Grover 4B Friction Tuners For My Flea?

Bill Sheehan · Dec 26, 2020

I know this question has probably been covered previously on the Forum, but in the interest of getting a totally up-to-date opinion, please allow me to ask:

Assuming the Flea ukes come standard with Grover 2B friction tuners, is my understanding correct that the Grover 4B's would be a direct drop-in upgrade option, without the need to enlarge holes, etc?

Thanks, and Happy New Year to everyone!

hendulele · Dec 26, 2020

That's (generally) correct. I upgraded to 4s and/or 6s on my three MFC ukes. I had to open the holes slightly with a reamer on one of them, but it's possible the holes closed (wood expanded) slightly because our summers are so humid. The reamer cost ~$10, so no biggie.

The others dropped in fine. All three ukes hold tuning better and string changes are much simpler.

kerneltime · Dec 26, 2020

Bill Sheehan said:
I know this question has probably been covered previously on the Forum, but in the interest of getting a totally up-to-date opinion, please allow me to ask:

Assuming the Flea ukes come standard with Grover 2B friction tuners, is my understanding correct that the Grover 4B's would be a direct drop-in upgrade option, without the need to enlarge holes, etc?

Thanks, and Happy New Year to everyone!

If you are going down the reamer path and changing the hole, consider Gotoh UPT.

Bill Sheehan · Dec 26, 2020

hendulele said:
That's (generally) correct. I upgraded to 4s and/or 6s on my three MFC ukes. I had to open the holes slightly with a reamer on one of them, but it's possible the holes closed (wood expanded) slightly because our summers are so humid. The reamer cost ~$10, so no biggie.

The others dropped in fine. All three ukes hold tuning better and string changes are much simpler.

Thanks, Hendulele!

Bill Sheehan · Dec 26, 2020

kerneltime said:
If you are going down the reamer path and changing the hole, consider Gotoh UPT.

Thanks, Kerneltime! I'm lucky to have the Gotoh UPT's on a Pono mango soprano deluxe that I purchased recently, and they're really a dream!
However, for my Flea, I was thinking maybe I'd look at something a little more in line with the "original look" of the stock Grover 2B's, yet perhaps a little more solid--
so I figured that if the Grover 4B's were a direct easy swap-in, that's probably what I'd settle on.

Ziret · Jan 2, 2021

Sounds like a good idea, Bill. I’ve found the difference between high-end Grover or Gotoh friction tuners and UPTs to be nominal in terms of ease of use. And on a soprano the added weight of UPTs is a factor. Not to mention the price. If you have to buy a reamer, which is unlikely, I’m sure Harbor Freight has one for about 50 cents (kidding, but way less than 10 bucks) that will be just fine for how often you’ll use it. I think I have a set of 4Bs I’d be happy to send you. Email me if you want them and I’ll put them in the mail on Monday.

Ukecaster · Jan 2, 2021

Grover 4 or 6 are both nice upgrades for the stock 2B tuners. The extra washers etc really make for a smoother operation. Mine dropped right on various MF instruments.

Jerryc41 · Jan 3, 2021

I don't like friction tuners, so I put both Gotoh and regular tuners on Fleas and Flukes. You can also buy one with Peghed tuners. Adding Pegheds yourself seems like a challenge.

Grover 4B Friction Tuners For My Flea?

Bill Sheehan

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hendulele

Check your fleas

kerneltime

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Bill Sheehan

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Bill Sheehan

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Ziret

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Ukecaster

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Jerryc41

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