Vintage Banjo Ukulele Buying Tips - part 1

I recently had an inkling to share some tips for buying vintage banjo ukuleles.  It's a subject that I admittedly don't know a lot about it, so instead of trying to push forward on my own, I asked for some help from banjo uke guru John Bianchi.  In addition to knowing almost EVERYTHING about old banjo ukes, John is a very fine player.  Thanks John for being awesome and passing along all this buying advice!  This is the first of a two part article.  Click here for part 2 where John breaks down all the different makes and models of banjo ukes!

Check out his blog here.

Check out his Youtube here.

The Banjo Ukulele:

Tips for Buying Vintage

By John Bianchi

If you’re new to playing the banjo ukulele, you may hear more experienced players
recommend vintage banjo ukes as having a different sound and feel than the current
generation of the hybrid instruments. And while its true that vintage ukes have the
potential to be great instruments, it can be daunting to approach buying one. But,
there are a few tips that can help you make the right choice when considering a
vintage banjo ukulele.

Ukulele Tuners: friction vs. geared

One of the ongoing debates among ukulele enthusiasts is what style of tuning machines are best.  And to be quite honest, this argument can get downright silly.  There are ukulele "purists" who will never come to the dark side of geared tuners...and the other side of the coin...players that love their geared tuners and are too stubborn or afraid to ever consider friction tuners.

This seems ridiculous to me.  I mean, they both do the same thing!  Here's the basic breakdown of the pros and cons with each style.


GEARED TUNERS

Pros - They tune the strings at a lesser ratio per rotation.  This makes them easier to tune and helps them stay in tune.

Revamping your old ukulele tuning machines

Some of us just really love vintage ukuleles!  I get a big kick out of playing an instrument that is 50+ years old.  But one of the problems that I've encountered in my collection of vintage ukes is that often the tuning machines aren't functioning properly.  The usual culprit is years and years of sitting idly in someone's attic, closet, garage, etc.  To make matters worse, today's standard tuning machines are often to big to fit the little holes drilled into the ukes of yesteryear.

Replacing those old tuning machines can be done, but it can be quite an arduous task.  A tapered reamer (like this one offered by Grizzly) is a handy tool to have for widening up those holes a bit...and it's a much