Friction Tuners - seriously; why?

I had a little conversation about this with the owner of one popular ukulele manufacturing company. He acknowledges that guitar players are very happy with geared tuners. We were talking about demographics and how 58 percent of uke players surveyed started with guitars and took up ukulele afterward. We also talked about how much easier that geared tuners make tuning a ukulele. Then, there is the problem of slipping tuners, the need for a screwdriver, etc...

What it comes down to is this: traditional look and feel combined with less weight. That is the reason for peg-heads and friction tuners. There are planetary geared (internal) pegheads, as Dominator points out with Howling Hobbit's uke. Yes, they are worth it and do add a very small amount of extra weight, but you will most likely not notice.

I do prefer geared tuners, when they are made well and not too heavy, on concert size and larger ukuleles. I prefer friction on sopranos.

Yikes! Dead thread walking.....

SamWise said:

Yikes! Dead thread walking.....

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It's back!

In friction pegs defense has any mentioned that it's easier to string up a uke with the friction pegs,1 to 1 ratio instead of the 14 to 1 of most geared uke tuners.Not that you have to string it everyday.

hoosierhiver said:

In friction pegs defense has any mentioned that it's easier to string up a uke with the friction pegs,1 to 1 ratio instead of the 14 to 1 of most geared uke tuners.Not that you have to string it everyday.

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That's a very good point!

My preference lies with friction tuners for primarily weight and secondarily looks. I mostly play sopranos where the weight will be more noticeable than on a tenor.

Tuning cheap strings with friction tuners can be a right bind, but decent tuners and decent strings it's no trouble. I find the need for a screwdriver is much less with decent tuners too.

I get on just fine with geared tuners as well, my applause and eleuke both have them, and the applause in particular does look good with the little red buttons sticking out, but it is a little top heavy.

Has anyone mentioned that heavier tuners can add to the sustain of an instrument? Certainly not a good enough reason by itself to use them but, ah, always a trade off.

Most of my ukes have friction tuners; some have geared tuners. I've used ukes with the old-fashioned tapered pegs. Never had a problem with any of 'em. You spend a couple of minutes (or less) tuning it, then hours playing it. Next time you pick it up, it might need a little tweak. What's the difficulty?

Having said that, I'd rate them as follows, for ease of use:- 1st geared : 2nd friction : 3rd tapered pegs.

Personal favourite, friction - I just like the appearance, and they work fine for me, but it's no big deal.

Ukantor.