Banjolele Tuning Keys

impmann

I own a rather lovely old 1928-32 (not sure of exact date) John Grey & Son Banjolele. It has those wooden tapered push fit tuning keys, that are about as accurate as a politician's promise. Similar to these:



I'm thinking about swapping them out for a set like these (Northwest Guitars):



Has anyone done such a conversion and was it successful? 

paulnb57

Ive just bought an old Banjolele and have been asking similar questions elsewhere
Mine appears to have the style you wish to use a a replacement to the tapered wooden ones, these apparently vary massively in quality, relying on friction between the tuner button and whatever is beneath it on the tuner shaft.
I'll post a link to a video that explains, below.
You can fit the proposed style of tuner but you will almost certainly have to ream the tuner holes in the headstock to suit, you may not want to spoil the originality of the old thing....decent friction tuners will certainly improve tuning, but destroy originality.




This is my project old clunker...in the mail

Aluminium alloy neck!

impmann

Thanks @paulnb57 ; - I'll post some pics tonight of mine. I'm not bothered about originality tbh, as its pretty useless if you can't play it - and I paid less than £90 for it, so I doubt it'll ever be worth much!

Endpin

I make ukuleles and bought a large quantity of those adjustable friction tuners from China about 12 years ago and am still working through them. They certainly hold tune better than wooden pegs as well as being easier to get there in the first place! One thing to check is the thickness of the headstock. Make sure that the screw in the peg is long enough. You will likely have to team the holes as @paulnb57 says. 

Wooden pegs can work very well if fitted properly, but this requires expensive specialist tools to get right. A quality tapered reamer and peg shaver as a minimum. Chalk can help with slippage. 

Looking at the picture of the Northwest pegs, I’m really not sure of the purpose of that spiky washer just below the button.