Off Topic To Plek or not to Plek

[DR5Guy]

Greetings!

One of my guitars need fret leveling and have a choice between a guy who does the traditional leveling/crowning and another shop offering the Plek process. The Plek process is about $65 more. I'd like to ask for your opinions/experience on which one works better.

Thank you

 

[steveh]

Plek every time. I've had both electrics and acoustics Plek'ed and IMHO the result is far better than any luthier could achieve without it. Incredibly even playing up and down the neck.

One caveat though - your frets need to have reasonable life left in them since the the Plek will take them down to the lowest common denominator. Clive Carroll (well-known UK guitarist) told me of how he had a guitar Plekked that had some particularly low frets and afterwards, the whole thing felt like a fretless guitar!

cheers,
Steve

 

[Abraxas]

Greetings!

One of my guitars need fret leveling and have a choice between a guy who does the traditional leveling/crowning and another shop offering the Plek process. The Plek process is about $65 more. I'd like to ask for your opinions/experience on which one works better.

Thank you

My first suggestion would be to see, if possible, actual work done by both luthiers. Or ask around, esp. people you trust.

I have heard very positive things about the Plek system but I'm not totally convinced myself. One thing that irks me is that, Plek works by simulating certain string gauge, action, relief, guitarist "touch" style, and other such parameters. What happens if any of these parameters change? Also, I have seen Plek jobs with the top of the frets quite flat, which is unacceptable.

On the other hand, a "traditional" fret dress, done by a competent luthier will give you an guitar excelent in playability. After all, this is the way we've been doing it for so many years!

I do fret dresses on a "hobbyist" basis, both to my guitars and others'. On a 9.5" (and up) radius neck, I can achieve 4/64" action on the High E string, 12th fret, with ease, no buzzes and almost 2 full tone bends! My luthier, who has much more experience and better equipment than me, can go to 3/64" with the same playing parameters.

Mind you, this is LOW, actually it's lower than you probably want, to be able to bend the higher strings with ease.

So, if a "traditional" approach produces such results, I don't see the need for a machine.

YMMV of course.

 

[beej]

People seem to come down on both sides of the line. I personally think a great tech/luthier can do a much better job than a Plek.

 

[kimonostereo]

Human touch all the way. Check out a good luthiers work.

 

[jamminjim]

I do fret dresses on a "hobbyist" basis, both to my guitars and others'. On a 9.5" (and up) radius neck, I can achieve 4/64" action on the High E string, 12th fret, with ease, no buzzes and almost 2 full tone bends! My luthier, who has much more experience and better equipment than me, can go to 3/64" with the same playing parameters.

Can you do a Martin for me?

~Jim

 

[the24thfret]

Noob question.... what is a plek process?

 

[beej]

Basically an automated (computerized) fret dress and profiling. Requires a tech to make measurements for setting it all up. But the calculations and milling are done by a machine.

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

Charlie Chandler (who does all my guitar work) has Plek'd everything I have had re-fretted, and it gives an excellent fret dress. The feel is excellent.

However, as Charlie is a master guitar repairer, I am sure he could out-Plek the Plek!

 

[Abraxas]

Can you do a Martin for me?

Ahahahaha, I don't think shipping a Martin to and from Greece would be very economical Jim!

It's interesting though, that one of my luthier friends here, had plans on importing and using a Plek machine a few years back, since, to my knowledge, there isn't one in Greece. He eventually decided against it. I have to ask him what was the deal and how he came to abandon his plans.

Prices here for a complete fret job along with full setup + strings, goes for about 70-100 euros which is considered quite acceptable.

 

[jamminjim]

Nope, Greece is outa the question. Wish I could find someone within 300 miles of here that can do exceptional work on frets, for a reasonable cost.
think I'll invest in a few tools and do it myself, like you. Stewie Mac.... here I come.

 

[TNT]

Plek!!! There's no comparison as far as detail and precision.

Provided money isn't an issue, a Plek does NOT allow for human error or mis-judgment, if done correctly . The guitar is worked on while having the truss rod set to preference, the neck relief set to preference, and with full
string tension.

One thing though, the Plek machine "may" ding or scratch your guitar (as it did one of mine).

 

[PaoloGilberto]

I had a Plek job done on my Ibanez S.
result: somewhere between the: top of the frets flat - which really sucks - and what steveh said "...had some particularly low frets and afterwards, the whole thing felt like a fretless guitar!"

that is my personal experience with the Plek

 

[Grand Wazoo]

I'd take a qualified luthier any day against a robot. I've heard too many scary stories about the plek

 

[Mick]

Be sure that the people who deal with the Plek system have lots of experience with it.
I had my Anderson pleked when the machine was relatively new (made in germany to remind you) in 2003 and the people who ran it were complete idiots (the people and the shop went out of buisness 2005)

The didn´t tell me there -at that time- is no Floyd programme neither one for compound radius. So they messed up the whole thing, even f*** up my front Pup by turning the neck screw which I told them to leave it alone because the setup was perfect.

I talked to the people of PLEK at the Frankfurt Music Fair and they were very nice and they offered me to Plek it again for free, but I did a refret and dressed it the old way.
Perfect.

So you see - the human factor is still there even with the machine. Ask people who had their guitar there to PLEK and then decide.

I think the system is great and since then they improved it a lot and I played perfect guitars which were pleked.

 

[dstockden]

I had an Ibanez plek'd once. Like Tim it was with Charlie Chandler (well it was n the interim period when he was opening up his new shop, so it may have been someone else!)
It came back pretty nice, unfortunately for me it came back with a really really really really low action, so i had to crank up the trem posts to accommodate the massive action i prefer!

 

[Abraxas]

The guitar is worked on while having the truss rod set to preference, the neck relief set to preference, and with full
string tension.

This is exactly what the neck jig (sp?) from Stewmac does; it sets the neck as if it was on string tension and appropriate relief.

I have come to believe that Plek is for factories (e.g. Suhr) where perhaps there are not so many experienced technicians to work on necks, and you want an automated, perfect result.

But I stand by my belief that, a top-notch luthier with the appropriate tools shall be equally effective as a top Plek job.

 

[beej]

Plek!!! There's no comparison as far as detail and precision.

I think you've got a bit too much faith in the machines. There's a lot that can be done wrong with a Plek. It can be great, but a good luthier can definitely do a better job.

As with any medical procedure ... find a qualified professional. Then trust the tools they're using.

 

[guitfiddle]

Setting up a guitar for any player is basically a complex balance of compromises. I don't think that the machines and software (CNC run by AI) are there yet, or are being fed all of the inputs that they need to make the right decisions.

I agree that Pleking can be good way for a shop to go that is just pumping out a bunch of guitars to default standards, as it will make them consistent. However, if I need fret work done to a guitar that I'm going to play myself, it will be going to a luthier so that it plays the way I want it to.

All that said, it depends a lot on how picky you are and how far you want to take it. A guitar doesn't have to be perfect to be playable. I'm sure that any guitar that has been either Plecked or had fretwork done manually can be played far beyond my potential.

I'm a bit old school as well in that I'd rather give the work to a person that needs it than a machine, but that's just a personal bias.

 

[TNT]

Yeah, as I mentioned the Plek MUST BE set up correctly to perform flawlessly. Otherwise, as I'm sure will happen, horrendous results.

Untrained personnel in any capacity of guitar manufacturing can be detrimental. It's not the machine's fault, it's the human element.

The Plek machine is designed to eliminate the human element and provide a "perfect" job, as in any of the machinery used by guitar makers, including EBMM, to build guitars.

It's no different.