What replacement tuners should I purchase?

Melodious Thunk · May 10, 2019

Howdy,

I just purchased what looks to be a 1920's Style 0. It appears to have some replacement tuners that look to have came loose at some point as there are rings indented in the headstock from the collars moving around.

Anyway, I plan on replacing them. Since I am new to this, I am looking for some help.

What would be a good replacement tuner for a 20's Style 0 uke? Are there decent tuners with a larger collar that might cover up some of the rings in the headstock?

Thanks much,

Ryan

Ukecaster · May 10, 2019

I don't think there's any tuners with bushings big enough to cover the marks on the front, and even if there were, they'd be so big, they'd look weird. Most any friction tuner (e. g. Grover 4 or 6) will have larger bushings which would cover some of that, but you'd probably need to ream the hole to fit the larger bushing.

The A string post looks to be positioned a bit higher than usual, maybe it's just the pic. Who knows what's been done to this uke. I'd first take the A tuner off and see what's under there. It could have been drilled and/or filled previously.

If it's a keeper, and you want the best utility, I'd go with UPTs. If keeping it original as possible is important, then I'd get a set of basic Ping friction tuners. I just installed a set of Pings yesterday on a banjo uke, they are cheap and work fine. They also have a bushing that may require some reaming of the front hole, but with those, you could use a flat washer instead of a bushing on the front, and could use a slightly larger washer, hopefully aged looking, to cover the marks. I did that once on an old Martin: installed Pings, using the old front flat washers from the original tuners.

Ping friction tuners on Style 0

Here's a set of Pings on a banjo uke. The stock bushings are bigger than what you have, but not huge.

Melodious Thunk · May 10, 2019

Ukecaster said:
I don't think there's any tuners with bushings big enough to cover the marks on the front, and even if there were, they'd be so big, they'd look weird. Most any friction tuner (e. g. Grover 4 or 6) will have larger bushings which would cover some of that, but you'd probably need to ream the hole to fit the larger bushing.

The A string post looks to be positioned a bit higher than usual, maybe it's just the pic. Who knows what's been done to this uke. I'd first take the A tuner off and see what's under there. It could have been drilled and/or filled previously.

If it's a keeper, and you want the best utility, I'd go with UPTs. If keeping it original as possible is important, then I'd get a set of basic Ping friction tuners. I just installed a set of Pings yesterday on a banjo uke, they are cheap and work fine. They also have a bushing that may require some reaming of the front hole, but with those, you could use a flat washer instead of a bushing on the front, and could use a slightly larger washer, hopefully aged looking, to cover the marks. I did that once on an old Martin: installed Pings, using the old front flat washers from the original tuners.

Ping friction tuners on Style 0

View attachment 117874

Here's a set of Pings on a banjo uke. The stock bushings are bigger than what you have, but not huge.
View attachment 117875

Thanks for the info John. I'll check out the different tuners you suggested.

-Ryan

aremick · May 10, 2019

I put UPTs on my pre-1920 style 2, and I never looked back.

Wonderful tuners!

Melodious Thunk · May 10, 2019

aremick said:
I put UPTs on my pre-1920 style 2, and I never looked back.

Wonderful tuners!

Those look a little bulky, but nice. I do like planetary tuners.

Ukecaster · May 10, 2019

Of course, unless rhey really suck, you could keep what's on there, maybe trying bigger, vintage looking flat washers with those ones. Also maybe try to clean up the headstock rings with some dark polish of some sort. If those frictions don't turn well, try adding some thin fiber washers between the button and the wood, often works wonders.

Melodious Thunk · May 10, 2019

Ukecaster said:
Of course, unless rhey really suck, you could keep what's on there, maybe trying bigger, vintage looking flat washers with those ones. Also maybe try to clean up the headstock rings with some dark polish of some sort. If those frictions don't turn well, try adding some thin fiber washers between the button and the wood, often works wonders.

I was told that they need to be replaced. I don't really care about the rings. I was just thinking that there maybe a tuner that might cover them up.

bobhost · May 10, 2019

Front and back of my UPTs.
And just to mention, in my case, the UPTs were MUCH lighter than the stock friction tuners.

merlin666 · May 10, 2019

A big yes for the UPTs. I have two older Hawaiian ukes with original friction tuners, and I only keep them because I can still get them to work. But the 70s Kamaka needs to tightened up very often. On the other hand I have a luthier built vintage Martin inspired uke, and he included the UPTs and they are just so smooth to operate. If the original tuners need to be replaced I would certainly only consider UPTs and not something that looks a bit like the original but actually isn't the original.

BTW congrats on the "new" uke. How does it compare to the 40s style 2?

PetalumaRescuke · May 11, 2019

I would first remove the tuners and see what is under them. The rings appear to be from curved washers that would not effect the hole, if holes look straight, use Pegheads it probably had wooden tuners. If it is indented had Grover Simplex, try to get a close knockoff.
About those rings, I would sand/scrape the face till the rings are gone, refinish just that face. If they don't bother you, good.

Melodious Thunk · May 11, 2019

PetalumaRescuke said:
I would first remove the tuners and see what is under them. The rings appear to be from curved washers that would not effect the hole, if holes look straight, use Pegheads it probably had wooden tuners. If it is indented had Grover Simplex, try to get a close knockoff.
About those rings, I would sand/scrape the face till the rings are gone, refinish just that face. If they don't bother you, good.

Thanks for the tips. I'd just leave the rings.

What replacement tuners should I purchase?

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