Change old friction tuner pegs

Hallo, i have an old bruko no.6 soprano and i want to cange the old tuner with one not expansive. The ukuele have at least 20 years.
I think about grover 2b or grover 3b (finding here in italy).
Can someone tell me the different and if they are a good buy and if i have to drill something?
I post an image of my original tuner.
Thank you and sorry for my bad english.

Hi Scatcat,

I just put a few sets of the 2b tuners on some Harmony ukes from the 20s - 40s. I did not want to do it as they were so old but I played them a lot. The tuners were disintegrating and the superglue was not able to keep them reliable. I picked the 2b tuners because they are light like the old tuners.

The problem is shaft size on vintage uke tuners. The old tuners have a 1/8 inch dia shaft and the new tuners are 5/16. Plus there is a bushing you have to make a tapered hole for on the top ( front) of the head.

On two of the ukes I did not use the tapered bushing and just used the stock washer so I did not have to drill a tapered hole for the bushing.

Make sure your headstock thickness is within the working thickness of the tuner. I don't remember the minimum but the max was 1/2" for the 2b.

The first thing I did was make the shaft hole the proper size by first staring the drill bit by hand by twisting it backwards (counter clockwise) in the front and back entrance to the hole. Then I ran it backwards in a drill to enlarge the entire hole. I then tested the new shaft for free rotation and repeated the drill if needed. I ran it backwards to help prevent it splitting out wood when starting and exiting the hole. Work slow and don't force it. Then I slipped the original washer (did not use the tapered bushing) on the shaft, inserted it in the front and put on the tuner bushing, tuner and screw.

They work great, especially after using the 70 year old tuners.

On two other ukes I used the tapered bushings. This is a little more complicated. There I enlarged the shaft hole as above first. I measured the bushing top diameter ( the top of the tapered part) and using a drill that size, drilled a hole to the measured depth. I used a drill press, but you you could put tape on the bit on a hand drill to know when to stop. If you run the drill in forward it can pull you through the entire headstock, so run it in reverse and go slowly. You have to make sure the bushing is flush with the top else it will rotate with the tuners. Make sure everything is centered with the hole. Then reassemble with the bushings and don't use the stock washers.

On all the ukes I cleaned up the taper on the plastic tuners where they fit in the plastic tuner bushing. There is a mold seam on the knobs (flashing). I took some 600 grit (400 would work too) sandpaper and on the taper and top I lightly sanded the seam until it was smooth.

I am not sure if this is needed but I also put a tiny drop of oil on the washer/ bushing and some graphite on the plastic tuner taper. If you do this don't get oil under the bushing between the wood. Just a tiny bit of everything. I don't think this is really doing anything but making me tighten the screw more to prevent slippage.

Once everything is assembled it will take awhile for everything to settle in so you should bring a screwdriver with you to tighten the screws until it stabilizes. If you used the bushings and you see one turning in the hole when you tune, you may have not drilled its hole deep enough to allow it to seat.

I love the new tuners, light, easy to tune, don't overwhelm the vintage looks. I should have done it years ago. I've got two more to do.

So much for a short posting.

ukuleleblues - sorry to thread snatch - would you give me a grammes weight on one of the 2b sets you still have to do?? Trying to compile which are the lightest friction tuners and there is very little info on them generally! (The basic Gotoh look quite good too) ta!

pondweed said:

ukuleleblues - sorry to thread snatch - would you give me a grammes weight on one of the 2b sets you still have to do?? Trying to compile which are the lightest friction tuners and there is very little info on them generally! (The basic Gotoh look quite good too) ta!

Click to expand...

I don't have a scale but next time I go to work I"ll stop by the
Post office and weigh them, if the lobby is open tomorrow (memorial day), I can weight them then, else it will be Wednesday.

Thank you very very much for the post!!!!!
All very clear and detailed.
Good idea to use the stock washer...stay in tune like use the tapered bushing?
Thank you again!!!
Ciao

scatcat said:

Thank you very very much for the post!!!!!
All very clear and detailed.
Good idea to use the stock washer...stay in tune like use the tapered bushing?
Thank you again!!!
Ciao

Click to expand...

i honestly can't feel much of a difference between using the washer or the tapered bushing. If you want to use the washer and the hole is too small you can either get a small round file and widen it or go to a well stocked hardware store and get 4 small washers.

I am going to do this for one of the ukes I still need to do. I am going to get either stainless steel or aluminum since I play them on the beach and they won't rust.

pondweed said:

ukuleleblues - sorry to thread snatch - would you give me a grammes weight on one of the 2b sets you still have to do?? Trying to compile which are the lightest friction tuners and there is very little info on them generally! (The basic Gotoh look quite good too) ta!

Click to expand...

1 tuner weighed .30 ounces. 2 tuners weighed .60 ounces. When I put all 4 on I got 1.10 ounces. So the scale was rounding up (postage scale with a computer screen. I would go with the 1.10/4 =.275 oz. look on line for a Grammes conversion.

Much appreciated, thanks!

pondweed said:

ukuleleblues - sorry to thread snatch - would you give me a grammes weight on one of the 2b sets you still have to do?? Trying to compile which are the lightest friction tuners and there is very little info on them generally! (The basic Gotoh look quite good too) ta!

Click to expand...

I would be interested in what you compile. Could you post the results or pm me? I have a set of Grover champions I'll weigh also and a set of 4bs. I'll be curious how much more they weigh as there is a lot of metal in the champions.

yes, please do! here is draft list so far….most interested in the light stuff which is actually on the early Martins and Harmony etc - got a feeling its most likely to be no more than pegged weight.
http://dailyukulele.wordpress.com/compare-tuning-pegtuner-weights/

pondweed said:

yes, please do! here is draft list so far….most interested in the light stuff which is actually on the early Martins and Harmony etc - got a feeling its most likely to be no more than pegged weight.
http://dailyukulele.wordpress.com/compare-tuning-pegtuner-weights/

Click to expand...

I can send you the weight of some old vintage tuners with what uke they came from. I need to find a decent scale.

I've just bought one from ebay (0.1g-1000g) - hence waiting to weigh my own ones properly! Many thanks. We can list it properly as a thread when there are a few more on the base list… so it can be added to.

Put on the grover 3b!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Whowww, stay in tune well, easy to tune and better sound, more presence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

scatcat said:

...and better sound, more presence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Click to expand...

Different tuners gave it better sound and more presence? And here, I thought tuners just held the strings at the right tension.

Yes better sound :rock:
I don't know if is because stay very well in tune now or is my AWESOMENESS (suggestion) for have, now ,a usable ukulele!!!

I see. Makes sense, scat.

Q: do yu find the action high? Someone had a post on here this week and re-configured the nut and saddle and lowered the action, too. I found the Brukos to have the highest action of any ukulele I have ever played and sold all the sopranos (the baritones I had were not as offensive in that regard).

coolkayaker1 said:

I see. Makes sense, scat.

Q: do yu find the action high? Someone had a post on here this week and re-configured the nut and saddle and lowered the action, too. I found the Brukos to have the highest action of any ukulele I have ever played and sold all the sopranos (the baritones I had were not as offensive in that regard).

Click to expand...

The action of my bruko is perfect at the nut, in the end of the freatboard is a little high a cause of the saddle, but not very very high. For strumming is ok, i like to have more string space over the freatboard when i strum. I don't know if is because is an old bruko, but not very high action.
Is the first good quality soprano, so i'm not an expert with this size. Lowered the action in this bridge is not a simple job.
Ciao!!

scatcat said:

The action of my bruko is perfect at the nut, in the end of the freatboard is a little high a cause of the saddle, but not very very high. For strumming is ok, i like to have more string space over the freatboard when i strum. I don't know if is because is an old bruko, but not very high action.
Is the first good quality soprano, so i'm not an expert with this size. Lowered the action in this bridge is not a simple job.
Ciao!!

Click to expand...

I have three Brukos and I love them. I don't find the action too high. They are spot on at the nut and yes, maybe a little high up the fretboard but it doesn't seem to affect the intonation. I don't go up the fretboard much and I love their tone.

scatcat said:

Put on the grover 3b!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Whowww, stay in tune well, easy to tune and better sound, more presence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Click to expand...

Maybe the extra mass of the 4bs over the all plastic stock tuners changed the dynamics of the neck vibrating. The Big Kahuna posted a thread about this http://www.fender.com/accessories/fatfinger/fatfinger-guitar-nickel/

Maybe the heavier tuners did the same. Here is the big Ks post: http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?94851-Want-to-make-your-cheap-uke-sustain-longer&highlight=Headstock+weight

Just giving this old thread a bump in case anyone might be able to make suggestions that don’t involve drilling.

I have an old Uke with narrow shaft friction tuners, unfortunately one tuner is missing so I must replace the set. The original tuners are a very simple five part design which can be made to work (parts are: shaft, thrust washer, friction washer, button and tensioning screw). The hole size is 9/64” (3.6mm) straight through, no bushing.

Tuners of a similar straight through design are on their way to me from China, but their shaft diameter wasn’t specified and I’m guessing that the new shaft diameter will require me to drill out the existing holes - it’s a pragmatic rather than perfect solution. A straight one out one in replacement (no drilling) would be preferable to me so I’m looking for suggestions and recommendations please.