How many months should I wait?

[Napthol]

I got my Epiphone Les Paul Standard today. Gave it to a technician to do some setup work on it. Problem is I can hear a little fret buzz, and I've noticed he can't hear what I can hear. So I think what I will eventually do is send it to Sweetwater and have them put it thru their Plek machine.

My question is how long should I wait before calling them up and sending it in?

Seems to me that I should let the guitar settle in for awhile and play it before calling them up.

 

[jeremy]

it cant hurt to wait, but i dont think you really need to

 

[Mincer]

If it really bothers you, have it done now, and get back to playin'. But make sure you let them know your concerns to make sure they will be addressed by this kind of setup.

 

[ICTGoober]

Are you hearing it buzz acoustically, or when it's plugged in?

 

[ehdwuld]

if you can hear it in the playing position its a problem
but if only on the bench, face up
thats probably not a problem

if you cant hear it through the amp its probably not something I would bother with

 

[switchman]

Its hard to say much because as others have pointed out there's no context... What do you mean by settle in?

If I had a guitar shipped to me in the extreme parts of summer or winter, yes, I'd give it a few days to acclimate to my home environment before making any major adjustments. Who knows how long it sat in a hot humid shipping truck on its way to you. I've had packages come to me hot to the touch recently delivered mid-day.

Otherwise, I'd think its already well settled in. Unless it's a custom order any common model Sweetwater sells has been in their inventory a bit, plus however long it took the manufacturer to ship it to them in this case from overseas. It's probably settled for a couple of months already since Epiphone first boxed it up...

Also, was the Plek included with the purchase or do you have to pay for it? Why order the guitar than ship it back and forth again for Plek?

 

[Seashore]

Both of the brand new guitars I've purchased in the last few years took about 1 to 1.5 years for the necks to become as stable as my older guitars. Noticed it mostly with seasonal changes.

 

[Napthol]

I was hoping to save some money on the Plek and have the technician do it. But if he can't really hear any fret buzz he won't be leveling the frets. I will have to send it back to Sweetwater and have them do it.

 

[switchman]

Both of the brand new guitars I've purchased in the last few years took about 1 to 1.5 years for the necks to become as stable as my older guitars. Noticed it mostly with seasonal changes.

Oh I see what you mean. I was thinking of when a guitar is first assembled and strung up. Frets could look level beforehand then a hump or dip becomes more noticeable with string tension pretty quckly (which is actually one of the arguments for Plek). I agree I've had some necks more stable than others, but usually over time they need less seasonal adjustment. But mine also aren't put through a lot of indoor outdoor weather changes.

 

[Seashore]

Oh I see what you mean. I was thinking of when a guitar is first assembled and strung up. Frets could look level beforehand then a hump or dip becomes more noticeable with string tension pretty quckly (which is actually one of the arguments for Plek). I agree I've had some necks more stable than others, but usually over time they need less seasonal adjustment. But mine also aren't put through a lot of indoor outdoor weather changes.

I don't know if my experience is relevant to the OP, but I was guessing that might be what he meant by a neck "settling in".

 

[switchman]

I was hoping to save some money on the Plek and have the technician do it. But if he can't really hear any fret buzz he won't be leveling the frets. I will have to send it back to Sweetwater and have them do it.

I'd just consider the tech may be trying to say what you're hearing is normal to save the expense of a fret level that doesn't fix anything. This is all very vague without more info on how the guitar is setup, or specifics of the fret buzz complaint, or knowing anything about the tech.​

 

[Clint 55]

If the frets are leveled well then it doesn't matter what the setup is. So you can send it in immediately if you want. I guess the plek machine takes into account setup when working the frets, but I wouldn't see how that would make them NOT level for slight tweaks.

 

[Napthol]

How rude of you. I am certainly not a troll. I asked a simple question that is all.

 

[ehdwuld]

How rude of you. I am certainly not a troll. I asked a simple question that is all.

that was rude'
Goob

Be nice

 

[ehdwuld]

Napthol

arent you the one that lives in South America and had the tech who passed away last year? zz0.j2lrobtnu9zz

 

[Masta' C]

I'd just consider the tech may be trying to say what you're hearing is normal to save the expense of a fret level that doesn't fix anything. This is all very vague without more info on how the guitar is setup, or specifics of the fret buzz complaint, or knowing anything about the tech.​

Exactly this. OP hasn't really explained his side very well and I'm not sure where he got "troll" from?

We all know that sometimes there's an acceptable amount of buzz in an otherwise "good" setup, the threshold being whether it is audible through the amp when in playing position. But, much like normal players, some techs have a greater tolerance for some types of buzz than others.

If you need absolute perfection, I guess just send it in. Even if it's a "new" guitar, it's already probably months old, so any additional "settling" of the neck will be negligible unless crappy materials were used (but that kind of guitar wouldn't be worth Plek'ing anyway).

 

[80's_Metal]

A couple days should be plenty of time to notice if the neck it's going to move or not.

You may try thicker strings or even a different brand to see if that changes it positively or negatively.
It's way cheaper than whatever they may charge for the Plek.

 

[Mincer]

If you need absolute perfection, I guess just send it in. Even if it's a "new" guitar, it's already probably months old, so any additional "settling" of the neck will be negligible unless crappy materials were used (but that kind of guitar wouldn't be worth Plek'ing anyway).

Does a PLEK setup guarantee absolute perfection? No doubt it is accurate...but as someone who hasn't had one of those setups, is it that perfect?

 

[ehdwuld]

My Gibson arrived plekd
the top of the frets and the nut were
"School bus" shaped

If the neck is perfectly straight and flat when it is inserted in the machine and all the fine grinding parts have little wear

It's almost the same as if a great tech did it

So no not perfect
Close
And repeatable

Like a machine did it

The fret end are shaved off
There were still very sharp bburrs on the fret end of mine and the shop wanted $70 to un fk it

I got a file
But I was pissed

GC wouldn't even offer to fix it
Or some years before, they had an ibanez that was creating a blood born pathogen crisis
Luckily it was a blood red anniversary reissue

I asked if they would clean it up and dress the frets and I would buy it
They said no

 

[Mincer]

It is kinda expensive, isn't it? Especially for something that can't achieve 'perfection'.

Besides, my perfection is different than yours, or likely anyone else's. I am not anti-PLEK, though, I am just a 'find a great tech you know and trust and will listen to what you need' kinda guy.