Why friction tuners?

FWIW, the GraphTech tuners are very light weight.

At the risk of going slightly off-topic: it would appear that not everyone has an intense dislike of friction tuners. Someone on Reverb is, as of this post, selling a set of friction pegs from a 1960's Kamaka for the princely sum of $299.

https://reverb.com/item/38125937-kamaka-1960-s-ukelele-tuners

Then again, this seller may just have an unrealistic view of the market for used friction tuners...

Cluze said:

At the risk of going slightly off-topic: it would appear that not everyone has an intense dislike of friction tuners. Someone on Reverb is, as of this post, selling a set of friction pegs from a 1960's Kamaka for the princely sum of $299.

https://reverb.com/item/38125937-kamaka-1960-s-ukelele-tuners

Then again, this seller may just have an unrealistic view of the market for used friction tuners...

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I suspect this is aimed at someone who has a 1960s Kamaka and the tuners are worn or broken. They may want to replace them with the same authentic tuners from the period.

The original question of this thread has a built-in assumption - that friction tuners are inferior to geared. You may prefer geared tuners, but that doesn't mean that they are better.

John Colter

ukantor said:

The original question of this thread has a built-in assumption - that friction tuners are inferior to geared. You may prefer geared tuners, but that doesn't mean that they are better.

John Colter

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Well said, John, thanks.

It has been an interesting read to go through all the comments here. I appreciate this sharing of thoughts and opinions. I would say that I now have a different perspective on friction tuners that Koaloha uses on their concert ukes.

It's more difficult to build a good friction tuner than it is to make a "Good Enough" geared tuner.

Good friction tuners are in the same price ballpark as good geared tuners . . . I've never found K-brand friction tuners to be especially fussy, even if I prefer planetary or geared.

cdkrugjr said:

It's more difficult to build a good friction tuner than it is to make a "Good Enough" geared tuner.

Good friction tuners are in the same price ballpark as good geared tuners . . . I've never found K-brand friction tuners to be especially fussy, even if I prefer planetary or geared.

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Good enough friction tuners are very simply made plain turned items whereas even plain geared (worm and wheel) tuners are more complex to make. Either way these things are mass produced and made for a very small fraction of their retail price. IMHO the popularity of geared tuners is simply down to their greater ease of use (basically no skill required). I prefer friction tuners, with a bit of care and attention even simple ones can be made to work reasonably well. However, IMHO, most folk want the greater ease of use that comes with geared tuners and, via mass production, a functional geared tuner can be made so cheaply that its price isn’t an issue.

ukulelekarcsi said:

Another advantage I find with friction tuners is that the 1:1 ratio makes tuning .... much, much faster. I now hate to twist and twist and twist geared tuners before I get anywhere near the intended pitch.

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^This. I'm used to friction tuners on my violin - geared tuners really irritate me.