post some pegs of one kind or another to you tomorrow! -Lorelie

Are you sure that injection moulded pegs were quite the thing in 1948?

Message sent.

I don't think they ever went out of style...