6-String Tuners Suck

Paul December

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I've got a a Lanikai CK-6E that I love...
...except for its crappy tuners.
I recently upgraded my friction tuners on another uke and have built-up the courage to do the same on this one.
Would someone please suggest a set (moderately priced) I could swap these out for. Gold or Silver are cool.
Am I correct to assume it uses guitar tuners?
CK6E_headstock-front.jpg
 
Aside from maybe Waverly's....veeeerrrryyyyy expensive, I have been unable to come up with 3 a side inline tuners for a used Kala 8 string I just bought. I called Stewmac this afternoon and determined that the individual Grover geared tuners for around $13 and some change for a set of 4, are 1.299" from mounting plate tip to tip. That appears to mean that you could remove the 3 in line's and replace with individual geared tuners....should be more than enough room, and they should cover all the holes from the 3 in line's. I haven't done it yet, just found out they should fit and haven't ordered them yet. Perhaps someone who has done it can chime in.
 
Would you consider PEGHEDS? You will not get a lighter weight geared set of tuners.
Wllie Wixom has done some classical heads with PEHEDS. I did my Baroq-ulele with them. What size holes will be a factor there are 7mm -7.5mm - 8.5 and 9mms available.
 
Aside from maybe Waverly's....veeeerrrryyyyy expensive, I have been unable to come up with 3 a side inline tuners for a used Kala 8 string I just bought. I called Stewmac this afternoon and determined that the individual Grover geared tuners for around $13 and some change for a set of 4, are 1.299" from mounting plate tip to tip. That appears to mean that you could remove the 3 in line's and replace with individual geared tuners....should be more than enough room, and they should cover all the holes from the 3 in line's. I haven't done it yet, just found out they should fit and haven't ordered them yet. Perhaps someone who has done it can chime in.

I don't know how thick the Lanikai head stock is but know that either the Waverly or Grover Sta-Tites will require a thickness of close to 2 cm (13/16").
 
Grover sta-tites will be light and cheaper than waverlys. Another option would be the new gotoh stealth tuners.

Please go with something light! The slotted headstock on a 6 string has less strength than a solid so the less mass you have on there, the better. (IMHO, YVMV.)

For slotted pegheads, as much as I like pegheds, I feel they will not work so well.

Terence
 
Grover sta-tites will be light and cheaper than waverlys. Another option would be the new gotoh stealth tuners.

Please go with something light! The slotted headstock on a 6 string has less strength than a solid so the less mass you have on there, the better. (IMHO, YVMV.)

For slotted pegheads, as much as I like pegheds, I feel they will not work so well.

Terence

I will differ here. Sta-Tites weigh one ounce each, adding a whopping 6 ounces to a six string. All metal Waverly's won't be any lighter. What some builders do is to extract the metal knobs and replace them with wood ones to reduce the weight. (They are press-fitted and there's a trick to replacing them. It's not normally a consumer thing.)
I do not know if they make stealth tuners for a slotted head stock but they sure are fugly in any case!
 
What about them sucks?

Are they stiff?
Do they slip?
Do they have a lot of play?

If they are stiff, the one thing you might want to try is to take the strings off and see if they are still stiff to turn. If they are, take the tuners off and check the holes that the tuner barrels go into. Are the holes burr free? Are the holes deep enough so there is no binding?

If the other 2 issues are the problem, new tuners are what you need.

Jimmy

You could try this set, I would imagine you would need someone to special order them:

Gotoh 35G1800 is the model, 35P is the post (barrel) you would need
 
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I don't know how thick the Lanikai head stock is but know that either the Waverly or Grover Sta-Tites will require a thickness of close to 2 cm (13/16").

Please explain the 13/16"...thickness of the Kala/Lanikai headstock is about 3/8" with the center support peice recessed to accept the tip of the tuning shaft if need be. It is 1" from the outside of the peg head to the center support running down th center of the headstock. Would help clarify this issue for me.
 
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