Gotoh Planetary Tuners on Koaloha Concert

grownupboy

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hey all,

considering grabbing a koaloha concert and upgrading to the gotoh planetary tuners. has anyone done this on the concert size koaloha headstock?

wondering if the extra "girth" of the tuners overhangs or looks awkward or if it's a smooth fit.

got a pic of yours?

thanks!

karl
 
I always found the standard KoAloha frictional to work fine. Yeah, they're a bit more touchy than gears but they stuck well enough on the one I had. I wouldn't do any alterations but that's just me.
 
I put them on my KoALoha longneck soprano and they worked fine, looked good.

John
 
thanks steedy...

i was worried that the extra width of the tuners would "hang over" the rounded part at the bottom of the headstock. your pics make it look flush and a good fit. how do you find the weight as opposed to the friction tuners? or did you get the uke with these tuners from the shop?

karl
 
thanks steedy...

i was worried that the extra width of the tuners would "hang over" the rounded part at the bottom of the headstock. your pics make it look flush and a good fit. how do you find the weight as opposed to the friction tuners? or did you get the uke with these tuners from the shop?

karl

I measured the tuners on a postal scale when I changed mine. They are within a few grams (for the whole set) of being exactly the same weight as the KoAloha friction tuners.

The buttons are also smaller, which leaves more room on the back of the headstock to leave a small clip-on tuner permanently on the uke.

John
 
What stops me is that I love the amber KoAloaha knobs on my friction tuners. Aesthetically, it would be a a loss for me, however well the tuners perform.
 
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pretty sure i've seen planetary tuners with amber knobs but they're a slightly different color from the stock koaloha.

gotta say i'm tempted to get the uke with frictions (i really have no problem with frictions on a concert) and decide later if i want to add the upts. would be a bit of a pain to find someone to install them (i understand you have to make the holes a bit bigger to fit them in) but at least i'd have options...

thanks for the conversation on this - really helpful so far!
k
 
I ordered my KoAloha Concert from HMS with the Gotoh UPTs installed, but they certainly feel lighter than conventional sealed gear tuners, and they work great; smooth and quick.

Here's a link to the ukulele site dot com that shows the available shapes and colors:

http://www.theukulelesite.com/gotoh-upt-tuner-upgrade.html

I think the black & gold ones would look really nice on the right uke, but the amber ones might look good on a KoAloha too.

Cheers! :D
 
ahh.. makes sense.

i like the amber buttons but am kinda digging the white like you have on yours. are those pearl white or the vintage looking white (not bright white but not cream either)...

k
 
Mine are the vintage looking white ones. When I ordered the uke last summer, the tuners were called "Ivoroid/Chrome", but now it looks like they might be the first one pictured, the UBN-CW "Vintage Oval" style. I like them but you won't go wrong either way. The stock KoAloha friction tuners are really nice-looking and I'm sure they're high quality.
 
Have Gotch UPT 's on my Kamaka Ohta San and 3A Concert. Also had them installed on an older, 2011, Kamaka concert. They look great and are so smooth. Do not mind the standard amber colored friction tuners on my KoAloha.
 
I just recieved a KoAlohoa concert and was tempted to upgrade to UPT's, because I had never used friction tuners before. What convinced me to stay with the friction tuners was two things. I liked the logo on the knobs and most importantly if they are good enough for KoAloha to put them on then they are good enough for me. It took me a little time to get used to them, but they work great and I am glad I did not upgrade.
 
thanks for the reply steedy...

does anyone know if the holes in the headstock need to be made larger to accept the gotoh upt tuners? or do they slip in existing size holes. would love the option of switching back at some point if needed. i also like the look of the stock tuner and as i mentioned i'm not opposed to friction tuners. but i've also had ukes with pegheads and they were a no-brainer to tune so i'm looking at options...

thinking of how much commitment it is to put the upt tuners on... as in - is there no going back?

:)

k
 
What stops me is that I love the amber KoAloaha knobs on my friction tuners. Aesthetically, it would be a a loss for me, however well the tuners perform.

Like these?
 

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Where are people buying these for a good price. I would buy from HMS, but I am specifically looking for gold with ivoroid buttons (which HMS doesn't seem to carry) to match an ivoroid bound uke.
 
thanks for the reply steedy...

does anyone know if the holes in the headstock need to be made larger to accept the gotoh upt tuners? or do they slip in existing size holes. would love the option of switching back at some point if needed. i also like the look of the stock tuner and as i mentioned i'm not opposed to friction tuners. but i've also had ukes with pegheads and they were a no-brainer to tune so i'm looking at options...

thinking of how much commitment it is to put the upt tuners on... as in - is there no going back?

:)

k

On the concert neck with friction tuners you need to widen the holes very slightly. A few turns with a tapered reamer from the back of the headstock is all it takes. Pay attention to what you are doing, though. There is a little metal locating pin on the UPTs that is designed to penetrate the wood to keep the barrel of the tuner from twisting. So, when you trial fit the tuner it will sit sideways because of this pin, even after the hole is wide enough. It's pretty obvious once you know it's there but if you don't notice the pin it would probably be easy to keep reaming thinking you haven't got the hole big enough.

On a tenor neck that came with geared tuners (my Pineapple Sunday) it was not necessary to widen the holes at all.

John
 
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