Who has had their guitar Plek'd?

[MetalManiac]

Just finished an amateur fret level on one of my favorite guitars- my Walnut Warmoth Strat. Sometimes my basic fret level skills do the job work well for me, but not this time. I still don't have the perfect action I need on this guitar. So this guitar is one of my favorites, and I will go ahead and spend 200 bucks to get a Plek, along with one other one , a Tele I have.

Who has done a Plek.?I take it the frets are 100% perfectly leveled crowned and polished after the procedure?

Anything else I need to know? I'm not near ready to do it. yet I gotta wash a lot of dishes down at Dirty Dicks.

These Warmoth necks really have atrocious fretwork unless you like your action a mile high.

 

[LReese]

Re: Who has had their guitar Plek'd?

I'd talk with the fret guy 1st. Unless its one of those problem necks that need to be leveled under tension, an experienced repairman should be ample.

I've got several guitars plekked from the factory. The hand level/crown jobs I've had done compare very well.

 

[Drunken Bowling]

Re: Who has had their guitar Plek'd?

I ordered one that was Plek'd, a '08 Les Paul Standard. I took it to a tech to have it looked at and possibly set up and he said it was pretty much perfect out of the case. He didn't have to do much in the way of setting it up.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Who has had their guitar Plek'd?

I have read that while a Plek will get the frets perfectly crowned, it does nothing to correct fretboard issues. So if your neck is a little twisted or warped it may not play perfectly without a luthier's intervention. However, if its just a fret issue the Plek theoretically should give you a perfect neck.

 

[Wattage]

Re: Who has had their guitar Plek'd?

I have one guitar that was plek'd from the factory, the frets are perfectly level no doubt but they are not really crowned.

The plek will cut the frets level and then they'll get a nice polish and be OK but they will be flat on top. I prefer a crowned fret and that still takes some work.

 

[Justin Read]

Re: Who has had their guitar Plek'd?

I have had two of my guitars plekd and couldn't be happier.

The owner told me the plek machine cost AUD 500,000 so pleking costs a lot, about as much as a re-fret.

I guess it comes down to...

do you want to spruce up what you already have or ... do you want a new set of maybe stainless steel frets for pretty much the same price?

 

[jmh151]

Re: Who has had their guitar Plek'd?

I had one of my guitars refretted and Plek'd. IMO, the Plek is over rated. If you have a good luthier/ guitar tech, he can do as good, if not better, a job. It's good for mass produced instruments- the Plek'd fret jobs on recent production Gibsons is superior to the condition the frets were leaving the factory before, but they still need tweaking. Plek is only a tool, you still need a good lutheir/ tech controlling it.

 

[LReese]

Re: Who has had their guitar Plek'd?

Plek is not the magic bullet - the skill of the operator also weighs in. I understand its not a push a button and you get a perfect level kind of thing.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Who has had their guitar Plek'd?

Never had one plekked after the fact, but my newest LP was plekked from the factory. Fretwork is nicer on it than my other gibsons.

 

[Securb]

Re: Who has had their guitar Plek'd?

^+1 Love my plekked 2011 Les Paul Traditional Plus

 

[ErikH]

Re: Who has had their guitar Plek'd?

I've played a few that were plek'd from the factory. While they played nice, I still felt that one or two of them could have been a bit better had the frets been polished a bit more. My buddy's LP Trad Pro plays like butter after he had his tech polish them as that was all they needed done when he got it.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Who has had their guitar Plek'd?

i had my strat plekked. It was nice, but it wasn't any better than what a skilled luthier can do.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Who has had their guitar Plek'd?

i had my strat plekked. It was nice, but it wasn't any better than what a skilled luthier can do.

Thats exactly why I want to plekk it. There are no skilled luthiers, that I know of ,anywhere in this area. There might be one in Austin, but I don't know. I think Mark Erlewine, Dans E.'s cousin , is a competent tech maybe. I think he's also the one who has the Plekk machine.

Heres a quick tale that falls under the ' Believe it or Not' category, but I assure you its true.;

Rewind 4 months ago.I am overjoyed because a Memphis Luthier who worked at Epiphone for 10 years and Custom makes 5000.oo to 10.000 dollar custom instruments moves to my little town.
So I take him a simple fret level. Glad he's only going to charge me 50 bucks. I get the guitar back, and its like some hack had spent 20 minutes butchering the frets on it.
I took it home, redid it myself, and it turned out great.

You just cannot ever tell who is a quack and who isn't. I can no longer blindly trust anyone, about anything, not just guitars, but amps, and really anything.

I guess I'll give the fret level one moe try. This guitar sounds amazing. Maybe the neck is a littel twisted, I'll have to live with it.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Who has had their guitar Plek'd?

I've played a few that were plek'd from the factory. While they played nice, I still felt that one or two of them could have been a bit better had the frets been polished a bit more. My buddy's LP Trad Pro plays like butter after he had his tech polish them as that was all they needed done when he got it.

Yeah, I think the pleking levels them and all, but Im sure a robot cant polish them up like a skilled luthier could do by hand. Im sure the machine spends a very brief time finishing them.

 

[Wattage]

Re: Who has had their guitar Plek'd?

http://www.plek.com/en_US/technik/

Again keep in mind the frets are flat when they are done. If you like that no issues, if not there is still work to be done by a tech not a machine.

 

[Mr 9finger]

Re: Who has had their guitar Plek'd?

Do you have a notched straight edge to check the fretboard? How about a fret rocker to check fret to fret height? Are you just leveling them and not crowning or polishing them? I bought my notched straight edge on Ebay for like $20. I can't even do a decent setup w/out it now. It'll tell you if you've got a problem w/ your neck.

Just a little hint that I've found w/ compound radius necks, they setup best when completely flat after being strung. I don't know why, but just a hint of relief in the neck w/ make your action wonky.

 

[aleclee]

Re: Who has had their guitar Plek'd?

I had my two EBMMs pleked when I had them refretted. I think it's a great technology. It might not replace a skilled tech but it does allow the tech to focus on the things like crown and polish rather than leveling and fall away.

 

[DankStar]

Re: Who has had their guitar Plek'd?

plek me? plek you!

 

[voggin]

Re: Who has had their guitar Plek'd?

I have a plek'd 2011 LP standard. The frets are amazing, stupid low action and not a single buzz anywhere. In fact, I would probably like the action a little higher, but every time I go to raise it, I'm so impressed with the fret job and action I don't have the heart to do it. I've heard people say, "Gibson uses the Plek machine wrong", but you'd never know from my standard.

My 339 has, I believe, a plek'd nut, but not the frets (it's a 2010 I bought used, so correct me if I'm wrong.) It had a high fret and I took it to my local tech. He did a gret job, touched it up all around and generally fixed it up (intonation, checked the nut, etc.) for 80 bucks.

So I think it's a great thing when a manufacturer does it as part of the build, but if you've got a good tech, I'd save the 120 dollars extra for beer. I also like the Gibson-style flat top frets, but that's just a preference thing.

 

[voggin]

Re: Who has had their guitar Plek'd?

Forgot to add: the 80 dollar charge included a pack of strings.