Got A Ukulele Reviews - Gotoh UPT Planetary Ukulele Tuners

[@GotAUkulele]

One thing I didn't mention in the video that people have rightly pointed out - UPTs come in two sizes for thin and thick headstocks. The longer ones are needed for fatter headstocks front to back. Make sure you get the right ones - these are standard ones in the video.

[@manuelfresco6879]

Should have read this before ordering 😖 the larger ones are called UPTL. The good thing is, it gives me the oportunity to buy another Uke with a thiner headstock 😁

[@AngelaADD]

I’m taking the big leap and will install some new tuners on some of my ukuleles. I always appreciate your videos so a couple of cups of coffee are way past due. Thanks

[@GotAUkulele]

Thanks so much Angela - these tuners are superb!

[@frannysf]

This video was SO HELPFUL!!! Mahalo.

[@GotAUkulele]

Thank you!

[@intoitreviews]

Can you swap out the buttons buttons with the old ones. I have a koaloha saprano with frictions... Always fussing with them... Want to maintain the look with the orange buttons.

[@GotAUkulele]

If you move from regular pegs to these you will almost certainly need to widen the holes - you need a peg reamer to do that - available from musical suppliers that deal with violins

[@Greg-vd5om]

I have GoToh's on my Anuenue UT-200..They are the BEST! Love them!

[@GotAUkulele]

Yep - wonderful!

[@tbedgood]

Hello, I have the same model...love it! I just did a string change and now the E string tuner slips...I mean maybe a quarter turn or so...can these be "tightened" somehow?

[@keithgardner5818]

I looked around but didn’t find your take on the GraphTech Tune-a-lele tuners. These also use some kind of internal gearing to get a 6:1 ratio, which seems helpful. They are a bit pancake-y in shape, I’m not sure I like that so much. But wondering if you have thoughts on them?

[@GotAUkulele]

Never done a review by I do have experience. Avoid!!! They are flawed and I have lots of examples of them snapping (including twice for me!)

[@keithgardner5818]

Yikes! Good to know!

[@RickHenderson58]

Hi Barry -- How about swapping cheap geared (on a Makala--rattly plastic sleeve) for better tuners? If the screw holes for the existing tuners don't line up, do you live with it? Fill with something? It's a cheap uke, to be sure ...

[@GotAUkulele]

Replacing geared pegs with better tuners can often leave holes showing (and always leaves holes when replacing with friction pegs or UPT's). Some people leave them, but if you wanted to hide them, people use small dowels (ie cocktail sticks) stained the colour of the headstock then trimmed flush. Always kind of visible though, but can make the holes look less obvious that way.

[@RickHenderson58]

Thanks!

[@DianeORourke-n2u]

What upgraded tuners can you suggest for a Roy Smeck 1950’s soprano ukulele? I purchased one that is missing a tuner so I thought I would go ahead and replace all four. Thank you.

[@GotAUkulele]

I'd just go with Grover 4 or 6 series

[@kwokkie]

How does the weight of a UPT compare with the other types of tuners?

[@GotAUkulele]

Technically slightly heavier than Grover 4's but not in a way that is in any way noticeable. If they were, I wouldn't use them.

[@petronellasam]

What size is the screw at top of tuner peg? . I think mine is the middle range tuning peg you showed. It is missing the screw. Thanks!

[@GotAUkulele]

Depends on the tuner - think they all differ. Sorry - never measured them!

[@photorooster8865]

I recently got a Formby style resonator banjolele with planetary tuners. I was surprised thinking that they would lower my turns to 4:1 for finer tuning, but to the contrary they seem about 1:1 or very near that. It's easily my hardest instrument to fine tune at the moment. I think the selling point is they stay tuned and turn smoothly. Maybe the Gotohs have a better gear ratio?

[@GotAUkulele]

Are you absolutely sure they are planetary tuners? All planetary pegs I’ve played, these included, are certainly not 1 to 1. That would be pointless!

[@photorooster8865]

I did some research and you are right. Planetary tuners are naturally 4:1, I'm comparing them to the right angled geared tuners on my normal Ukulele's which must be higher because they are so easy to tune. Even at 4:1 its easy to over and undershoot.

[@GotAUkulele]

Not as easy as full gears, but much easier than friction pegs. Saying that - I don’t personally mind friction pegs myself and much prefer the look

[@JtJt-bg8rn]

Thank you Sir 🤩👍🏆

[@GotAUkulele]

My pleasure!

[@daurye92]

I wondered, if you ever wanted to sell your ukulele but keep the tuners for your next one, could you put the old tuners back on, once you have widened the hole where the tuners sit?

[@GotAUkulele]

You would need to put some sort of collar inside the hole to make them smaller again.

[@daurye92]

@@GotAUkulele I see and thanks for your reply! I thought about getting a set for my Kala travel size tenor. It may be overkill, but it is my only Ukulele and I love the little guy :-D .. not so much the cased gear tuners.

[@lynburke5715]

I love your reviews! I’m going to purchase a Flea but what is your take on Peghead tuners vs Grover 6B’s?

[@GotAUkulele]

Lyn Burke what do you mean by Pegheads? The brand or just pegs in general. The brand of planetary tuners are nice but they are overpriced IMHO. I have a Flea and a Fluke and replaced the stock Grover 2 series with Grover 4s and personally have no desire to change them again!

[@lynburke5715]

GotAUkulele on the Magic Flea website they sell Peghead tuners you can have put on.

[@GotAUkulele]

@@lynburke5715 Ah right - the branded ones - yeah - nice tuners, but expensive for what they are I find. I personally don't have any issue with Grover 4's or 6's. But if a Flea comes with 2's I would uprgrade them. What's nice is that an aftermarket upgrade to 4's or 6's is a straight swap with no tools. Fitting Pegheds after you bought one requires luthier work. I like planetary tuners, but never put them or felt the need for them on my Flea - but that's probably because I use Grover 4's. Grover 4's are good enough for Martin.

[@lynburke5715]

GotAUkulele thank you!

[@davewebster6945]

Hi Barry, where did you get your reamer from ? I bought some UPT's over a year ago for an Ohana CK28 but dont have a drill press so they have been gathering dust as too scared to try n fit them 🙁. One of those reamers is what im needing ☺. Did you buy it here in UK ?

[@BarryMaz]

dave webster I did- from a shop called The String Zone

[@davewebster6945]

Barry Maz Cheers Barry 🤗 I will go have a look ☺👍

[@davewebster6945]

Blimey that reamer is now £50.40 from String Zone 😑 twice as much than what you paid for it Barry 😨. Might go for the £16 one on amazon instead 🤔.

[@davewebster6945]

I just learnt meself a lesson the hard way 😐. Thought id save meself some money and buy a cheaper reamer from Amazon so decided on the ammoon violin peg reamer for £16.90 rather than the one Barry bought which is now £50. The one i bought is supposed to be 5.5mm to 9.5 mm but when i just used it I found it is only 8mm at its widest point, obviously chinese millimetres are different to european ones ☹. So im gonna have to get the expensive one as im not gonna try n bodge the holes wider on my very nice uke 🙁. One other thing is that it didnt seem very sharp and was just removing dust accompanied by much painful high pitched squeaking 😑.

[@davewebster6945]

Update on reamer, bought ammoon reamer from amazon cost £16.90 but on using it it bacame apparent that a) it was only 8mm wide at the widest point 😯 so left me 2mm under size😑. b) it not exactly sharp with much squeaking n sticking in operation 😐. So a bad choice and a waste of money for reaming out for Gotoh UPT's ☹. I ended up doing what i should have done in the first place, in my town we have a violin maker and repairer so I took it round to him and he reamed it out properly and even fitted them for me 🤗. Well done Mr Phillip Brown of Newbury Berks 🤗.

[@simonkormendy849]

The one good thing about Planetary tuners is that you gain a mechanical advantage due to the 4:1 gearing ratio.

[@gizmomac1520]

Can I install this on my Martin 0X HPL uke? Or would Grover 4's or 6's be preferred?

[@GotAUkulele]

Yes you can - I have done it - but you will need a peg reamer to widen the holes to 10mm.

[@katcrawford6615]

I would love to replace the sealed geared tuners on my soprano that not only look ugly but are so heavy the uke is horribly unbalanced - so i took one of the tuners off to see what size the location hole was and its already 10mm. most friction tuning peg holes seem to require about 8mm sometimes 9mm. I don't think i could justify buying Gotohs - i'm not that good on the uke. Do you have any ideas or suggestions??

[@GotAUkulele]

I only really recommend these or Grover 4 and 6 series

[@katcrawford6615]

thanks for the fast reply! yeah my dad just told me to put the old ones back on lol

[@SRT80]

Can the Grover 6 be used on a tenor ukulele?

[@GotAUkulele]

Yes, I don't see why not?

[@SRT80]

@@GotAUkulele I'm thinking about trying the Grover 6's on my ukulele. But debating on the Gotoh UPTs also. My ukulele headstock is right at 12mm thick. Should I get the regular UPT or get the UPT long if i go that route?

[@GotAUkulele]

@@SRT80 The long are for 11.5 to 13.5mm so seems like what you need. Bear in mind for the UPT's you will need a reamer tool to take the peg holes to 10mm

[@CornishCockney]

Nice one Barry

[@GotAUkulele]

Thanks Keith

[@pajamasflannel]

Whilst 4:1 is a better turning ratio than friction tuners offer, being used to between 14:1 and 18:1 on six string guitars, the idea of Gotoh UPT tuners, with 4:1, frighten me. Having said that I imagine they can be gotten used to and I hope to after I receive the Blackbird Farallon next month. I know, I know...poor baby!

[@GotAUkulele]

Oh yeah - the ratio is very different to guitar types, but then 4:1 is also very different to 1:1. I love the feel of them. Really nice to use.

[@toddfiegel]

They're wonderful on my Farallon.

[@MariUSukulele]

informative. thx.

[@jorgenpetersson5342]

The tool you are recommending is used to make conical holes for traditional conical violin pegs. It's a very expensive tool for doing a cylindrical hole. :)

[@GotAUkulele]

Yes - but they come in different tapers. This is a very slight taper and when you run it back through the opposite side it gives you a perfect cylinder of the right diameter. It also wasn't expensive. And certainly not as expensive as a drill press.

[@jorgenpetersson5342]

I just thought it was odd to use a tool specialized to make tapered holes to make cylindrical holes. Maybe I will invent my own method and test it on my cheapest ukulele.........

[@GotAUkulele]

As long as you only take the widest part of the whole to the maximum you want to go (10mm in this case) then do it in reverse it makes a perfect hole. The alterative is a drill, but without a press or a vice, it's not something I'd want to do freehand. A luthier recommended this tool to me. It was only about £25.

[@jorgenpetersson8039]

You are right and I was wrong. I found that it's impossible to center a drill in a previous drilled hole. Bought a real peg reamer for violins that is sharp only half way around to ensure that the hole is circular. Made the previous non-circular chinese-madehole perfectly circular.

[@Greg-vd5om]

Oh yeah, great video. Thanks!

[@GotAUkulele]

Thank you!

[@radioboys8986]

removed gear tuners from Ohana soprano, replaced them with good friction pegs, work great

[@GotAUkulele]

Yeah - it's a pretty easy job

[@audreygiamlayhoon]

The manufacturers could all replace friction pegs with UPTs. Sarisfies everyone.

[@GotAUkulele]

Audrey Layhoon Giam yes , but they are very expensive

[@juliuschas]

Cheap gear tuners can be a nightmare, too. I have a "reasonably priced" mandolin, and the gears are jerky and sticky, just like cheap friction pegs. Fortunately, the whole instrument is so lame, I'm not tempted to struggle with replacing them.

[@GotAUkulele]

True that