To PLEK or not to PLEK

[soli'd]

I've never had any of my guitars PLEK'd.  There's apparently one PLEK system in Georgia (here in ATL) and I'm wondering if it's worth exploring.  

Is there any reason not to have this done, that is, has anyone experienced a guitar sounding or playing differently? 

How different of an effect is it than having your frets crowned/leveled? 

Has anyone experienced a notable positive change, i.e. with lower action than previously achievable, or noticeably improved intonation? 

Does type of construction (bolt-on vs. set neck, stoptail vs trem, etc...) have any bearing on how much improvement can be achieved?

Thanks in advance

[DaveH]

I've bought some plek'd guitars, but never had one plek'd. Therefore I can't really answer your question other than to say that every plek'd guitar I've played has been great. As far as having one done after the fact, it's probably like anything else that needs human input... It's only going to be as good as the guy that's prepping and setting everything up(?). That being said, I would think that anyone who has a plek is most likely trained and fluent with it.

[sapulpaguitaracademy]

Same with Dave above.  I've played Plek'd guitars and they always play well, but that's also due to a great setup.  Considering the price to plek, which is around $200-$300, I just learned how to level and crown my fretboards.  It's not as perfect as a plek, but it makes a world of difference.

[soli'd]

As I understand it, the neck is laser scanned, then everything is averaged to a specific fret height and leveled to that.  I would hope the lasers do most of the heavy lifting in that scenario, but don't know how much the process can vary from one operator to another.  

[Jeff R]

My shop fields so many inquiries about Plek by phone, e-mail, social media PMs, etc ... that I have a Word doc from which I can copy and paste ha. Here you go.

-

Plek is an incredible tool, but a talented, experienced tech with the right traditional tools can match the precision of a Plek head to head. The advantage of Plek is when you have a high volume of fretwork and not enough talented manpower and/or time to meet demand. You can sink six figures into a Plek machine (one-time expense with recurring sharpening, calibration and maintenance costs) versus six-figures-plus into workers' salaries (big recurring expense). If I was a small manufacturer, I'd own a Plek. If I averaged at least 4 requests for fretwork daily, I'd have a Plek. But my current shop will never have one - I don't have enough volume, it takes up valuable space in a small shop, I can match its precision, and I can provide my fretwork for about 2/3rd the price because you're not indirectly paying for my six-figure machine.

-

I'll add, I genuinely appreciate Plek, but I'm even more impressed by the Plek company's marketing endeavors. They have effectively positioned themselves in the marketplace perception-wise as being the pinnacle of perfection regarding factory and aftermarket fretwork; and in Plek's specific role in ultimate guitar setup and performance. Sorry Plek-Aid drinkers, but that is simply not true.

In fact, one job I did for a fellow HFC'er several years ago was fixing fretwork on a couple guitars that were horridly botched by a retailer's tech dept in Florida. More specifically, a not-so-good Plek operator's oversight of his responsibilities within the task. Our pal came this close (pinching fingers together) to needing at least partial refrets to undo the chaos on his fingerboards.

Thank gosh he didn't seek a re-Plek ... the guitars may have ended up fretless.

[polara]

Interesting observations. I have two Kauers that were factory-plek'd and I completely agree with Jeff R. It's a practical investment for a small builder, and because Kauers are made to a high standard, I assume the operator - who uses the thing daily - and the setup people at Kauer are skilled. Both guitars play great.

I also had a guitar refretted by Jeff H at Maple Street Guitars and it played every bit as nicely as the Kauers. It's the artist, not the brush. But with MSG closing their repair shop, I'm freaking about how to find a really top-shelf repair person in ATL.

[HSB0531]

I've always wondered about how much better or not, a plek'd guitar or bass would be.

 

[soli'd]

16 minutes ago, polara said:

Interesting observations. I have two Kauers that were factory-plek'd and I completely agree with Jeff R. It's a practical investment for a small builder, and because Kauers are made to a high standard, I assume the operator - who uses the thing daily - and the setup people at Kauer are skilled. Both guitars play great.

I also had a guitar refretted by Jeff H at Maple Street Guitars and it played every bit as nicely as the Kauers. It's the artist, not the brush. But with MSG closing their repair shop, I'm freaking about how to find a really top-shelf repair person in ATL.

I, too would've called Maple Street first.  It looks like they'll still do work on guitars you bought from them.  I've never used Righteous Guitars, but they're the aforementioned plek service- it's around $265 not including strings.  MSG charged $180 for full fret-dress/crown, so a bit more expensive to plek but not exorbitantly so- I guess it comes down to who's operating plek and doing final setup there.  I've also read about Southeastern Guitar Repair in Buford, but never tried them.  They pride themselves on being repair-only (no retail), and seem to firmly ascribe to a non-plek approach.

[murkat]

in the right hands and an individual’s understanding, a plek can be great, esp if the neck, board, frets have minor issues. but, a talented individual can do just as good or better than a machine.

[cynic]

...and in the wrong hands...

 

[HoboMan]

I've had a couple of guitars plek'd. They came out great with the ability to get the action insanely low without any fretting out.

If you're a fan of very low action you would probably appreciate having a guitar plek'd. 

[Disturber]

On 8/21/2024 at 8:08 PM, Jeff R said:

 

Plek is an incredible tool, but a talented, experienced tech with the right traditional tools can match the precision of a Plek head to head. The advantage of Plek is when you have a high volume of fretwork and not enough talented manpower and/or time to meet demand. You can sink six figures into a Plek machine (one-time expense with recurring sharpening, calibration and maintenance costs) versus six-figures-plus into workers' salaries (big recurring expense). If I was a small manufacturer, I'd own a Plek. If I averaged at least 4 requests for fretwork daily, I'd have a Plek. But my current shop will never have one - I don't have enough volume, it takes up valuable space in a small shop, I can match its precision, and I can provide my fretwork for about 2/3rd the price because you're not indirectly paying for my six-figure machine.

-

 

⬆️ This.I never pleked any of my guitars. I have two great guitar repairmen/luthiers that I have used. I feel much more comfortable with someone who really knows what he is doing (and takes great pride in it) working on my guitars than a computerised machine. It's like shopping at a mom and pops store, someone has put a long time in to learning their skill. I rather support that, and I hope that they pass on their knowledge down the line. 

I have had three guitars re-fretted over the years. All perfectly done and they came back like new. I've had all my guitars profesionally set up and the frets dressed or crowned/levelled. I could not be happier with what I got back in to my hands from the luthier. I doubt a plek machine would have done it any better. Plus I can't talk guitars a plek machine. 

[Dutchman]

On 8/21/2024 at 2:08 PM, Jeff R said:

My shop fields so many inquiries about Plek by phone, e-mail, social media PMs, etc ... that I have a Word doc from which I can copy and paste ha. Here you go.

-

Plek is an incredible tool, but a talented, experienced tech with the right traditional tools can match the precision of a Plek head to head. The advantage of Plek is when you have a high volume of fretwork and not enough talented manpower and/or time to meet demand. You can sink six figures into a Plek machine (one-time expense with recurring sharpening, calibration and maintenance costs) versus six-figures-plus into workers' salaries (big recurring expense). If I was a small manufacturer, I'd own a Plek. If I averaged at least 4 requests for fretwork daily, I'd have a Plek. But my current shop will never have one - I don't have enough volume, it takes up valuable space in a small shop, I can match its precision, and I can provide my fretwork for about 2/3rd the price because you're not indirectly paying for my six-figure machine.

-

I'll add, I genuinely appreciate Plek, but I'm even more impressed by the Plek company's marketing endeavors. They have effectively positioned themselves in the marketplace perception-wise as being the pinnacle of perfection regarding factory and aftermarket fretwork; and in Plek's specific role in ultimate guitar setup and performance. Sorry Plek-Aid drinkers, but that is simply not true.

In fact, one job I did for a fellow HFC'er several years ago was fixing fretwork on a couple guitars that were horridly botched by a retailer's tech dept in Florida. More specifically, a not-so-good Plek operator's oversight of his responsibilities within the task. Our pal came this close (pinching fingers together) to needing at least partial refrets to undo the chaos on his fingerboards.

Thank gosh he didn't seek a re-Plek ... the guitars may have ended up fretless.

This♤♤♤♤

[hamerhead]

After many years of wrenching on the neck of my #1 (and only) LPC, it was so out of shape that I quit playing it. Murkat not only did a masterful job getting it back to proper form - it was far worse than I realized - and re-fretting it, but had it Plekked as well. It has regained #1 status.

Jay also re-fretted the Special FM that I originally ordered with jumbo frets. Oops. Can't do jumbos, I found out. His re-fret (medium jumbos) is spotless and looks like it came from the factory that way. No Plek, just wicked talent.

[santellavision]

I'm a big fan of Plek-ing. I've had a bunch of guitars done over the years. I used to use Joe Glaser in Nashville as he was the first to get a Plek and has trained a lot of others on how to do it right. Unfortunately, they won't ship guitars anymore, so it has to be in-person pickup only. Every guitar I had Plek'd played better than it ever had before. They usually offer to replace and cut the nut correctly too, which I recommend to get the entire setup right. If you got the moolah, then, I would recommend it highly.

[Devnor]

In the late 2000s, I had 3 guitars plekked at a workshop in Oklahoma...EBMM Luke 1, PRS CU24 and one of my Hamer standards. All benefited from this work.  At the time, there was no luthier I could trust to do this work. 

[The Shark]

I like to fight my guitars a bit.  Never a fan of low action.  So, I don't think a plek job does anything for me.  I've had numerous guitars that were pleked and I didn't think they were any better than Peter Taylor at Chellee guitars here in Central Florida.  Kim LaFluer's guy Kenny is great too. 

I'm a big fan of keeping warm bodies employed in their chosen field.  Like Publix Supermarket here in Florida.  They have self-serv lanes.  I never use them.  Another reason to pay cash.  Most self-serv kiosks or check out stations don't accept cash.  When there's no more cash, everything you buy will have a "trail".  Big brother for sure.  Then, we use marbles as currency!!!

[BoogieMKIIA]

1 hour ago, santellavision said:

I'm a big fan of Plek-ing. I've had a bunch of guitars done over the years. I used to use Joe Glaser in Nashville as he was the first to get a Plek and has trained a lot of others on how to do it right. Unfortunately, they won't ship guitars anymore, so it has to be in-person pickup only. Every guitar I had Plek'd played better than it ever had before. They usually offer to replace and cut the nut correctly too, which I recommend to get the entire setup right. If you got the moolah, then, I would recommend it highly.

Have your RS been Plek'd? They do good manual work and would be interested in a before / after.  

[geoff_hartwell]

I have compared the before and after in a couple of instances. A good Plek job is terrific.

No real difference or advantage over a human tech, and always more expensive. In my experience, the dudes who own those machines could not do a killer job without it first; and I read into that as, they don’t really have the skills to do what I want and have paid a machine for the potential without having the knowledge or experience to begin with.

I will always spend my money on a human doing niche work; I say support ‘em or commit to cry over the loss. (Or, Support weirdos in shacks and/or basements and/or cluttered workshops- they ALWAYS have additional micro-skills that I didn’t know I needed, eventually 😆)

Crowning etc, is less than pedals ha. If it really bothers me, I’ll pay for a full refret for less than a Plek job and have spent my $ with no regret (which I have done), fwiw.