Question about friction tuners

I have a Harmony baritone with friction tuners. The problem I have with them is that I constantly have to tighten the screw to keep them from becoming loose and going out of tune. Is there something I can do that will keep them tight, but still allow me to adjust them?

The other option I'm considering is to replace the tuners with Grover 4NW friction tuners. I'm concerned, though, that I will just have the same problem with these. Does anyone have experience with Grover friction tuners? Do they have to constantly be tightened?

Of course, I always have the option of installing geared tuners, but I don't want to ruin the original look of the instrument.

What year is your harmony baritone....are these the same year you have...
try to take them apart and clean and lube them.... if you get the grovers, I may be intrested in them if you want to sell them...open geared tuner work great, but if you want the original look, go with the friction ones.

Captain Simian said:

Not sure if this is the best idea but on my Aloha Royal the tuners were also slipping so I removed them, took a piece of toothpick and glued it inside the hole. No issues with them slipping since.

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This sounds like a good solution. Most likely the threads are worn or stripped on the screws or in the "nut" end of the tuner.

If you replace the tuners you might need to use the cheap plasticky ones instead of the better Grovers. The vintage Ukes usually have narrower holes in the headstock, and so far I haven't been able to find good quality friction tuners that I could use without drilling.

If anyone knows of any, please post!

mm stan said:

What year is your harmony baritone....are these the same year you have...
try to take them apart and clean and lube them.... if you get the grovers, I may be intrested in them if you want to sell them...open geared tuner work great, but if you want the original look, go with the friction ones.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure what year it is, but my tuners look just like those. I'll definitely let you know if I replace them.

allanr said:

This sounds like a good solution. Most likely the threads are worn or stripped on the screws or in the "nut" end of the tuner.

If you replace the tuners you might need to use the cheap plasticky ones instead of the better Grovers. The vintage Ukes usually have narrower holes in the headstock, and so far I haven't been able to find good quality friction tuners that I could use without drilling.

If anyone knows of any, please post!

Click to expand...

Nothing is stripped and the nuts appear to be holding, I just have to tighten the screws too often. I'm actually only having problems with one of the tuners. I'm thinking I may just replace them, though, since I don't think I could find just one of this same vintage. I just don't know if the Grovers will give me this same problem. If so, I'd rather have geared tuners. I may just get the Grover frictions and if I don't like them, I can always replace them with geared. I know I'll have to drill out the tuner holes, but that shouldn't be any big deal.

Don't put geared on and ruin vintage look plus resale.

Gotoh Deluxe Friction tuners. You might need to gently ream the holes open slightly, but it's not hard ( I used the reamer on my Swiss Army knife on a vintage sop...no kidding).

Trust me, and Kiwaya, and all the other high end friction tuner uke makers... $55 Gotoh Deluxe Friction Tuners. Available at Elderly and elsewhere. They even look like your tuners.

That's a nice uke, LS. Save it. It'll be worth twice what you paid for it in 2030, the start of the fourth wave of ukulele popularity.