friction tuners, how do you like them?

I barely tolerate PegHed tuners, yet I own several tenors that have them. I have grown used to them. The thing I hate is, if I have to loosen the tuner when I have it in tune, and push it in to "lock" it, the string is out of tune. So I wind up tightening it up while the tuner is holding. It's a first class PIA.

I much prefer Gotoh UPT tuners. I replaced the PegHeds on my Martin 1T IZ with Gotohs and I don't regret it for a moment. Smooth, precise, and no pushing and pulling. Superb.

I am sure that the fiddlyness of friction tuners would take the joy of playing right out of the moment. I understand the attraction for soprano ukes. Maybe for concerts. But for tenors (or baris) they aren't necessary and just don't appeal to me at all.
 
I really hated them on my fiddle, I put fine tuners on the bridge.
I don't like em on my uke, either, and when i can, I'm getting planetarys put in.
 
Do - Not - Like - Them! A small movement produces a large result. Sure, the quality of the tuner makes a difference, but not amount of quality control can defeat that 1:1 ratio. I've put geared tuners on several Magic Flukes. And I've put Gotohs on several. Something old and special is allowed to keep the tuners it was born with.
 
Opinion is certainly strongly divided on this one. I love friction tuners and have upgraded the stock tuners on my Magic Fluke and Ohana sopranos to the excellent Waverly pegs.

Aesthetically I find geared tuners generally ugly and ill-proportioned, but they also seem to be a huge faff to actually tune. Changing strings takes forever! I doubt I'd think twice if I'd played the guitar before playing the ukulele, though. My Kiwaya uke has Gotoh planetary tuners and those are a joy to use, very smooth and needing only relatively slight adjustments to get in tune. Probably the ideal compromise for me, but clearly not for everyone.
 
I upgraded the friction tuners on my Ohana to Grover Champions and I still don't find them to be that smooth. Maybe I should have gone for the Waverly's.

To me, the UPTs are near ideal. I don't find them too sensitive. 14:1 just feels like overkill on a ukulele. With 14:1 geared tuners it seems like I can twist and nothing happens right away. The 6:1 ratio of the Graphtec's does sound like a sweet spot, but I'll wait until they come out with a nicer version.

The C string is more sensitive than the others (reentrant). I can't recall who has a tuner set with custom ratios for each string. Might be a nice setup if you have no intention of swapping between high G and low G.
 
I daresay much of the frustration with friction tuners people have is due to them treating friction tuners like they are geared tuners.

You have to use a different method.
On geared tuners, yes you can gradually tighten up to pitch, using small movements.

On Friction tuners, if you are not at pitch, you actually need to loosen significantly below pitch and tighten up, using bigger movements.

Obviously it takes some motor skills to get it right, but it's not too hard with some practice and familiarity.

Trying to use small movements on Friction tuners like they are geared tuners would be understandably frustrating!
 
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Yes, perhaps the biggest issue is that many are used to the tuners on a guitar. I imagine someone who is comfortable with violin would not have the same issues.
 
Kenn2018 said:
I barely tolerate PegHed tuners, yet I own several tenors that have them. I have grown used to them. The thing I hate is, if I have to loosen the tuner when I have it in tune, and push it in to "lock" it, the string is out of tune. So I wind up tightening it up while the tuner is holding. It's a first class PIA.

I much prefer Gotoh UPT tuners. I replaced the PegHeds on my Martin 1T IZ with Gotohs and I don't regret it for a moment. Smooth, precise, and no pushing and pulling. Superb.
Click to expand...

I agree completely. One advantage of Zoom jams is that it doesn't matter if the uke is in tune or not. If I don't like what the group is playing, I can play something of my own choosing.
 
BigJackBrass said:
Opinion is certainly strongly divided on this one. I love friction tuners and have upgraded the stock tuners on my Magic Fluke and Ohana sopranos to the excellent Waverly pegs.

Aesthetically I find geared tuners generally ugly and ill-proportioned, but they also seem to be a huge faff to actually tune. Changing strings takes forever! I doubt I'd think twice if I'd played the guitar before playing the ukulele, though. My Kiwaya uke has Gotoh planetary tuners and those are a joy to use, very smooth and needing only relatively slight adjustments to get in tune. Probably the ideal compromise for me, but clearly not for everyone.
Click to expand...

What model Waverly do you prefer?
 
I prefer friction tuners. My 2014 KoAloha Opio has the amber ones with their logo, and they are fine. I find I need to tighten them, and others, when the weather changes in late fall.
 
kissing said:
I daresay much of the frustration with friction tuners people have is due to them treating friction tuners like they are geared tuners.

You have to use a different method.
On geared tuners, yes you can gradually tighten up to pitch, using small movements.

On Friction tuners, if you are not at pitch, you actually need to loosen significantly below pitch and tighten up, using bigger movements.

Obviously it takes some motor skills to get it right, but it's not too hard with some practice and familiarity.

Trying to use small movements on Friction tuners like they are geared tuners would be understandably frustrating!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm sure my technique could use some improvement. When my wife got a violin I spent some time googling tuning technique. Never gave it much thought for my ukulele.
 
This is really interesting. What kind of electronic tuner do you use with friction tuners.

I find the Snark to have some play in its readings. (All of their models.) I can tighten the string quite a bit and not have the "In Tune" bar move. Invariably, when I first play the string it reads that it's in tune. But if I tighten the string just a bit, it shows that it's actually out of tune by as much as a half step.

Other brands aren't much better. Even with my Peterson the string has to be walked into its proper tune.

That's got to be maddening with a friction tuner.
 
Interesting comments on this topic. I recently posted a question about the feasibility of putting planetary geared tuners on an Ohana SK-21 Sopranino. It's my only uke with friction pegs, and my complaints are the usual ones. I do see the wisdom of the luthier/manufacturer's choice. For now at least, I'm going to stay with the friction pegs, primarily because of weight and unresolved questions of installation and fit.
 
JoeJazz2000 said:
Interesting comments on this topic. I recently posted a question about the feasibility of putting planetary geared tuners on an Ohana SK-21 Sopranino. It's my only uke with friction pegs, and my complaints are the usual ones. I do see the wisdom of the luthier/manufacturer's choice. For now at least, I'm going to stay with the friction pegs, primarily because of weight and unresolved questions of installation and fit.
Click to expand...

Although I prefer gears, I kept the pegs on my sopranino and sopranissimo.
 
Ah, another blast from the past.

Well, I ended up buying the KoAloha anyway.

After using friction tuners, I find them OK to work with. Yes, it takes much more force to turn them than geared tuners; but not as impossible as I had initially feared. However, I think people with arthritis or very weak fingers or hand strength (e.g. some women or children) will definitely have serious trouble with these tuners. Also, I find that a fast and accurate tuner is an essential tool to be able to adjust these friction tuners precisely.
 
Cool, I'm glad you went with the KoAloha after all and haven't found the tuners too cumbersome. I'll reiterate, KoAloha friction tuners are one of the best I've used (and I've used quite a few).

I'm planning to swap the friction tuners on my vintage Martin and I'm a bit nervous how it's going to go. I'm not afraid of the installation but rather if the new tuners are going to work properly. The Martin came with some sort of Grover friction tuners (obviously not original) that have massive metal parts. You'd think that would make the tuners better quality than average but no, these are easily the worst friction tuners I've used. They are so incredibly tight that it takes significant force to turn them. And no, loosening doesn't work since then they won't hold tuning at all. I'm going to replace them with Grover 3s but they have more plastic parts than, for example, Grover 4s or 6s or the ones that are currently on so I'm a bit anxious whether they're going to work any better. Unfortunately, the 3s were the only ones I was able to get my hands on at the moment.
 
clear said:
Ah, another blast from the past.

Well, I ended up buying the KoAloha anyway.

After using friction tuners, I find them OK to work with. Yes, it takes much more force to turn them than geared tuners; but not as impossible as I had initially feared. However, I think people with arthritis or very weak fingers or hand strength (e.g. some women or children) will definitely have serious trouble with these tuners. Also, I find that a fast and accurate tuner is an essential tool to be able to adjust these friction tuners precisely.
Click to expand...

Congratulations on the KoAloha, I’m somewhat envious.

In case anyone missed my earlier comment (#20) Violin type Peg Tuners can be a great help to those with weaker fingers.
 
I like frictions on sops and concerts just fine. On tenors, I'd prefer geared, Gotoh UPTs being the best IMO. With frictions, I find that once the strings have settled in, very little, if any adjustment is usually necessary, they usually come out of the case relatively in tune. If there was any slippage, they all slipped the same amount, and you can just play. Of course, that assumes you are playing alone.
 
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Dohle said:
Cool, I'm glad you went with the KoAloha after all and haven't found the tuners too cumbersome. I'll reiterate, KoAloha friction tuners are one of the best I've used (and I've used quite a few).

I'm planning to swap the friction tuners on my vintage Martin and I'm a bit nervous how it's going to go. I'm not afraid of the installation but rather if the new tuners are going to work properly. The Martin came with some sort of Grover friction tuners (obviously not original) that have massive metal parts. You'd think that would make the tuners better quality than average but no, these are easily the worst friction tuners I've used. They are so incredibly tight that it takes significant force to turn them. And no, loosening doesn't work since then they won't hold tuning at all. I'm going to replace them with Grover 3s but they have more plastic parts than, for example, Grover 4s or 6s or the ones that are currently on so I'm a bit anxious whether they're going to work any better. Unfortunately, the 3s were the only ones I was able to get my hands on at the moment.
Click to expand...

A friend has a 1950s Martin soprano, and he put Gotoh tuners on it. Maybe it affects the value to a collector, but he's a player, not a collector. I have some old Martins, and I'm leaving the tuning pegs on them. I can live with them.
 
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