Gear tuners

rreffner

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Aloha. This is my first post. I have a 25 year old Kamaka tenor which has the original tuners (friction) and I am thinking about geared tuners, similar to what I have on my guitar.

Any comments, tips, suggestions?

Mahalo
 
Welcome To UU. Hope you enjoy and learn. I'm pretty sure you'll be getting responses in favor of both the Geared and Friction Tuner. It seems to just really fall under prefrence.

I have geared tuners on my Baritone Ukulele (Tuned gCEA) and of course friction tuners on my Fluke. Personally, I really like the Geared Tuners. I find it easier to fine tune my Uke. I usually spend more time tuning and untuning (Is that even a word?) my Fluke compared to my Baritone. I hope that helps a little. I'm just learning myself.
 
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There are compelling arguments in favor of either style of tuners. Friction tuners give a more traditional, dignified appearance to your ukulele in some peoples opinions, but they have a tendency to slip and detune easily. Geared tuners can look kind of goofy on a ukulele, sort of like the ukulele has big ears (again- that is a personal opinion of some. I personally prefer the appearance of geared tuners because I think they make the instrument look more complicated to play than it really is, which is a plus.) Geared tuners are also generally better for tuning, because they tune more accurately and then stay in tune longer. All-in-all, it's entirely a matter of personal preferrence.
 
I highly prefer geared tuners over mechanical friction tuners. If you get them for your uke, make sure they aren't too heavy and that the string posts aren't too high. If they're too heavy, your uke will feel unbalanced and peghead heavy. If the string posts are too high, you can run into the problem of the strings not making good contact in the nut slots.

Before deciding which brand of tuners to get, measure your pefhead thickness. Many geared tuners made for ukes only allow for a peghead of up to 1/2" thick. If your peghead is thicker than that, then you usually need to get guitar tuners.

Grover makes open back geared tuners that are made for ukuleles that are lightweight and very good quality. Bushman makes sealed tuners with small ebony buttons on them that are more expensive, higher quality, and a bit heavier. Both have 14:1 gear ratios for accurate tuning. Here are the Bushman tuners:
http://jumpingflea.com/productdetail.cfm?Model=SGB

An alternative is to get Pegheds - very very lightweight 4:1 geared tuners that look like wood violin pegs. These are expensive though, around $80.
http://www.pegheds.com/

If you're interested in a set of new gold Bushman tuners, PM me.
 
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i prefer geared tuners myself but being that you have a 25 year old uke you should keep that original look no doubt. post sum pics of that baby! i would love to see what it looks like.
 
Friction tuners are tough to figure out. in essence you have to tune the tuners by tightening or loosening the screws that hold them in. However, once you've mastered them, tuning is just as easy And you become the only person that can do it properly, which is kinda fun.
 
Aloha. This is my first post. I have a 25 year old Kamaka tenor which has the original tuners (friction) and I am thinking about geared tuners, similar to what I have on my guitar.

Any comments, tips, suggestions?

Mahalo

Some geared tuners are a lot heavier and make the uke feel top heavy. I love the action of a geared but love the weight of a friction tuner.
 
i think you just need to master the friction tuners and you wont have to worry about getting geared ones. what you have to do is pinch the tuner and not twist it so much on the friction tuners. that is the key to "fine tuning" them.

and i do agree with keeping the friction tuners on because its such an old uke it would look nice and original.

good luck with whatever choice you make!
 
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