Official Luthiers Forum!

I'm looking for preferably slot-head tuning machines for a concert uke.
As an alternative, I'd consider through-head tuners, but not the straight-
through friction pegs -- ones that have the buttons out to the sides (like
guitars). I looked at individual type slot-head guitar tuners, but the base
plates are too wide. Isn't Roy O our resident uke expert? Maybe he knows.
All thoughts will be considered. Price is not necessarily the issue here.
Craig S.

I think Rollo Scheurenbrand uses mini Gotohs. There are some pics on his
website. You might want to PM him for more info as well.

Here's a link: Ukes

Cheers,
-Dave

Craig,

I'm not sure where to get the slot head tuners, I've been wondering about that too. As for other options you can use the mini guitar tuners that Stewmac and LMI sell. Or you can also get tuners from Hana Lima or Uke Supply of HI

Let me know if you come up w/ a supplier for the slot head tuners.

RoyRoy O39006.5632407407

I'm interested too. I've got 2 concert style ukes on the bench now. I saw Jake playing a tenor uke with a slot head tuners a while back, so I know they are out there somewhere. Let me know when you find them!
Tracy

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Thanks everyone. That was quick. Tracy, I too saw the ukulele Jake plays,
which led me to believe they're available somewhere. If I find them I'll
post it here, as there seems to be more interest than I thought.
Craig S.

of course they could have been custom made.......
Or, they could be vintage style open-back tuners mounted on the side of the headstock so that the posts go into the headstock as if it was a slot-head tuner. I'll bet you could do that with some Waverly's....and 2 sets would get you three instrument's worth. Just a thought....Don Williams39006.6490162037

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I was over at the Ukulele Gallery in Holualoa last night and there was a slot headed uke there made by local builder Ken Jostings (sp?). Ken makes beautiful instruments both astectially and sounding and he's made a few slot headed ukes. Anyway, I asked the gallery owner about the tuners and what Ken does is buys the gold 3 in a row tuners, cuts off one tuner, polishes up the end and touches up w/ a little gold paint. If you look really closely you can tell (really closely) but if you didn't know, I don't think you would ever notice. I suppose the one question with this method would be how well the paint holds up.

Roy,
thanks for thinking to ask. This is one of the solutions I had considered,
but was concerned about the cut surface tarnishing over time. The gold
paint may help, but I suspect over time it too will lose its luster. My other
concern is the width of the plate. Most slot head tuners have plates about
5/8" wide, plus or minus. That seems like you'd need a fairly thick head.
Too thick? Anybody know a brand or model that uses a plate that's 1/2"
or less? Maybe I should invest some time in working up a prototype and
making them or having them made? Thanks again.
Craig S.

Craig, When I took a tour of the Santa Cruz Guitar Co. last spring their neck man mentioned that he leaves the slotted heads thicker to compensate for the peghead's loss of weight. Perhaps this would be applicable to ukes too.Roy O39009.5327662037

Gotoh makes ukulele tuners in a variety of styles,
go to:
http://www.hosco.co.jp/HOSCO_ENGLISH/Pages/Gotoh.html

Dean

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Dean

Thanks Dean. The through-head Gotohs look very promising. Roy, you're
probably right, keeping the head a little thicker to compensate for the
weight loss of the slots is probably a good thing. Visually though, do you
think 5/8" is a bit much?

Now, if I can find some appropriate for slot head, I'll have all the bases
covered.

Craig S.

Craig, the slot headed uke I mentioned above had a thicker peghead and it looked fine. I never measured it but it wouldn't surpise me if it was 5/8". I'll see if I can't get a measurement of that one for you.

If you use the Gotch tuners you would have to drill the tuner hole big enough for the retaining ring to fit in as I don't see how you could ream out the hole from the sloted side. BTW, I think those Gotch UK700's would look very classy, they come in gold too.