What tuners would you put on this ukulele?

[mikelz777]

I'm considering the purchase of a Kala KA-SCAC-SLNG - solid cedar top, laminate acacia back/sides, soprano long-neck. You can see nice pictures of it here:

https://alohacityukes.com/products/...id-cedar-top-acacia-soprano-long-neck-ukulele

I like everything about it *except* the Graphtec tuners. I pretty much hate the look and I don't like the idea of a plastic tuner. As I said in another thread, why send in plastic to do a metal's job? The light weight thing doesn't matter to me. What this comes to is that if I were to decide to get this uke, I'd be replacing the tuners and most likely, the ferrules on the face of the headstock. My first thought was all-black Gotoh UPTs but they are a bit pricey and if you look at how the Graphtech tuners are attached, there would probably be 8 exposed screw holes on the back and I don't want that. I'd need a tuner that attaches in the same way which most likely leads me to choose Grover Sta-Tite tuners which is fine, I don't mind if the tuner buttons sticking out the sides.

What tuners would you put on it? Nickel with black buttons? All nickel/nickel buttons? Gold with black buttons? All gold/gold buttons? I found some tuners on AliExpress which are Grover-like with a black body, black peg and black button with a gold gear and gold tuner button shaft and would have gold ferrules. The Grover tuners mentioned earlier would have the corresponding matching gold or nickel ferrules. All black tuners would be nice but I haven't found any that would work. I'm open to other suggestions but I don't want to leave exposed screw holes on the back of the headstock.

 

[mikelz777]

Just to prime the pump, my initial impression would be to pick nickel with black buttons. A nickel post/ferrule would more closely mirror the abalone rosette and the white purfling on the top than gold would. On the other hand, the black post/ferrule look perfect so a silver/nickel post and ferrule would be quite a stark and contrasting difference.

 

[Ziret]

Have you seen it in person yet?

 

[mikelz777]

No and likely can't. Now that I think of it, I don't think I've ever owned a uke that I was able to see in person before I bought it.

 

[man0a]

It's a budget-priced Kala. I would live with the Graphtec tuners or buy a better quality ukulele that comes with geared tuners pre-installed. To me, changing out the tuners on an ukulele in this price range isn't worth the cost and effort.

 

[Ziret]

No and likely can't. Now that I think of it, I don't think I've ever owned a uke that I was able to see in person before I bought it

No and likely can't. Now that I think of it, I don't think I've ever owned a uke that I was able to see in person before I bought it.

I feel you, I haven’t either. Get as many opinions as you like, but don’t make up your mind till you see and use the GraphTech tuners. They are more attractive than you think, and they work as well as Gotoh planetaries. As for the plastic part of your reasoning, I can see your point, you are romantic 🙂. But there’s plastic on that uke already, the binding and a couple of other locations, and many, many geared tuners—including Grover StaTite and Gotoh planetaries—have plastic buttons.

I mean whatever you want is what you should get and you sure don’t have to justify it with me, but you may be pleasantly surprised by the GraphTech machines. They are the favorite tuning machine of one of our respected luthiers. I felt exactly as you do, but I listened to him and I’m glad I did. They’re small, light, accurate attractive, and affordable. I still like the Gotohs, of course, but I don’t think they look right on a soprano—the proportions are all wrong. And they cost 1/4 the price of that ukulele. (Which, by the way, is very nice—I had that model at one point and liked it a lot and it was a good value.)

Oh and unfortunately the screw holes on the GraphTech do not match up with the Grovers.

 

[kkimura]

The Graph Tech mounting holes are 0.843" center to center. Grovers are 0.920" for a total difference of 0.077 or half that on a side. In other words the Grovers mounting holes are 0.0385 further apart on each hole. If you fill the old holes with a tooth pick, the Grovers mounting plate will cover the tooth pick and the tooth pick will support the new mounting screws.

The Grover Sta-Tites are even wider and will also work as described. (1-1/64" center to center.)

 

[mikelz777]

I feel you, I haven’t either. Get as many opinions as you like, but don’t make up your mind till you see and use the GraphTech tuners. They are more attractive than you think, and they work as well as Gotoh planetaries. As for the plastic part of your reasoning, I can see your point, you are romantic 🙂. But there’s plastic on that uke already, the binding and a couple of other locations, and many, many geared tuners—including Grover StaTite and Gotoh planetaries—have plastic buttons.

I mean whatever you want is what you should get and you sure don’t have to justify it with me, but you may be pleasantly surprised by the GraphTech machines. They are the favorite tuning machine of one of our respected luthiers. I felt exactly as you do, but I listened to him and I’m glad I did. They’re small, light, accurate attractive, and affordable. I still like the Gotohs, of course, but I don’t think they look right on a soprano—the proportions are all wrong. And they cost 1/4 the price of that ukulele. (Which, by the way, is very nice—I had that model at one point and liked it a lot and it was a good value.)

Oh and unfortunately the screw holes on the GraphTech do not match up with the Grovers.

It's not that I object to plastic on a uke, it's probably been on every uke I've owned. I'm concerned about plastic being made to perform such a critical role of holding up under constant torque and tension. It would seem to me a situation that is much more likely to fail. Black, rear-facing tuners are a really good look on this particular uke though. It's probably sound advice to give them a chance rather than condemn and plan to replace them right off the bat. (But I'm a worrier and planning ahead for what to do if/when the tuners fail or if I just don't like the look of them.)

I noticed when comparing the specs of GraphTech and Grovers that the screw holes do not match up. It looks like the footprint of the Grovers would cover up the holes of the GraphTech. I would just drill new holes and fill up the old holes if necessary. I did this on one of my Ohanas. The holes of the replacement tuners were about a screw's width further out so when drilling a new hole, the drill bit would want to skip into the old hole. I ended up having to glue toothpicks into the old holes and then drill the new holes. The new tuners covered up the mess underneath so it resulted in a nice clean look.

 

[mikelz777]

It's a budget-priced Kala. I would live with the Graphtec tuners or buy a better quality ukulele that comes with geared tuners pre-installed. To me, changing out the tuners on an ukulele in this price range isn't worth the cost and effort.

I don't know that I'd call this a budget priced uke but it's not a premium uke either. I wouldn't put Gotoh UPTs on it because of the price and hole situation noted above but I don't think it's not worthwhile to switch tuners out if they aren't too expensive. I've switched out tuners on three of my ukes before. Two of them required boring out the old holes with a t-handled reamer to accommodate larger tuners and the other required filling in all of the old screw holes and then drilling new screw holes. It was actually kind of fun because neither job was too difficult and then there is that sense of pride attached to that uke for improving the uke (at least in my eyes) and having done the job rather than paying someone else to do it.

 

[Ziret]

The Graph Tech mounting holes are 0.843" center to center. Grovers are 0.920" for a total difference of 0.077 or half that on a side. In other words the Grovers mounting holes are 0.0385 further apart on each hole. If you fill the old holes with a tooth pick, the Grovers mounting plate will cover the tooth pick and the tooth pick will support the new mounting screws.

The Grover Sta-Tites are even wider and will also work as described. (1-1/64" center to center.)

Good points. I’ve only gone from Sta-Tites to GraphTech Ratios, not the other way around—because going from Ratios to Sta-Tites is a downgrade. I used one of the original holes and then drilled a new hole for the other. The Ratios didn’t cover the new hole nor the marks left from the originals, but I was OK with that. I should have used your way, but I didn’t think of it.

 

[Jerryc41]

I generally like black buttons, but sometimes wood-color. As for the metal portion, nickel is nice. I'm not crazy about the gold/white combination. Actually, I don't like white buttons at all.

I really like the Kala cedar tenors - 4-string, 6-string, 8-string. They have a god selection at good prices. When I saw those tuners, I wondered if it was a used uke, but it's new. Kala is now using those tuners. That's not necessarily good. I wonder how they will hold up now that they will be used by more people. I'd never put them on a good uke.

Graphtech could have handled tht much better by offering both metal and plastic tuners. Gotohs are still my favorites.

 

[badhabits]

the first thing graphtech should have done was make them with a compatible hole pattern, easy enough. that would make it easier for people to try 'em out, but then again, just as many would prob be switching them out, but still... proprietary standards (is that an oxymoron?) are so annoying.

 

[mikelz777]

If I were to decide to get this uke there's a 90% chance I'd be changing out the GraphTechs. I've never seen them in person but from the pictures I've seen I find them ugly. They look like an old door knob and they have such a bulky base. I'd give them a chance but I'm guessing their appearance would be one of those things that would nag at me plus I've read of too many incidences of people experiencing failure with them. It seems like a tuning machine should last decades if not a lifetime.

 

[baconsalad]

The Gotoh UPT in chrome white and turqoise buttons would be killer.

 

[mikelz777]

Interesting choice!

 

[mikelz777]

When looking at the spec sheet for the Graphtech tuners it shows that the measurement from screw hole to screw hole is 21.4 mm but it does not provide the measurement for total length. For those of you who have Graphtechs on one of your ukes, what is the total length from point to point of the base?

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

Just to prime the pump, my initial impression would be to pick nickel with black buttons. A nickel post/ferrule would more closely mirror the abalone rosette and the white purfling on the top than gold would. On the other hand, the black post/ferrule look perfect so a silver/nickel post and ferrule would be quite a stark and contrasting difference.

I completely agree on nickel with black buttons. I dislike gold-toned metal on any instrument.

 

[mikelz777]

I completely agree on nickel with black buttons. I dislike gold-toned metal on any instrument.

The more I look at this uke the more I'm thinking that nickel with black buttons would be the way to go. I don't think gold would really work and in general, I'm not a big fan of gold either. It looks OK on some ukes but those that have had gold on them that I liked tended to have a lot of yellow, orange and gold tones in the wood. I don't really like the gold/black combo and I haven't found any suitable all black tuners that would work.

 

[badhabits]

... what is the total length from point to point of the base?

I measure 26.6 mm

 

[Nickie]

Pegheads.