Okay...the Banjo planetary tuners arrived today...in a large Amazon envelope, the five tuners (the 5th tuner is of no use to me) packaged in a small taped bubble wrap package.
Installation is exactly the same as Gotohs, with the exception that the “stake” on the main unit is larger and needs a larger diameter hole.
These things are big. The back units have a diameter of 16.8mm, and are 42mm long (or about 1 5/8”). I don’t know how this compares with Peg Head tuners, but it is A LOT bigger than the Gotohs.
None of this is a surprise to me, and it is something I am going to live with. I could probably find more compact planetary banjo tuners, but not for $20.
The operation is similar, but in no way comparable, to the Gotohs that I own. They just aren’t smooth. That said, they work 1000% better than the friction tuners that were on this particular ukulele...and the depth of that headstock requires a non-ukulele solution. Believe it or not, when I hold the ukulele at the body/neck meeting point, it is perfectly balanced. I would think the head would sink like a stone when trying to balance it.
Booli...I’m not sure what to say. I think you’ll be disappointed by the tactile quality of these tuners versus the Gotoh. But then again, if you are looking for a super-cheap solution, these are working (so far) and I have no reason to believe they won’t keep working.
I’m just pleased to have a functional ukulele, when it was previously unplayable regardless of how tight I made the back screws, and the threat of it being nothing with one bored out hole and 3 regular holes.
And I’m quite (using a term from Zoe Bestel) chuffed to have a Martin S1 with UPTs. I don’t have a lot of ukuleles that are worthy of UPTs, but my Opio Concert is going to get them, and I’m even tempted to put them on my Opio Tenor which has perfectly fine geared tuners. Maybe they would make sense on my Kala Banjolele, but I’m not sure I will keep that once Outdoor Ukulele releases their banjolele.
Anything else you want to know about these Banjo tuners? The required holes are (as expected) slightly larger than Gotohs.