Which style ukulele tuners do you prefer?
No, I’m not asking about your favorite chromatic tuner that helps you get your ukulele to sing a perfect my dog has fleas. I’m asking about the actual tuning machines inserted into the headstock of your instrument. Maybe you prefer open or enclosed ‘ear’ style geared tuners. Or perhaps you are a traditionalist and don’t feel authentic unless your uke has friction style pegs. Then there are Peghed tuners that look like friction tuners but have gears hidden inside them.
Above is a picture of the tuners on my KoAloha KCM-00. These are friction tuners. As you can see, there is a screw head at the end of each tuner. Tightening these screws keeps the tuners from slipping. This style of tuner is considered more traditional than geared tuners like the ones below. I would say that these are my least favorite type of tuners to use. They seem to have a little ’slop’ or spring to them when you are trying to tune the strings.
Some people call these ear style tuners because they stick out the sides of the headstock like ears sticking out the sides of your noggin 
This style of tuner is available in enclosed and open types. The picture above is my Pono PKC-1E. I like this style of tuner better than the friction style used on my KoAloha because they allow for more precise tuning due to the gears.
With friction tuners, the slightest twist of the tuner makes a significant change in the pitch of the string connected to it. You definitely need a light touch and a bit of practice to tune an instrument that uses friction pegs. I have found geared tuners to be significantly easier to use because of their gear ratio. With friction tuners, you have a 1 to 1 ratio. For every complete revolution of the tuning knob, the tuning post (where the string is connected) also turns a complete revolution. For geared tuners, a complete revolution of the knob may only cause the post to turn very slightly. It all depends on the gear ratio.
The Peghed tuners that you see above are the modern fusion of the traditional friction peg, with geared tuners. They look like friction pegs but have 4:1 ratio gears inside them. I’ll admit that the first time I ever saw pegheds used on a ukulele, I thought they were just cheap friction pegs. Simple rookie mistake given that they are made of light weight Black plastic. Boy, was I wrong. Now, I would have to say that I really love Pegheds. They are so smooth and easy to use. They are also very light weight, allowing the instrument to be balanced instead of top heavy.
Now it’s your turn, what style tuners do you prefer on your ukulele and why?
hello everyone… I like this site and I have been checking it often. I am very interested in this post. I am in the beginning stages of building my first ukulele with a guitar builder friend of mine. Here is what we have so far for those who are keeping score
Master Grade Camphor for the back and sides, master grade cedar top, figured walnut for the neck, figured walnut binding, and we will be following a Martin Tenor Blue print. I found this kit on ebay which had all of the pieces pre-bent and pre-sanded (very cool!) I should be receiving these woods tomorrow and I cant wait to see them live! I got the other pieces from Hanalima store on line (fret board, fret wire, mother of pearl, etc.)
Now to this post, we are looking into the tuners. I like the gotoh ones on the Hanalima site, most likely the geared ones. But now I am finding myself very attracted to the all black grover ones that Chuck Moore uses on his ukuleles. Those look pretty awesome, but I have very little experience with either. I would like feedback on the best tuners possible withing a reasonable price range because I will be slapping those bad-boys on my ukulele within the month. I have complete faith in my builder friend, but I welcome any words of advise or wisdom to make my ukulele the best it can possibly be.
Thank you very much and I am really digging this site. Thank you Julie for the quick updates and useful information.
Mahalo-
Adam
ukeman80: I’ve never heard of Camphor. Do you have any links of what it looks like finished?
As for the tuners, please do check out the Pegheds. I was really impressed with them.
Adam,
As long as you are buying from Hana Lima you should look into their Gotoh tuners. They are very similar to the mini-Grover 205s that I use. Nice finish, smooth 17 to 1 gearing. Keep in mind that they are probably the heaviest (by a very small amount) of the aforementioned tuners but that’s really only a consideration on six and eight string ukes.
Between the camphor and the cedar (great combination BTW) that’s going to be one sweet smelling uke! Keep it in your closet. Your clothes will smell great and it’ll probably keep the moths away.
Chuck Moore
Moore Bettah Ukuleles
http://www.moorebettahukes.com
Hi Chuck….
wow! thank you so much for posting. I have been drooling over your ukuleles for months! I am a super big fan of your clean work and beautiful inlays. Thank you for the advice on tuners.
The wood is gorgeous and you are definitely correct about the smell. It is almost like peppermint after to get a few good sniffs…. I am very excited!
I was wondering what you think of these grovers:
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Guitar,_solid_peghead_tuners/1/Gotoh_Mini_510_Tuners_with_Metal_Knobs_3L3R/Pictures.html#details
these are the gotoh minis, I really like the sleek design and I sure they will work dandy. Can you recommend some electronics to me…. do you have any experience with b-band? My friend really likes those… I am undecided whether or not I want a passive under-saddle pick up or one with all of the dials, a preamp, and a battery. I guess the key it what will sound the best along with being easy to install.
Please feel free to email me if you have the time- adamukulele@yahoo.com
Mahalo-
Adam
There are two other options - plain wood violin-style tuners (the original friction tuner), and planetary banjo tuners. Planetaries look like bulky friction tuners but have internal gears , like Pegheds, and the same 4:1 tuning ration
They’re a little cheaper and heavier than Pegheds, more expensive but nicer looking than right-angle guitar-style tuners, and more stable than friction tuners. The 4:1 tuning ration for me is a nice compromise between friction and right-angle geared tuners. (you turn the peg once around, and the post makes a quarter-turn. By comparison, friction pegs are 1:1 and right-angle geared pegs are usually 12:1 to 16:1.)
The big downsides are weight, size, and cost. On a soprano uke the size and weight are an issue, but on baritone they’re fine and on tenors the smaller ones - like the Five-Star dulcimer tuners - are fine.
I have Waverly planetary banjo tuners on my baritenor, and I like them very much. They have small ivoroid buttons which I like better than the large pearl ones on most other styles. They tune securely and accurately. My next uke will likely be a tenor size, with Pegheds because of the weight.
Planetary tuners run $80-120, Pegheds a bit more. Top-quality friction tuners are no more than $40, and the $10 ones are pretty good. Right-angle tuners are good value for money - with the low tension of a uke, all but the really cheap ones work very well.