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Original Post By:
clharrison
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Date: 11/21/2015 7:33:18 PM |
Hi - I put new strings on this 1950s uke that belonged to my father six months ago and have so far been unable to make it stay in tune. I've been persistent with tugging on the strings to stretch them out, and I finally noticed that the tuning pegs themselves are rotating as it goes out of tune. I took it to a shop today; they confirmed that the pegs seem to be slipping and that the screws in the back are plenty tight enough, and they recommended looking around for a forum.
Has anyone had this problem with ukulele tuning pegs? Any thoughts on what I might try, including recommendations on replacement hardware?
Thanks,
Chap |
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Posted By:
poster one
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Date: 11/22/2015 1:46:12 AM |
| Chap, where the tuners touch the back of the headstock is the problem. This area becomes "slick" with time. Each tip of the tuner and the bevel in the hole will have to be lightly sanded. A fingernail file is good for the tuner and some 0000 steel wool works fine for the headstock portion. Your solution is that the tuners will have to "grab" the uke to keep a grip.
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Posted By:
clharrison
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Date: 11/22/2015 9:42:35 AM |
Thank you. I took off one of the tuners and found that it is designed to turn as a unit - both the peg, and the front and back collars through which it passes. (The shaft of the peg, and the hole in the collars, are square.)
These are not the original tuners, but I don't know who replaced them, or when.
It sounds, from what you've said, like I should have tuning pegs whose collars remain stationary against the headstock, while the peg rotates within them and "bites down" on the collars for friction resistance...?
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Posted By:
poster one
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Date: 11/22/2015 12:01:37 PM |
Go to elderly.com and type in, ukulele tuners
There will be choices at a reasonable price. As long as the originals have been replaced your main concern is to get ones that work
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Posted By:
Tom B.
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Date: 11/22/2015 9:52:32 PM |
| Chap, if you still have the original tuners on that uke and want to keep the instrument stock, I might have some replacements for you. I'm clearing out a bunch of my ukulele collection, and I have two sets of what I believe were the original Martin tuners. They're new-old-stock, which means they're still in their vintage boxes and were never used. If you're interested, send me a message and we can see if these would work for you. (But if you don't care about keeping the instrument stock, there are some modern options for tuners that are really nice, including Pegheds and planetary tuners.)
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Posted By:
Pack Rat
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Date: 12/1/2015 6:47:48 PM |
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Posted By:
Pack Rat
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Date: 12/4/2015 7:40:35 PM |
| Sorry, but my last post never went through. Here's a summary: In the Elderly Instruments catalog is a listing of ukulele tuners. Having had the same problem as yours with my Martin tenor from the 50s, I purchased a set of their Grover Sta-tite UP3 tuners for around $30 and had my luthier install them. At first, the problem was the same. After a while, with judicious tightening of the tuner button screws, the problem was alleviated, even though periodic touch-ups are still required, especially if the uke takes a lengthy rest. Give them a try and let me know what happens.
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