Plekking

One of my guitars got plekked by the shop, they plek all guitars they sell
The shop-owner told me there was close to zero the machine had to do, which is quite rare

My preferred brand doesn't use any plek, they think if a guitar is well made plekking is not necessary
 
Fortunately it (plek) was not a thing when it might have crossed my radar...so I did things in what we old farts think of as "the old fashioned way"...which required acquiring some skill or relying on someone who had.

My opinion about it isn't particularly favorable ... I've come to think of it as a means to eliminate the skilled craft/trade-person and rely on those who are not.

One of the truly beneficial things about the skilled human approach ...
language. Talking with the luthier/tech about how I liked - disliked or wanted something.

There is something to be said for sitting with a skilled human and getting the results right one step at a time...instead of a machine and computer telling me what perfection is.
 
rolandson said:
Fortunately it (plek) was not a thing when it might have crossed my radar...so I did things in what we old farts think of as "the old fashioned way"...which required acquiring some skill or relying on someone who had.

My opinion about it isn't particularly favorable ... I've come to think of it as a means to eliminate the skilled craft/trade-person and rely on those who are not.

One of the truly beneficial things about the skilled human approach ...
language. Talking with the luthier/tech about how I liked - disliked or wanted something.

There is something to be said for sitting with a skilled human and getting the results right one step at a time...instead of a machine and computer telling me what perfection is.
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That’s funny that you say that Reed. I offered my son one of my SG’s. One is an Epiphone tony Iommi Monkey SG that I set up and did a level and crown on, and the other was a brand new Gibson SG Standard that is Pleck’d from the factory, has a slightly proud 21st fret, and I did nothing to it other than relief, action, and intonation.

He could have picked either, but he did notice that the Gibson’s frets weren’t as smooth, especially when it came to bending. And, he liked the neck on the Epiphone better. It was a $999 Epiphone vs an $1800 Gibson and he picked the Epi. The polishing of the frets was all done by hand by me. I haven’t done anything to the Gibson yet. I just haven’t had time.
 
I wouldn't suggest dismissing the Plek service altogether, specifically if you have never tried it.

I strongly believe in the underlying technology, emanating from German engineering. Mentioning this as a German engineer of course.

I actually tried the Plek service myself on an Epiphone Les Paul Classic which I purchased from Thomann back in April this year and immediately fell in love with it, and just wanting to make sure I could get the best and overall maybe an additional 1 or 2% performance out of it, I sent it back to Thomann for the Plek service as advertised. My overall goal being to even enhance playability in terms of minimal string action across the board, if possible.

I had a nice chat with the person in charge at the Thomann upon my request on the phone, and he said that, upon initial diagnosis, some minor adjustments of the frets below the 12th fret might help. So I ordered the service, which came about at €200, all things included.

About a week later, the guitar was returned, and obviously came back in about the same shape as I had sent it in, except for some of the buzzing and partially dead tones about the 12th fret and upwards disappeared.

Should I regret spending the money and time on it so far, not mentioning all the efforts I had done before sending it in for the Plek service to get the setup correctly, including purchasing all and any kinds of Music Nomad tools and applying them to get the setup correctly?

No way, as people up around here in the very far west of Germany, situated in the Düsseldorf region, just between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border, like to put it. And if there is anyone from Bavaria out there disagreeing with it, he or she may hold his or her breath.
 
RWilke said:
No way, as people up around here in the very far west of Germany, situated in the Düsseldorf region, just between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border, like to put it. And if there is anyone from Bavaria out there disagreeing with it, he or she may hold his or her breath.
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Ist das schon Preußen a61shrug.gif

Grüße aus 'Badisch Sibirien'
wave.gif

Of course the plekking can and will improve many 'mass produced' guitars, if done properly
The better the guitar is built, the less sense it makes to plekk it
 
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Kein Preußen, früher mal preußsich besetzt, aber heute das "richtige" Deutschland. :) Badisch-Sibirien vielleicht auch, aber da kann ich mich sprachlich nicht richtig verständigen. :)
 
Well, I’m not saying it can’t be worth it. My latest Gibson was more than acceptable and played well out of the box, but as I’ve been doing guitar repairs since 2008 when I quit working at the local hospital, it doesn’t make sense for me to pay extra for something I can do better by hand myself for my guitars.

I will dress the one high fret on my Gibson and hand polish the frets. I just haven had the time yet. I have four guitars that I have to work on for customers at the moment. Hopefully I get them done by next week. I have one to do for my buddy and forum member @Strummer. I have been letting it acclimate. Tomorrow I start on his.
 
3bolt79 said:
My latest Gibson was more than acceptable and played well out of the box,
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Don't Gibson use plek machines any more ?

Some years back they did to cover the 'non perfect' fretwork
and there were rumors why they don't use it properly
 
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PeteR said:
Do you own guitars that got plekked ?

(I am not thinking of factories who use the plek machine to cover the non perfect fretwork)
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I dunno. I'll have to ask them but it's kind of an embarrassing question asking if they've ever been "plekked". Kinda personal too. ;)
 
Now.....being serious and although I have never had any of mine plekked I would not discard the idea out of hand. If I were to spend top dollar on a guitar that I intended to be the very best player I owned I might consider having it plekked but would not do it with every guitar I currently own. Much like others here I believe a highly qualified luthier could do a fret level and crown that would be precise enough to work for me. Eric Johnson or Clapton I am not.
 
soulman said:
Now.....being serious and although I have never had any of mine plekked I would not discard the idea out of hand. If I were to spend top dollar on a guitar that I intended to be the very best player I owned I might consider having it plekked but would not do it with every guitar I currently own. Much like others here I believe a highly qualified luthier could do a fret level and crown that would be precise enough to work for me. Eric Johnson or Clapton I am not.
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The Plek service being based on CNC, which boils down to working within ranges down to thousands of millimetres, which may not meet the eye even of the most accomplished luthier, but if it doesn't meet the eye, you might feel it in your fingertips, I would always go with the more scientific approach, as in the CNC based method.
 
Musical instruments aren't merely scientific devices that make noise. They're devices that allow artists to make music. A computer might be able to guide a cutting surface with extreme precision, they just won't be able to interpret the results in human scale.

Hopefully competent luthiers and reasonably skilled techs assist in programming the plek device. But there isn't any guarantee of that.
And in 30 years in music both orchestral and ...not...I never met a luthier that relied on visuals to determine the quality of their work...

they rely on feel and sound.
 
PeteR said:
Don't Gibson use plek machines any more ?

Some years back they did to cover the 'non perfect' fretwork
and there were rumors why they don't use it properly
Click to expand...
Well, they really aren't that great at it.
 
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