Advise or help with Kamaka (Schaller) friction tuners

Skinny Money McGee

Skinny Money McGee

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I am having one heck of a time tuning this Kamaka HF-1. The tuners are not smooth when turning. They are very jerky except for the the "E" string tuner. The e tuner is the only smooth one.

I have loosened all the tuners and hand tightened them to the point where they don't slip.

Also, should there be slop between the tuning knob and the barrel? You can tune these sharp or flat slightly without moving the barrel.

Anyone have any tips or suggestions?
 
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I have the same Kamaka soprano, and I agree that the tuners are finicky. Try adjusting them with a screwdriver instead of your fingers -- you can make finer adjustments to the tension that way.
 
If it's new, I'd call Kamaka and ask them what to do. If it's not new, I'd replace them with something else. I've tried out those tuners dozens of times and always found them way to herky-jerky for the price, and near impossible to adjust.
 
stevepetergal said:
I've tried out those tuners dozens of times and always found them way to herky-jerky for the price, and near impossible to adjust.
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I agree with Steve. I have not had trouble with Gotoh or KoAloha frictions, though.
 
coolkayaker1 said:
I agree with Steve. I have not had trouble with Gotoh or KoAloha frictions, though.
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From the looks of the pictures, looks like KoAloha uses the Gotoh UKA nickel plated tuners. (maybe they don't) I may go ahead a buy a set of Gotoh tuners. Anyone know where you can buy them in the US?

Stew-Mac carries Gotoh, but not the UKA, and won't order them. They said "if it's not in the catalog they can't get them"

----

Nevermind, found them on Hana Lina's website. Elderly has them too, but for 10 dollars more.
 
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I have a Kamaka HF-2 Concert uke that I really love. The friction tuners are not so good. Has anyone sent an email to Kamaka with complaints about these tuners?
 
The Schaller geared tuners on Kamaka ukes don't seem all that great either. Switching to Grovers might be an improvement.
 
ancient said:
I have a Kamaka HF-2 Concert uke that I really love. The friction tuners are not so good. Has anyone sent an email to Kamaka with complaints about these tuners?
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I have not talked to Kamaka, but plan on it as soon as I find a set of tuners that work and look good. Even though the Kamaka tuners look good, they are not very functional. I bought a set of Grover's that look identical, even though I haven't installed them, (and won't) they have the same slop between the barrel and peg. Interestingly my cheap Formica Martin OXK has Grover sta-tite 4W friction tuners that are very smooth. Might install these if I can find a decent looking button. http://www.ukuleleworld.com/friction-tuning-pegs-grover-4w-set-of-4-white-button.html

Steedy said:
The Schaller geared tuners on Kamaka ukes don't seem all that great either. Switching to Grovers might be an improvement.
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I have a Kanile'a tenor with the closed geared grover tuners. I think they are either the mini or the mid size rotomatics, and work very well. Just wanted to stick with some smooth friction tuners for this soprano Kamaka.
 
Here's some more info on the Gotoh tuners vs Kamaka Schaller

The bushing that presses into the headstock looks to be different sizes. Unfortunately the bushing on the Kamaka looks to be 8.5mm vs 8mm on the Gotoh, which may require plugging and re-drilling the headstock to the Gotoh size.

I ordered a set of Gotoh deluxe tuners from Hana Lima and will see if the tuner shafts will work with the Kamaka/Schaller headstock bushings.

Looks like the shaft is 4.9mm on the Gotoh, not sure what it is on the Kamaka/Schaller. If it works, it could be a good inexpensive fix. The Gotoh tuners cost 47 dollars delivered.
 
Pegheds model 8543A planetary geared tuners can be fitted to a Kamaka ukulele, according to the link. I think Pegheds might look nice on a Kamaka, but they're expensive compared to friction tuners.
 
Went down to Elderly today and had them install new Gotoh friction tuners with the pearl knobs. Wow, what a difference, I can actually tune this uke now.

We checked to see if the kamaka/schaller headstock tuner flanges could be used with the Gotoh's, but no dice. Totally different animal. Also the Kamaka flanges were just slightly larger but only by .25mm. The uke tech said it was no problem that he could build up the hole with some sort of glue and re-drill to the new size. Took about 1 hour and it was done.

The Gotoh tuners are very smooth. I couldn't be happier.

One other bonus, these Gotoh tuners are half the weight of the Kamaka/Schaller tuners.
 

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Glad to hear it, I changed the tuners on my Kamaka soprano like you did, and it is so much better, and MUCH lighter. Sometimes I don't know what Kamaka is thinking....if they ever play their ukuleles because some things they do, like using Schaller tuners, just doesn't make sense.

Perhaps these are good on a Tenor, but they just kill a soprano IMHO!
 
Thanks for the report and glad to hear the replacement tuners are a success. I may follow your lead on this at some point.
 
I ended up installing the Grover 4W's on my older Kamaka soprano and love them.
 
guitarsnrotts said:
I ended up installing the Grover 4W's on my older Kamaka soprano and love them.
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The Grover 4W's are nice and half the price of the Gotoh's, except they don't have pearl button knobs. Only white and black. Elderly sells Ivoroid replacement buttons for the 4W's that look real nice. Kind of expensive, but really nice. Both the 4W's and the Gotoh's have two internal friction surfaces that don't use the wood headstock as the friction point, which is why they are so smooth.

Picture Grover 4w with Ivoroid buttons on old gold label Kamaka
 

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Grovers

Does anyone have experience with replacing the Schallers with the Grovers on a new Kamaka HF-1? The Schallers are definitely a PIA and I'm looking for a replacement that won't require boring or filling, etc.

Fingers crossed.
Thx -SB
 
Skinny. This thread is great. Thanks for posting your experience. I agree, Gotoh Deluxe are the ideal friction tuners. Kiwaya uses them as standard on their ukes.
 
Kamaka looks like they are heading in the direction of using the new geared 4:1 Gotohs that look like standard friction tuners. Right now they'll put them on customs, but eventually go to this all together. I will probably have to replace the tuners on my pineapple, but may wait and have Kamaka do it with these new ones.
 
Slingblab said:
Does anyone have experience with replacing the Schallers with the Grovers on a new Kamaka HF-1? The Schallers are definitely a PIA and I'm looking for a replacement that won't require boring or filling, etc.

Fingers crossed.
Thx -SB
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Find a good guitar/uke tech and just do it. It helps the value by helping the playability (IMO). These are produced in such quantities, they will never be collector items like the old Martins are, however they are a higher quality build now then they ever have been. I like my 2011 HF-1 more every time I play it.
 
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pdxuke said:
Kamaka looks like they are heading in the direction of using the new geared 4:1 Gotohs that look like standard friction tuners. Right now they'll put them on customs, but eventually go to this all together. I will probably have to replace the tuners on my pineapple, but may wait and have Kamaka do it with these new ones.
Click to expand...


You can buy the 4:1 Gotoh tuners right now. It's an easy job for a good tech to do and I'm sure there are plenty in Portland.
 
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