Planetary tuners

Wingnutz

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Is there a planetary tuner where you don't have to ream out the holes in the peghead? My friction tuners are driving me nuts, but I'm not into carving out the peghead either.

Thanks!
 
If you had wooden friction tuners the Peghead 4-1 will usuallly drop right in with little to no modification. We don't know what your current setup is. Post a picture.
 
Is there a planetary tuner where you don't have to ream out the holes in the peghead? My friction tuners are driving me nuts, but I'm not into carving out the peghead either.

Thanks!

No carving or brute force is required to install Gotoh UPT or UPT-L tuners.

All you need are about a dozen gentle rotations of a tapered reamer until the hole on the back side of the headstock for the tuner shaft is approximately 10-10.5mm wide for about 7mm into the headstock

You usually do NOT need to enlarge the holes on the front-side of the headstock if they are at least 6mm dia. already.

Then the Gotoh tuners just go right in. I went REAL slow, and took maybe 20 mins. I have the Gotoh UPT-L tuners on 3 ukes now and they work well.

One thing also to consider is that the PegHeds, which have a much longer shaft, will stick out from the back of the headstock about 37mm, whereas the Gotoh tuners will only stick out about 24mm.


Why is the length an issue?

When you put the uke in the case, if the headstock area of the case is too shallow, or the neck support not tall enough, then the tuner buttons for the C and E strings may be pressing on the inside of the case, and this puts pressure on the scarf joint on the neck, and as such is an accident waiting to happen whereby the headstock gets snapped clean off.
 
I would suggest removing one friction tuner to get a idea of what hole is there.
The non violin friction pegs I have seen use a non tapered hole, but some may have a small chamfer at the top for the collar.
Suggest you remove one peg and see what's there and to measure hole size.
On the top underside of the Gotoh is a little pin which sticks into the headstock to stop the tuner rotating. This may not work if you have the chamfer at the top of the hole.
Gotoh's iirc require a 9.5mm hole, if you have a 10mm hole put a layer of insultation tape around the Gotoh to make it fit!
Remember, Gotoh's come in two lengths, (UPT and UPTL) so you will need to know the depth of your headstock to get the right one.
h
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Thank you all for these very detailed replies. I’m sure this question gets asked a lot! I have a fairly vintage Martini so I also wonder if a retrofit would devalue it.
 
Thank you all for these very detailed replies. I’m sure this question gets asked a lot! I have a fairly vintage Martini so I also wonder if a retrofit would devalue it.

I've had a few vintage martinis in my time.
 
Thank you all for these very detailed replies. I’m sure this question gets asked a lot! I have a fairly vintage Martini so I also wonder if a retrofit would devalue it.

But seriously, unless it's a high-value Martin like a 3K or a 5K, I wouldn't worry too much about replacing the tuners affecting the value. For every person who want it completely original, there will be one who wants modern tuners. If you'll enjoy the instrument more with planetary tuners, go for it!
 
Thanks, I would never sell this thing anyway so why worry? I'm just gonna play it until it looks like Willie Nelson's guitar.
 
One of my prized possessions is a 1923 Ludwig Wendell Hall banjo uke. These came stock with friction tuners. I had owned one years ago, and the stock tuners were pretty "meh." I found my current one at a guitar show, and the tuners had already been replaced by Five-Star planetary tuners. These not only work great, but they look really sharp, too. I probably wouldn't have replaced stock tuners, but I'm awfully glad somebody had already done it for me, because this uke is a dream to tune.
 
There is a shin shaft banjo tuner out there BUT they would be heavy. The delight of the upt tuners is that they are very light and diminutive. I have put them on a 1933 Martin and a 1920s Maybell banjo ukulele. IMHO these made them into practical instruments as I do not like friction tuners very much. My last fit of the upt tuners was on a 2016 Opio and I had to ream out the holes - easy and does not take long as my reamer is just the right size at its largest for these tuner bodies.

Your choice as it is your instrument.
 
Does anyone know if these:

Gotoh UPT-UBN Sealed Planetary Tuners

will work on a Magic Fluke Firefly?
 
Does anyone know if these:

Gotoh UPT-UBN Sealed Planetary Tuners

will work on a Magic Fluke Firefly?

No, they will not.

The UPT version has a shorter shaft and you will not be able to fit the nut on the other end.

You need the UPT-L version which has a longer shaft and barrel.

Many folks here on UU (myself included) have installed the UPT-L version successfully on Fluke, Flea and Firefly ukes.

The 'UBN' part simply denotes the colors and style of the shaft and button.

Make sure you get the UPT-L version, or you will not be able to install them on ANY Magic Fluke Company instrument.
 
Thanks, I would never sell this thing anyway so why worry? I'm just gonna play it until it looks like Willie Nelson's guitar.

I just dropped UPTL’s on my S1 Martin. I love them, and it makes a more expensive instrument even easier to tune, making it more enjoyable to play. As stated, you will need a wood reamer, and if you have the budget, buy from StewMac. I bought mine from eBay and it worked just fine. Just go slow. The only negative about reaming out the holes is that there is no turning back. If you decide you don’t like the UPTs (who wouldn’t in practice—I can understand not being a fan of the looks) you’re stuck.

I would suggest the L’s (same price at HMS/The Ukulele Site). The L’s worked just fine on my S1.

Chris
 
Re: headstock thickness and UPT/UPTL selection.
From the Southern Ukulele store website:

UPT
The Gotoh Planetary tuners have 1:4 Gear Ratio and share a lot more functional similarities with geared tuners meaning they will rarely need tightening.

These Machineheads need a hole 9.7-10mm long to fit and vintage Ukuleles will often require minor work to make these tuners fit. They are designed for headstocks 10 - 12mm thick. For thicker headstocks, use the Gotoh UPTL longer shaft tuners. Please measure your instrument carefully before ordering.

UPTL
These Machineheads need a hole 9.7-10mm long to fit and vintage Ukuleles will often require minor work to make these tuners fit. They are designed for headstocks 11.5 - 13.5mm thick. For thinner headstocks, use the Gotoh UPT standard shaft tuners. Please measure your instrument carefully before ordering.

h

Edit, for clarity. "hole 9.7-10mm long" should be hole 9.7-10mm diameter
 
Last edited:
Re: headstock thickness and UPT/UPTL selection.
From the Southern Ukulele store website:

UPT
The Gotoh Planetary tuners have 1:4 Gear Ratio and share a lot more functional similarities with geared tuners meaning they will rarely need tightening.

These Machineheads need a hole 9.7-10mm long to fit and vintage Ukuleles will often require minor work to make these tuners fit. They are designed for headstocks 10 - 12mm thick. For thicker headstocks, use the Gotoh UPTL longer shaft tuners. Please measure your instrument carefully before ordering.

UPTL
These Machineheads need a hole 9.7-10mm long to fit and vintage Ukuleles will often require minor work to make these tuners fit. They are designed for headstocks 11.5 - 13.5mm thick. For thinner headstocks, use the Gotoh UPT standard shaft tuners. Please measure your instrument carefully before ordering.

h

Edit, for clarity. "hole 9.7-10mm long" should be hole 9.7-10mm diameter

Good info here ^

Keep in mind that Fluke and Flea ukes are not the same as other ukes due to the unique headstock shape, more like a classical guitar or slotted-headstock, in which the shafts of the tuners oppose each other, so the tuners do not install from front-to-back, but rather side-to-side, and the headstock on these instruments is thicker side-to-side than front-to-back.

Not a closeup, but this should give you an idea:

Fluke_Koa-4T.jpg
 
It wasn’t hard at all except for widening the hole took some effort. I used a violin peg reamer that was cheap off amazon. But otherwise pretty simple.
 
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