WTB: 40's Favilla pearloid tuning knob

connor013

connor013

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Hi everybody.

I recently picked up my first vintage uke, a 1940's Favilla soprano. It's sweet, but it needs one tuning knob (it came with the peg, shaft, or whathaveyou).

I know I can switch them out to Pings, but I'd be psyched to keep it closer to the original (white, pearl/pearloid plastic). So if anyone has an extra lying around, or if you have any leads on where I could hunt one down, it would be much appreciated.

Mods: I hope this is the right board; if not, directions would be great.

Thanks.
 
Connor, I think we need to see a picture of the existing knobs, I will look to see if I have anything.
 
Yes, a picture would let us know better, and some dimensional numbers such as width and height. I shall check my button box.
 
Yup, if I were a smarter man I would have thought of that.

Will post some pics + specs tonight.

Thanks, peeps.
 
SAM_2989.jpgSAM_2992.jpg

Them's the pics. The peg shaft is 1 1/4" long, has a 3/16" square end (for the screw), and the buttons are 3/4" white plastic/pearloid/something.

If anyone has anything close -- I'm thinking like an old mason jar full of tuning bits -- I'm your guy.

Dogs: Thanks for the Stewmac link -- that may be a nifty solution.
 
I was thinking "geared" tuners. The Stew-Mac ones are intended for geared tuners. You might be able to adapt them to fit your friction tuners but they are different for sure.
 
WhenDogsSing said:
I was thinking "geared" tuners. The Stew-Mac ones are intended for geared tuners. You might be able to adapt them to fit your friction tuners but they are different for sure.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Definitely different, but I was thinking adaptation. More important, I hadn't really thought of just purchasing the knobs. Either way, your response was really helpful and much appreciated.
 
I think I have what you need. I was surprised to see gold posts, I thought Favilla only used silver. I will tell you tomorrow for sure.
 
I'm not a Favilla expert, and you could contact Tom Favilla, but all of the Favilla sopranos that I've seen have silver posts and ivoroid buttons rather than pearl ones so in fact these may not be the original tuners. Just something to think about if you're trying to stay "original" Is this a soprano or a baritone? cheers, g2
 
Both of my Favilla ukuleles have brass tuner shafts. Both also had a steel washer on top of the headstock, which had corrosion. I changed those to brass just to pretty it up. Goes nicely with the gold paint in the Favilla crest.
 
Thanks Ryan, you learn something new every day here on UU. Do they have ivoroid buttons or pearloid buttons? cheers, g2
 
Mine do not have ivoryoid buttons. The buttons on my 30's teardrop are black and on my basic soprano, they are white.

I cleaned my tuners with some Brasso, and they look beautiful, then added the brass washer, which was cheap from the hardware store (exact same size as original steel washers which had rust and some pitting) and the headstock looks really beautiful.
 
RyanMFT said:
I cleaned my tuners with some Brasso, and they look beautiful, then added the brass washer, which was cheap from the hardware store (exact same size as original steel washers which had rust and some pitting) and the headstock looks really beautiful.
Click to expand...

Good call with the brasso, Ryan. I'll add that to my clean-up list.
 
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