On Grover 6 ukulele tuners and Gotoh UPT tuners, and how I learned to like friction tuners
The following is a story of how I learned to like friction tuners. If you want to read an in-depth review of two types of tuners - the Grover 6's and the Gotoh UPT's - or if you like reading about ukuleles in general, then please read the whole thing. If you want to see some very basic recommendations, please skip to the last paragraph.
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My first uke and the friction tuner problem
The first ukulele I owned was like many people's first: it was an actual toy. Because I didn't have a reference point yet for the many things that make some ukes better than others - things like the intonation, feel, playability, or even the weight - the first thing that I noticed about it was how hard it was to tune it. Every time I got it tuned to GCEA it seemed to slip out of tune. And tuning it up again was always time-consuming.
The next uke I got was slightly more expensive, though not by much - it was an Oscar Schmidt, definitely a cheap uke rather than a toy uke. When I picked it out, the number one thing I cared about was the tuners - I wanted geared tuners instead of friction ones. All of my issues with the previous one, which I now know had to do with the intonation, the nut width, the neck thickness, and many other aspects of a uke... I attributed nearly all of them to those tuners. And the new Oscar Schmidt was much easier to tune. Night and day. I played it way more than I'd played the previous one. This was in 2007. For the next 8 years, I believed that geared tuners were the only acceptable type of tuners.
Before I get into my take about friction tuners vs. geared tuners, I'd like to refer any readers to Baz at GotAUkulele's post and video about friction tuners. Baz inspired me to think outside the box (or think outside the headstock, if you will) when it comes to ukulele tuners.
Because that toy-like ukulele came with friction tuners, I came to associate friction tuners with everything else that was subpar about that first instrument. After playing the Oscar Schmidt, I then came to associate geared tuners with better-quality instruments. It turns out there's a simple truth - a truth simple enough that someone could have told it to me even then, with my lack of experience, and I would have understood it.
That truth is this: friction tuners aren't bad, it's just that bad friction tuners are even worse, and even cheaper, than bad geared tuners. That fact is the reason that so many mediocre ukuleles, the ones that are the sources of our most frustrating uke memories, have friction tuners. It's the ukes, not the type of tuner, that are bad.
I couldn't afford one of those at the time, so I bought a modern Ohana soprano. I bought one with geared tuners because I still thought that geared tuners were the best. To my surprise, it just didn't have that same feeling. I got disappointed and sold it. A bit later, I emailed Mim of Mim's Ukes and asked her what her lightest soprano ukulele was. She said that it was the Ohana SK-28. I looked it up. It was a very cool-looking instrument, and it had friction tuners. It was in this moment that I finally accepted that to love light ukuleles, you must accept friction tuners. I ordered it and it felt a lot like the Martin, even though it was about $800 cheaper. Not bad.
The friction tuners on the 2016 Ohana SK-28 were superior to the ones on my old toy uke. But they still felt a bit stiff, and I was curious about the other tuners out there.
The most unappealing thing about bad friction tuners is that they can have a jerky feel. The feeling is unpleasant. The feeling of turning a peg and then feeling it freeze up just doesn't feel good. Sometimes it even makes a grating squeaking sound.
The extreme jerkiness is usually a feature on "toy" ukes. It's what nearly put me off of friction tuners forever. Better friction tuners, such as the ones on my old Ohana SK-28, don't make that grating sound and don't feel as jerky, but I also wouldn't call them smooth. They still need a decent amount of loosening and tightening via screwdriver. On a spectrum from smooth to jerky, I'd put them in the middle. That's why the best word I can think of for them is "stiff."
The nylon washer makes the tuning feel legitimately smooth. I still have to tighten and loosen the tuners with a screwdriver sometimes, but not as much as any other. The feel makes a world of difference. This nylon washer, which raises the price by approximately five bucks, is extremely worth it.
I have installed Grover 6's on several different ukes. The tuning machines fit very easily in every peg hole on which I have installed them. If you have been thinking about changing the tuners on a ukulele, I would highly recommend them.
The Gotoh UPT seems, at first, to be the best of both worlds. It is as small as a friction tuner, but it has internal gears! It also is better-looking than basically any other tuner out there - whether it is chrome or gold, the metal is smooth and shiny, and the pegs come in many shapes and sizes, all of which have a cool art deco vibe to them. It makes every uke look more exciting, which I can't necessarily say about every tuner - sometimes just having a new look is nice, and I have to say, the Gotoh UPTs make ukes look fresh in a way that the Grovers definitely don't.
But the Gotoh UPTs have some drawbacks that I don't love. When I used them, I still needed to tighten and loosen them with a screwdriver. When you mess with the screws on the UPT, you're just loosening the grip of the gears inside, which is less dramatic and requires less vigilance than loosening a machine that works on pure friction. But I was slightly disappointed that I still needed that extra tool - the screwdriver - to work with these machines. I'd hoped would be so much lower-maintenance than friction tuners.
The second thing that underwhelmed me about the Gotoh UPTs was their weight. They were lighter than geared tuners, but not that much lighter. They don't give a light soprano uke that weightless feel the same way that friction tuners do. Third and last of all, they're more expensive. Mine cost seventy $70 US. Money that you spend on ukulele accessories is money that you're throwing away for fun in any case, but when I compared the price of Gotoh UPT's to Grover 6's, I really felt like the Grover 6's were the superior use/waste of money.
I currently have a Wunderkammer ukulele by Liam Kirby in the pipeline. He uses Waverly friction tuners, which I have heard good things about. I look forward to reporting on them when I get the uke.
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2) Friction tuners can make ukuleles a lot lighter, and the lightness can make them feel a lot better to hold.
3) Grover 6 friction tuners are probably the best in terms of price, lightness, and ease of installing them.
***
My first uke and the friction tuner problem
The first ukulele I owned was like many people's first: it was an actual toy. Because I didn't have a reference point yet for the many things that make some ukes better than others - things like the intonation, feel, playability, or even the weight - the first thing that I noticed about it was how hard it was to tune it. Every time I got it tuned to GCEA it seemed to slip out of tune. And tuning it up again was always time-consuming.
The next uke I got was slightly more expensive, though not by much - it was an Oscar Schmidt, definitely a cheap uke rather than a toy uke. When I picked it out, the number one thing I cared about was the tuners - I wanted geared tuners instead of friction ones. All of my issues with the previous one, which I now know had to do with the intonation, the nut width, the neck thickness, and many other aspects of a uke... I attributed nearly all of them to those tuners. And the new Oscar Schmidt was much easier to tune. Night and day. I played it way more than I'd played the previous one. This was in 2007. For the next 8 years, I believed that geared tuners were the only acceptable type of tuners.
Before I get into my take about friction tuners vs. geared tuners, I'd like to refer any readers to Baz at GotAUkulele's post and video about friction tuners. Baz inspired me to think outside the box (or think outside the headstock, if you will) when it comes to ukulele tuners.
Because that toy-like ukulele came with friction tuners, I came to associate friction tuners with everything else that was subpar about that first instrument. After playing the Oscar Schmidt, I then came to associate geared tuners with better-quality instruments. It turns out there's a simple truth - a truth simple enough that someone could have told it to me even then, with my lack of experience, and I would have understood it.
That truth is this: friction tuners aren't bad, it's just that bad friction tuners are even worse, and even cheaper, than bad geared tuners. That fact is the reason that so many mediocre ukuleles, the ones that are the sources of our most frustrating uke memories, have friction tuners. It's the ukes, not the type of tuner, that are bad.
My first experiences with good friction tuners on a good uke
I first started to suspect that maybe this belief was incorrect when I played a 1920s Martin Oliver Ditson soprano ukulele for the first time. It felt almost weightless. I couldn't believe how easy it was to hold it up and play it.I couldn't afford one of those at the time, so I bought a modern Ohana soprano. I bought one with geared tuners because I still thought that geared tuners were the best. To my surprise, it just didn't have that same feeling. I got disappointed and sold it. A bit later, I emailed Mim of Mim's Ukes and asked her what her lightest soprano ukulele was. She said that it was the Ohana SK-28. I looked it up. It was a very cool-looking instrument, and it had friction tuners. It was in this moment that I finally accepted that to love light ukuleles, you must accept friction tuners. I ordered it and it felt a lot like the Martin, even though it was about $800 cheaper. Not bad.
The friction tuners on the 2016 Ohana SK-28 were superior to the ones on my old toy uke. But they still felt a bit stiff, and I was curious about the other tuners out there.
Grover 6 tuners
You can get the Grover 6 for $20, and sometimes as low as $17. Grover also makes other, cheaper friction tuners. Grover 2 tuners are about $10. Grover 4 tuners are about $12-15. I had assumed that the difference between $10 and $20 friction tuners couldn't be that big. Boy was I wrong. As far as I can tell, the Grover 6 tuners contain exactly one component that raises their price: a nylon washer. But what a difference that nylon washer makes!The most unappealing thing about bad friction tuners is that they can have a jerky feel. The feeling is unpleasant. The feeling of turning a peg and then feeling it freeze up just doesn't feel good. Sometimes it even makes a grating squeaking sound.
The extreme jerkiness is usually a feature on "toy" ukes. It's what nearly put me off of friction tuners forever. Better friction tuners, such as the ones on my old Ohana SK-28, don't make that grating sound and don't feel as jerky, but I also wouldn't call them smooth. They still need a decent amount of loosening and tightening via screwdriver. On a spectrum from smooth to jerky, I'd put them in the middle. That's why the best word I can think of for them is "stiff."
The nylon washer makes the tuning feel legitimately smooth. I still have to tighten and loosen the tuners with a screwdriver sometimes, but not as much as any other. The feel makes a world of difference. This nylon washer, which raises the price by approximately five bucks, is extremely worth it.
I have installed Grover 6's on several different ukes. The tuning machines fit very easily in every peg hole on which I have installed them. If you have been thinking about changing the tuners on a ukulele, I would highly recommend them.
Gotoh UPTs
There is another type of ukulele tuner that seems to be popular to install on already-existing ukuleles called the Gotoh UPT. I understand why it is popular, but I would still recommend the Grover 6 instead.The Gotoh UPT seems, at first, to be the best of both worlds. It is as small as a friction tuner, but it has internal gears! It also is better-looking than basically any other tuner out there - whether it is chrome or gold, the metal is smooth and shiny, and the pegs come in many shapes and sizes, all of which have a cool art deco vibe to them. It makes every uke look more exciting, which I can't necessarily say about every tuner - sometimes just having a new look is nice, and I have to say, the Gotoh UPTs make ukes look fresh in a way that the Grovers definitely don't.
But the Gotoh UPTs have some drawbacks that I don't love. When I used them, I still needed to tighten and loosen them with a screwdriver. When you mess with the screws on the UPT, you're just loosening the grip of the gears inside, which is less dramatic and requires less vigilance than loosening a machine that works on pure friction. But I was slightly disappointed that I still needed that extra tool - the screwdriver - to work with these machines. I'd hoped would be so much lower-maintenance than friction tuners.
The second thing that underwhelmed me about the Gotoh UPTs was their weight. They were lighter than geared tuners, but not that much lighter. They don't give a light soprano uke that weightless feel the same way that friction tuners do. Third and last of all, they're more expensive. Mine cost seventy $70 US. Money that you spend on ukulele accessories is money that you're throwing away for fun in any case, but when I compared the price of Gotoh UPT's to Grover 6's, I really felt like the Grover 6's were the superior use/waste of money.
I currently have a Wunderkammer ukulele by Liam Kirby in the pipeline. He uses Waverly friction tuners, which I have heard good things about. I look forward to reporting on them when I get the uke.
***
In sum:
1) Friction tuners aren't bad, it's just that cheap friction tuners are even worse, and even cheaper, than cheap geared tuners.2) Friction tuners can make ukuleles a lot lighter, and the lightness can make them feel a lot better to hold.
3) Grover 6 friction tuners are probably the best in terms of price, lightness, and ease of installing them.
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