Gotoh UPT Tuners

Jerryc41

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I love the Gotoh UPT tuners, but they are so hard to buy. I can order them from the factory in Japan, but that takes months and costs almost $100. HMS stocks some, but Gotoh makes so many different combinations that HMS can't stock everything. My last order was out of stock, so I requested anything in black.

I'm thinking Gotoh has a very small operation, so they can't turn out large numbers of tuners to supply dealers. I'm also thinking that other manufacturers should start making these things. You'd think Grover or Waverly would want to tap into this market.

Doing a search on Amazopn got me this:
We found 0 results for "ukulele upt tuning machines"

EDIT: I found this on eBay.
https://www.ebay.com/i/122961599145?chn=ps
 
I love the Gotoh UPT tuners, but they are so hard to buy. I can order them from the factory in Japan, but that takes months and costs almost $100. HMS stocks some, but Gotoh makes so many different combinations that HMS can't stock everything. My last order was out of stock, so I requested anything in black.

I'm thinking Gotoh has a very small operation, so they can't turn out large numbers of tuners to supply dealers. I'm also thinking that other manufacturers should start making these things. You'd think Grover or Waverly would want to tap into this market.

Doing a search on Amazopn got me this:
We found 0 results for "ukulele upt tuning machines"

EDIT: I found this on eBay.
https://www.ebay.com/i/122961599145?chn=ps

I understand that you like Gotoh Tuners, but 5 posts in a row is a little much. One can certainly tune his/her uke with some other kind.

Calm down, take it easy, go play a little ditty or two — but be sure to tune! :eek:ld:
 
I assume that the multiple posts are the result of the rash the 30-second violation.

My uke guy works in Vermont but got my UPTs from a shop on Hawaii who buys them from Japan. I am way happy with them!
taro-10.jpg
 
I love the Gotoh UPT tuners, but they are so hard to buy. I can order them from the factory in Japan, but that takes months and costs almost $100. HMS stocks some, but Gotoh makes so many different combinations that HMS can't stock everything. My last order was out of stock, so I requested anything in black.

I'm thinking Gotoh has a very small operation, so they can't turn out large numbers of tuners to supply dealers. I'm also thinking that other manufacturers should start making these things. You'd think Grover or Waverly would want to tap into this market.

Doing a search on Amazopn got me this:
We found 0 results for "ukulele upt tuning machines"

EDIT: I found this on eBay.
https://www.ebay.com/i/122961599145?chn=ps

Magic Guitar Parts in Germany sell a der jung tuner just about identical to the Gotohs at approx half the cost. These are now my new tuners.
 
I have put the Gotoh upt tuners on four instruments and all ordered from theukulelesite.com. They have never let me down, but there again my orders have never been too complicated. IMHO these are the best of the best as they are very lightweight and ultra precision jewels.

I do appreciate the Magic Guitar Parts link as they have some banjo tuners that were just right for another project.
 
I bought some "Geared Banjo Friction Tuners" on ebay for $20 to see what I'd get. They work, roughly, but they are large and weigh a TON!

The package from China was the size of a pack of cigarettes, but felt like there was a brick inside! lol. I put them on an old baritone and they still seem really big.
 
I bought some Gotoh UPTL black finish with oval black buttons from Lucysukulele on Ebay. I received exactly what I ordered in 5 days. Comparable price to HMS.

My problem with HMS was that they never had the model I wanted in stock. In fact, their stock was always low, and their listings numbers didn't always align with the item numbers you could order.
 
I understand that you like Gotoh Tuners, but 5 posts in a row is a little much. One can certainly tune his/her uke with some other kind.

Calm down, take it easy, go play a little ditty or two — but be sure to tune! :eek:ld:

I'm not sure what you mean by "5 posts in a row," but when I clicked on it to post, I got an error page, so I waited and tried again. This morning, the original post was still sitting there waiting to be posted.
 
Careful that the first Magic link there is for banjo sized tuners. There's a schematic in the pictures, and it's much larger than the ukulele sized tuners in the second link. Once you add shipping and convert Euros to USD they're not that much less than the Gotohs in the US (and more than some eBay offers, but I'm not sure I trust something that much less than the median)
 
Careful that the first Magic link there is for banjo sized tuners. There's a schematic in the pictures, and it's much larger than the ukulele sized tuners in the second link. Once you add shipping and convert Euros to USD they're not that much less than the Gotohs in the US (and more than some eBay offers, but I'm not sure I trust something that much less than the median)

Not trusting something because it is cheaper is absurd. Try them first then you can comment from a position of strength.
I used to buy my Gotohs from HMS for US60.00 plus 9.99 shipping to NZ. Now they want US$30.00 to ship them, so they have priced themselves out of the market.
A very well respected Luthier on this forum suggested I try the Der Jung and they are superb and consderably cheaper. And only 9 euro shipping
 
I see that Elderly carries the Gotoh tuners. They also seem to have a variety listed. I have never ordered them, so I am not sure of stock.
 
Not trusting something because it is cheaper is absurd.
I'm not mistrusting the Der Jung (DJ) tuners - I'm mistrusting the unknown ebay seller who has a price for supposed Gotoh UPTs that is half the price of every other seller I see for the exact same product . The DJ tuners are slightly less expensive to the US than reasonable looking Gotoh prices (DJ: $55ish vs HMS: $65ish, if my math is right). This is close enough I'd consider them the same category. This is much different from the price ratio you're seeing to NZ ($4 shipping to US vs $30 to NZ is over 35% more total for you)
 
I purchased two sets of UPTs from philaluthiertools on eBay. I paid $70 each and have continued shopping with them for other items. I have no affiliation but they originally caught my attention because I’m in philly as well.
 
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