KoAloha Tenor tuners

pix.fairydust · Jul 27, 2020

This might have been asked before (in which case I apologise) but I wasn't sure what to put in the search field to find the answers I was looking for.

I was wondering why KoAloha use rear facing tuners on their concert and soprano models but not tenor - does anyone know? I prefer the look of the rear tuners but never see a tenor with them...

Counter · Jul 27, 2020

Maybe ask them. They are usually pretty good at replying to questions.

Jerryc41 · Jul 27, 2020

Lots of pictures -

https://www.google.com/search?q=koa...Vjc98KHXHICzUQ_AUoAXoECA0QAw&biw=1920&bih=937

CPG · Jul 27, 2020

The rear facing tuners are friction tuners. I think people generally prefer the look of rear facing tuners, but planataries would cost more than either friction or guitar style geared tuners (personally I love the KoAloha friction tuners). On the tenor the geared tuners probably look more acceptable to people so my guess is they go with the the functionality of the geared ratio that most people seem to prefer, but again avoid the planataries to keep costs down. Also, I wonder if the increased string tension on a tenor makes the use of friction tuners not as feasable.

Kenn2018 · Jul 27, 2020

I believe if you want to order a tenor from Ko'Aloha you can have friction tuners installed instead of the geared.

Personally, I detest friction tuners. I don't mind rear-facing UPT tuners. I like geared tuners. I prefer open-geared tuners to sealed tuners. Ko'Aloha sealed tuners are smooth and nicely made.

Jerryc41 · Jul 27, 2020

Kenn2018 said:
I believe if you want to order a tenor from Ko'Aloha you can have friction tuners installed instead of the geared.

Personally, I detest friction tuners. I don't mind rear-facing UPT tuners. I like geared tuners. I prefer open-geared tuners to sealed tuners. Ko'Aloha sealed tuners are smooth and nicely made.

Although KoAloha friction tuners are very good, I still prefer Gotohs. I've replaced many friction tuners with Gotohs, but never on a Koaloha.

merlin666 · Jul 27, 2020

Jerryc41 said:
Although KoAloha friction tuners are very good, I still prefer Gotohs. I've replaced many friction tuners with Gotohs, but never on a Koaloha.

I agree that rear facing tuners look better on soprano and concert ukes. While I have no problem with operating friction tuners I would prefer the planetary tuners, and sometimes KoAloha comes across as being cheap where they really shouldn't be.

snowdenn · Jul 27, 2020

Kenn2018 said:
I prefer open-geared tuners to sealed tuners.

Is there a reason you prefer open to sealed? I've noticed that really cheap ukes often have sealed tuners and that geared tuners on nicer ukes are usually open. I wonder why that is, and if there are just fewer options for high quality sealed tuners.

merlin666 · Jul 27, 2020

The main difference is weight. Open tuners are lighter, which can be important for ukes. The advantage of sealed tuners is that they are permanently lubricated and don't need maintenance. Their weight can be a detriment though as seen in the the soprano and concert KoAloha silver anniversary ukes that are quite unbalanced. There are lightweight closed tuners but they are expensive, an example are the stealth tuners that Kanile'a uses for their slotheads.

Larry U · Jul 27, 2020

I swapped out the friction tuners on my KoAloha Concert with Gotoh UPTs and have absolutely no regrets! I have a love-hate relationship with friction tuners and most of the time that leans towards hate!

KoAloha Tenor tuners

pix.fairydust

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