Waverly Friction Pegs

I'm not sure I ever want to deal with friction tuners again, but these I'll have to try. Has anyone tried them yet?

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Ukulele_tuners/Waverly_Ukulele_Friction_Pegs.html

Absolutely - at last! A proper repro friction tuner. Goodbye Chinese Gotoh repros

Wow , these are nice . I wondered if someone would reproduce this style tuner. Makes me want to get a new uke to go along with them. A " Le Noir " with these black tuners would be awesome.

Anyone else notice that a lot of the new Waverly stuff is no longer labeled as made in USA, yet they're still charging their premium prices?

What about weights claimed?
- 74 g. ebony buttons Vs 39 g. koa buttons.
Know ebony wood is heavy, and that some of china "not real koa" ebay ukulele buttons
are light, but here, difference is a little surprising, no?

I get a little exercised bu the "USA is best" shouts here. China is more than capable of producing a quality product. I buy anything that looks good and provenance is irrelevant in a global village.

As with all Waverly tuners.....very nice but expensive. Sometimes I wish I wasn't such a cheapskate

Pete Howlett said:

I get a little exercised bu the "USA is best" shouts here. China is more than capable of producing a quality product. I buy anything that looks good and provenance is irrelevant in a global village.

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*sigh*

Pete, this is the second time I've commented on USA-made, and you falsely insinuated that I said USA is best. Please, stop. Read my post again - I was commenting that Waverly charges a premium for their tuners. I was OK paying that price given the high cost of labor here in the USA, as well as the quality that Waverly is known for.

Nowhere in my post did I say "USA is best"... cause I love me some UK-made stuff too. And German. And French. And Japanese. Seriously dude, stop.

I've got a couple sets ordered and it will be interesting comparing them to the older vintage set I have. I'm looking forward to using them.

BlackBearUkes said:

I've got a couple sets ordered and it will be interesting comparing them to the older vintage set I have. I'm looking forward to using them.

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Me too! I have a soprano I'm finishing up for myself that these will be perfect for.

I used to replace a lot of these style on older ukes. It's not a good design. It angles to dig further into the back of the headstock, more and more over time. Maybe replacing on a vintage to keep the look...but it's a dumb design (imo)

they kind of look like the same size as the gotoh planetary tuners. which i just put a set on a uke i finished last week for myself. which i really like them. very smooth and substantial feeling and i really didn't notice the weight difference but man do they look, feel and work great. of course, ymmv

Definitely smaller than the UPT's. I like the petite and vintage look but this design always seemed wrong to me. I was looking closer at the sample they sent and they actually did improve on some of the original flaws. But still not my preference. Even the way the ferrel does not sit flat on the headstock is funky to me.

AndrewKuker said:

Definitely smaller than the UPT's. I like the petite and vintage look but this design always seemed wrong to me. I was looking closer at the sample they sent and they actually did improve on some of the original flaws. But still not my preference. Even the way the ferrel does not sit flat on the headstock is funky to me.

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Andrew, my experience with these tuners has been good. They are mostly used on older Martins and Gibsons, and even though the instruments were old, the tuner seem to function OK after many years of use. There can be problems if the tuners are not matched up to the headstock. The degree the headstock needs to be cut, is not the same as a standard countersink bit. If I remember correctly, a countersink bit measured about 32 degrees on the cutting angle. The vintage tuner barrels that I have measure about 12 degrees, so if they are installed into a countersink cut hole, they will not fit at all well and will wear out the wood portion of the headstock faster than they should due to limited contact with the wood. If the cut hole and the barrel portion of the tuner fit well, the action is smooth and the wear is minimal. Actually, the barrel portion of the tuner does not have to be cut into the headstock all that deep in order for the peg function to be smooth, it just needs to be installed correctly. Same goes for the washer portion that sits on the top of the headstock. Time will tell.

I really like the Gotoh planetary tuners also.

right, right, thanks Duane. The chamfer tool they advertise to use would be correct for the headstock. Totally different angle on the barrel, but the main improvement is that the barrel doesn't turn. Which is why when we were full time repair I saw so many eat into the back of the headstock after many years. They're cool, I shouldn't bad mouth. Just need to be installed correctly like you say. Just the way StewMac loves to monopolize and over price....ahh I still buy their stuff. I can get UPT's for $10 less a set and there is a lot more goin' on there, but totally different I suppose. After looking over these Waverly's better I would possibly use them in the future. Or not be opposed to it if a customer wanted them.