mikelz777
Well-known member
I'll start by trying to make a long story short.
Years ago I spent the better part of a year searching for a limited edition uke that was rare at the time. Found one and bought it expecting it to come with open geared tuners. My heart dropped when it came with boxy gold closed gear tuners with white buttons. I HATED them and planned on returning the uke despite its rarity at the time. In response the dealer sent me a free set of silver/nickel tuners/screws/grommets with ivory buttons which worked for me so I went to guitar shop to have them changed out. The next day they contacted me saying they didn't want to change the grommets for fear of chipping or damaging the finish so I ended up with silver/nickel tuners with gold grommets on the headstock. It worked for me fine, I thought it looked kinda cool and unique but I would have been happier with all one color.
Fast forward to several years later. Someone pointed out to me how crooked the attaching screws were on the tuners. Oddly, I hadn't really noticed it before. Looking at them closer, the tuners weren't even laying totally flat against the back of the headstock!! Once I was aware of it, it bothered me. For Father's day, I decided to treat myself and get the look of those tuners corrected. I bought a set of gold Grover open-geared tuners with black buttons. I also bought a black strap button to match the black tuner buttons since the old one was silver/nickel.
When I took off the silver tuners I discovered that the lazy guitar tech had used the same original holes as the original tuners even though the screw holes did not match up requiring him to put the screws in at an angle. I wanted this done right once and for all so I ended up having to glue round toothpicks into the original holes and re-drilling properly distanced holes for the screws of the new gold tuners. I took special care so as not to accidentally drill through the headstock and it turned out great!
What a difference new tuners makes! Now the gold tuner posts match the gold grommets and it looks so much better and much more cohesive. The gold hardware looks better with the tan/cream colored binding and the black buttons tie in with the black in the rope purfling as does the strap button. It really changes the overall look of the uke and I'm much happier with it!
(Pictures coming soon!)
Years ago I spent the better part of a year searching for a limited edition uke that was rare at the time. Found one and bought it expecting it to come with open geared tuners. My heart dropped when it came with boxy gold closed gear tuners with white buttons. I HATED them and planned on returning the uke despite its rarity at the time. In response the dealer sent me a free set of silver/nickel tuners/screws/grommets with ivory buttons which worked for me so I went to guitar shop to have them changed out. The next day they contacted me saying they didn't want to change the grommets for fear of chipping or damaging the finish so I ended up with silver/nickel tuners with gold grommets on the headstock. It worked for me fine, I thought it looked kinda cool and unique but I would have been happier with all one color.
Fast forward to several years later. Someone pointed out to me how crooked the attaching screws were on the tuners. Oddly, I hadn't really noticed it before. Looking at them closer, the tuners weren't even laying totally flat against the back of the headstock!! Once I was aware of it, it bothered me. For Father's day, I decided to treat myself and get the look of those tuners corrected. I bought a set of gold Grover open-geared tuners with black buttons. I also bought a black strap button to match the black tuner buttons since the old one was silver/nickel.
When I took off the silver tuners I discovered that the lazy guitar tech had used the same original holes as the original tuners even though the screw holes did not match up requiring him to put the screws in at an angle. I wanted this done right once and for all so I ended up having to glue round toothpicks into the original holes and re-drilling properly distanced holes for the screws of the new gold tuners. I took special care so as not to accidentally drill through the headstock and it turned out great!
What a difference new tuners makes! Now the gold tuner posts match the gold grommets and it looks so much better and much more cohesive. The gold hardware looks better with the tan/cream colored binding and the black buttons tie in with the black in the rope purfling as does the strap button. It really changes the overall look of the uke and I'm much happier with it!
(Pictures coming soon!)
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