Sealed Tuners?

amandadverse

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I've been giving my little Makala a face lift (better strings, bone nut & bridge) and I really despise these little tuners. They don't stay in tune very well, and it's driving me nuts. I was looking at my options to replace the little devils, and am kind of wondering what the difference with sealed tuners is? The ones on the uke aren't sealed. Do the sealed ones stay in tune better? Or is that really more dependent on the gear ratio?
 
aesthetics. nothing really
I've been giving my little Makala a face lift (better strings, bone nut & bridge) and I really despise these little tuners. They don't stay in tune very well, and it's driving me nuts. I was looking at my options to replace the little devils, and am kind of wondering what the difference with sealed tuners is? The ones on the uke aren't sealed. Do the sealed ones stay in tune better? Or is that really more dependent on the gear ratio?
 
However, high quality tuners will do a much better job staying in tune than the ones on your Makala. Unfortunately cost starts to become an issue when you are looking at Grover's, Waverly's and Schallers. THey all cost about double what a Makala Soprano costs.
 
Aloha Amanda,
I know you must love your Makala....and want to do upgrades, that is cool.. sealed tuners will improve and make it easier, but they may make your uke top heavy if you have a soprano..
but give it a try...let us know how it turns out...I am sure with the upgrades it is improving...at some point maybe you can get a higher level uke..maybe keep an eye in the marketplace
a used one at a higher level for the same price as a new lower level uke....from
a cost effective stand point...:)
 
Sealed tuners are going to weigh a little more because there's more metal to them (duh!) and some people seem to find they can make a soprano a bit headstock heavy.

But really, the metal cover that seals the tuning gear isn't going to affect its ability to stay in tune. I've never found that open geared tuners need any maintenance or cleaning, although theoretically, if you leave an uke out, it could collect dust in the gears that might affect their usability. All of my ukes reside in their cases when not being played anyway. :)

Just looked at one of mine with open gears, and there's actually a screwhole to adjust it, which you don't have the option to do with sealed ones.
 
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