Gotoh UPT tuner on KoAloha Tenor?

YoungEagle said:

Hello, guys!
Recently, I'm thinking about upgrading the KoAloha stock tuner to the Gotoh UPT tuner.
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1. I'm wondering if anyone has experience of upgrading KoAloha Tenor tuner to Gotoh UPT tuner?

2. What's the main difference you notice?

3. I also wonder why Gotoh UPT tuner is called a tuner "upgrade" option? What's the advantage of Gotoh UPT?

4. If you have done this, do you buy Gotoh "UPT" or Gotoh "UPTL?"

5. Can Gotoh tuner hold the tension of the KoAloha Tenor strings?
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I'm looking forward to listening to you guys' experience with it. It will be fantastic if you like to share the pics with me. Thanks!

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snowdenn said:

1. I don't, but I think I can answer some of your questions.

2. There should only be two differences. One is aesthetic: the UPTs will go behind the headstock like friction tuners rather than the stock geared tuners that stick out the sides. Second is the accuracy/tuning ratio. I believe KoAloha's geared tuners are 14:1, which is pretty standard. UPTs are 4:1. That means you can make smaller adjustments on the KoAlohas; there's no advantage to UPTs for tuning.

3. Based on the above, the Gotohs are only better aesthetically, if you prefer back of the head tuners instead of side gears. The stock tuner has a better tuning ratio. The reason Gotoh UPTs are often referred to as upgrades is because they are usually replacing stock friction tuners. But KoAloha tenors don't have friction tuners, so it's not really an upgrade unless the look of the UPTs appeals to you. Keep in mind, if you make this change, any extra holes left by the stock geared tuners behind the headstock might not look as nice, even if you have them filled in.

4. It would depend on the thickness of the headstock. Under 12mm is UPT. Over 12mm is UPTL. I don't know how thick the KoAloha tenor headstock is.

5. Unless you have a special instrument, pretty much any tuner should be able to hold any string tension. Your bridge would probably have problems before your tuners.


My two cents: unless you really want the looks of the UPTs, there's no point in doing this upgrade.

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