DymnDog
Active member
Can anyone tell me whether there is a product out there that's relatively easy and not too invasive to swap out friction tuning pegs for something that's geared or at least easier to adjust and hold the strings?
I've not tried a baritone uke myself, but did have a similar problem with the friction pegs on a soprano uke. With mine the plastic deformed which made the tuning process very vague! I replaced them with Grover pegs. My advice would be take one of the old pegs off and have a really good look at how it works before choosing what peg to buy because different pegs have different shape bushes (some conical, some cylindrical) and you want to find one that matches the ones you have for an easy swap replacement. I ended up cannibalising parts of my old pegs to make the new ones fit.
Unfortunately Grover don't seem to be very forthcoming with technical specs of their pegs or even pictures at the moment (see https://grotro.com/product-category/brands/grover/ ). So I recommend finding a helpful dealer who you can discuss it with. In the UK, Southern Ukulele Store currently have a reasonable selection of pegs. I'm not sure where you would look in the US.
I am reminded of some friction tuners that were on an old Mahalo that I once had. Those tuners really didn’t work well but I did some research on here and ended up making them perform very nicely. The Maholo tuners had two mating flat circular faces and those two binded together under compression rather than slid relative to each other with restraining friction - when locked the back of the cup skidded against the headstock. I removed moulding marks, polished the surfaces (flat and square to the axis of rotation) and placed a fibre washer between the two friction surfaces. The result was a very marked improvement, indeed a perfectly functioning set of tuners that were a joy to use - so good that I bought a similar inexpensive set to retrofit to one of my other (current geared tuner) Ukes at some time.
Excellent idea to start with. After watching a few YouTube videos, you realize how simple these are. After 55+ years since my mom bought this and decades of sitting in a closet, I bet a couple of fiber washers would do the trick. Thank you!
Can you say more about these 'fiber washers?' Are they a specialty item? I haven't been able to find them in hardware stores in my area, but it's possible I don't really know what I'm looking for. Many thanks!
Can you say more about these 'fiber washers?' Are they a specialty item? I haven't been able to find them in hardware stores in my area, but it's possible I don't really know what I'm looking for. Many thanks!