Anyone had a guitar Plek'd by Andertons?

Brio · September 2023

I hear that the operator makes a big difference, any views on the Andertons techs?
They are very local to me so now couriering guitars needed.

Jay100 · September 2023

Genuine question - not intended to sound like a rant, but why would anyone go for a Plek over taking it to a half decent Guitar Tech?

Peach charge £175 for the privelige where most decent techs will do a full setup and level/crown for somewhere around the £100-120 mark. Get more for your money and help support those in the trade.

My Gibsons all supposedly came Plek’d from the factory and still needed some work to remove the ‘ski jump’ at the dusty end.

Dumodal · September 2023

Jay100 said:

Genuine question - not intended to sound like a rant, but why would anyone go for a Plek over taking it to a half decent Guitar Tech?

Peach charge £175 for the privelige where most decent techs will do a full setup and level/crown for somewhere around the £100-120 mark. Get more for your money and help support those in the trade.

My Gibsons all supposedly came Plek’d from the factory and still needed some work to remove the ‘ski jump’ at the dusty end.

I Had a chat with Charlie Chandler about it, he has a plek machine and he offers the service too, he commented that even if you are a superb tech you won't have the accuracy of a plek machine, obviously you will get a good set up from a good tech but probably not as perfect.

Also when doing a complete refret of a guitar a Plek machine does make a difference.

I wouldn't recommend a Plek for just a normal set up but if a refret is involved then yes.

Never had experience with Andertons Plek offerings but I suppose they trained the people who are doing it.

Brio · September 2023

Jay100 said:

Genuine question - not intended to sound like a rant, but why would anyone go for a Plek over taking it to a half decent Guitar Tech?

Because I don't know any half decent guitar techs, don't drive and do know Andertons. I'm in Ash, my local tech is J White Guitar Services of whom I have heard conflicting reports. And being honest many techs seem to be of the "drop it off and I'll let you know when its done..." approach.
No, tell me when to bring it as you have a slot for it , give me an idea of how long it will take and then I'll collect it.
The rest of the real world operates like that.

Jay100 · September 2023

@Brio Fair enough.

Let us know if you go through with the Plek - would be interested to hear what the outcome is like.

blueskunk · September 2023

For anyone in North Manchester - The Heywood Guitar Doctor is one of the best techs around and is a lovely man.

Nerine · September 2023

Charlie Chandler has Plek’d a couple of my guitars and they have both been excellent. Very, very true instruments afterwards. I’ve found the way chords ring to have more of a visceral growl to them after Plek-ing. Probably because they are more interval-perfect.

Not sure how Andertons would fare, though. The machine is only as good as the operator.

Lewy · September 2023

Brio said:

I'm in Ash, my local tech is J White Guitar Services of whom I have heard conflicting reports.

For what it's worth I've had mixed experiences with him but his fretwork is very good.

Kebabkid · September 2023

Nerine said:

Charlie Chandler has Plek’d a couple of my guitars and they have both been excellent. Very, very true instruments afterwards. I’ve found the way chords ring to have more of a visceral growl to them after Plek-ing. Probably because they are more interval-perfect.

Not sure how Andertons would fare, though. The machine is only as good as the operator.

Another plus one for Charlie Chandler, be it Plek or manually, and he's done both for me on the same guitars, a Strat and a PRS. I'm not sure if I really noticed any big difference between them as both were excellent jobs and Charlie is an excellent, full stop. Of note, a Plek keeps a record of your set up should you ever require that sometime in the future.

https://plek.com/services/training/ (Charlie pioneered it in the UK)

A friend who used to use Charlies but moved away closer to Guildford and your neck of the woods now uses the Anderton's tech for his set ups etc and he's always been satisfied with the work.

Offset · September 2023

Lewy said:

Brio said:

I'm in Ash, my local tech is J White Guitar Services of whom I have heard conflicting reports.

For what it's worth I've had mixed experiences with him but his fretwork is very good.

I used him a couple of years ago and would not do so again.

axisus · September 2023

To me it's a service for people with way more money to burn that I have.

OilCityPickups · September 2023

Both of the Gibsons I've had of late have been 'Plekked' ... and both needed work after ... the SG was shocking. Personally If I have time I do the setup myself, if not, I send to Feline. .

Brio · September 2023

Thanks for the all advice guys.
I'm going to put the cost of a Plek towards NutFiles and some fret tools from Crimson.
May as well go indie...

OilCityPickups · September 2023

Brio said:

Thanks for the all advice guys.
I'm going to put the cost of a Plek towards NutFiles and some fret tools from Crimson.
May as well go indie...

Once you have learned you never will have to worry again ... as an added bonus you can get money knocked off guitars you may buy with poor setups. My most used tool setup tool is a fret rocker :-)

Power_Freak · September 2023

I used Charlie Chandler's plek servicing a few times. It's useful when you have a particularly pesky guitar - even Charlie will offer a "normal" set up if a guitar doesn't "need" a plek. I ask for their advice and get them to do whatever they think is best, sometimes that's plek, sometimes it's not.

Never tried Anderton's or Peach's pleks so no idea how they compare.

revsorg · September 2023

Brio said:

Jay100 said:

Genuine question - not intended to sound like a rant, but why would anyone go for a Plek over taking it to a half decent Guitar Tech?

Because I don't know any half decent guitar techs, don't drive and do know Andertons. I'm in Ash, my local tech is J White Guitar Services of whom I have heard conflicting reports. And being honest many techs seem to be of the "drop it off and I'll let you know when its done..." approach.
No, tell me when to bring it as you have a slot for it , give me an idea of how long it will take and then I'll collect it.
The rest of the real world operates like that.

This reminds me of some time in the 80's when my very trusted friend recommended a London-based guitar repairer to repair a ding on my four-digit Hamer Explorer, and rout out a humbucker slot on my Fender The Strat - both guitars that I treasured. I dropped them off, having explained what I wanted and a couple of weeks elapsed without hearing anything. Eventually I called and he suggested I come over to pick up the guitars. When I came in - this was on his kitchen, not a workshop - he got out my Hamer to start work, he put it on his kitchen table and his cat jumped on the really quite pristine top which he then proceeded to wipe some glossy stuff over with his finger - achieving nothing. I was disappointed. With his ding repair completed he got my Strat out to show me the new humbucker rout which he'd clearly done by hand, probably that afternoon. The rout only bore a passing resemblance to the shape of a humbucker. The only good thing you can say about that it is that it offered a huge range of potential positions for a humbucker, some not related to where the strings passed over it. It took 25 years for me to come to terms with what I now figure are battle scars on the Hamer.

newi123 · September 2023

I used Charlie Chandler when my much loved and played HW1 strat needed some work. Took it to a local guy for a setup but it came back much the same.

I used Chandler`s collect and return service and it came back playing great - albeit frets are now low due to amount of playing, but it`s no longer choking out like it was.

For my other Strats I do now use a good local tech, but I would happily send to Chandlers again if more work was needed.

flying_pie · September 2023

I'm incredibly sceptical about Plek. Of course there's a measurable difference. That can't be denied but I am doubtful of how that translates in the real world. You can say the same thing about 240bpm and 240.35bpm. They are measurably different yet no human can tell the difference just from listening. Just because something can be more precisely measured doesn't mean it has to be.

I'll happily revise my opinion when there are lots of videos where someone tries, say, 10 guitars having never played them before and correctly distinguishes all the Pleked ones from the well set up ones. Until then I'll view it as another guitar industry con

Nerine · September 2023

flying_pie said:

I'm incredibly sceptical about Plek. Of course there's a measurable difference. That can't be denied but I am doubtful of how that translates in the real world. You can say the same thing about 240bpm and 240.35bpm. They are measurably different yet no human can tell the difference just from listening. Just because something can be more precisely measured doesn't mean it has to be.

I'll happily revise my opinion when there are lots of videos where someone tries, say, 10 guitars having never played them before and correctly distinguishes all the Pleked ones from the well set up ones. Until then I'll view it as another guitar industry con

Con?

What?

axisus · September 2023

Nerine said:

flying_pie said:

I'm incredibly sceptical about Plek. Of course there's a measurable difference. That can't be denied but I am doubtful of how that translates in the real world. You can say the same thing about 240bpm and 240.35bpm. They are measurably different yet no human can tell the difference just from listening. Just because something can be more precisely measured doesn't mean it has to be.

I'll happily revise my opinion when there are lots of videos where someone tries, say, 10 guitars having never played them before and correctly distinguishes all the Pleked ones from the well set up ones. Until then I'll view it as another guitar industry con

Con?

What?

I think it's a con in that 'Plekking' is not worth £180. You are not paying for £180 of work, you are helping to pay off an expensive bit of kit.

lewisanderson · September 2023

Brio said:

Thanks for the all advice guys.
I'm going to put the cost of a Plek towards NutFiles and some fret tools from Crimson.
May as well go indie...

That's what I did. I bought some files, fret erasers, tools and a cheap Squier to learn on.

Fingers657 · September 2023

Andertons have only recently got a Plek machine.
I don’t think these machines are expensive to buy so dealers charge £150 or more to pay for the things.
Personally my view would be charge £50/£60 a Plek and more people would use the service.
One of Peach guitars big selling points is every guitar they sell is given a good going over before leaving their warehouse.
Ive had a few really awfully set up guitars from them and stopped using them because of it.

theatreanchor · September 2023

Just joining in with the Chandler’s love-in.

CampbellH · September 2023

Brio said:

Jay100 said:

Genuine question - not intended to sound like a rant, but why would anyone go for a Plek over taking it to a half decent Guitar Tech?

Because I don't know any half decent guitar techs, don't drive and do know Andertons. I'm in Ash, my local tech is J White Guitar Services of whom I have heard conflicting reports. And being honest many techs seem to be of the "drop it off and I'll let you know when its done..." approach.
No, tell me when to bring it as you have a slot for it , give me an idea of how long it will take and then I'll collect it.
The rest of the real world operates like that.

I have had a lad drop off his guitar for a deep clean and replace the busted pickups and wiring, but let them know when I got it cleaned and gutted ready for fitting as an update. I was then told to hold on the work as they were going to get the pickups themselves, but then they found out they were two wire, like I told them for those pickups before they bought them, and they needed 4 wire for the splitting switches they have in the guitar. Now he is getting someone else to rewire the pickups. Of course he still wants the guitar by the date we had agreed but the eating up of the time is by somoeone else. So now I have to adjust their expectations, for a job I could have had finished by now and taken a few days to double check my work. I like to walk away and come back to a job with fresh eyes.

Of course, I know the story 'down the pub' will be me hanging a job out.

mburekenge · September 2023

Using plek properly requires experience of using it. I'd be wary of a new place using it personally. Andertons may be great, but if it were me, I'd prefer to use someone with more experience.

Kebabkid · September 2023

Fingers657 said:

Andertons have only recently got a Plek machine.
I don’t think these machines are expensive to buy so dealers charge £150 or more to pay for the things.
Personally my view would be charge £50/£60 a Plek and more people would use the service.
One of Peach guitars big selling points is every guitar they sell is given a good going over before leaving their warehouse.
Ive had a few really awfully set up guitars from them and stopped using them because of it.

I've looked about on sites and one says in Germany it's about £80K for the machine with training & another says $100,000 in the US.

idiotwindow · September 2023

I think Plek also charge ongoing maintenance and/or licence fees, depending upon the number of guitars that are put through the machine.

dazzajl · September 2023

flying_pie said:

I'm incredibly sceptical about Plek. Of course there's a measurable difference. That can't be denied but I am doubtful of how that translates in the real world. You can say the same thing about 240bpm and 240.35bpm. They are measurably different yet no human can tell the difference just from listening. Just because something can be more precisely measured doesn't mean it has to be.

I'll happily revise my opinion when there are lots of videos where someone tries, say, 10 guitars having never played them before and correctly distinguishes all the Pleked ones from the well set up ones. Until then I'll view it as another guitar industry con

It’s not at all hard to understand why that’s a common view on the Plek process. There is very little to go on other than a lot of conflicting anecdotal evidence.

My experience suggests that not all Pleks are equal and at its best, it’s only one part of producing a perfect playing guitar.

I’ve played Gibsons that have been Plekked and don’t play as well as many guitars that weren’t. And I’ve played Duesenbergs, where it’s also part of production and every single on has had a very low, buzz free and even playing action.

Fingers657 · September 2023

Kebabkid said:

Fingers657 said:

Andertons have only recently got a Plek machine.
I don’t think these machines are expensive to buy so dealers charge £150 or more to pay for the things.
Personally my view would be charge £50/£60 a Plek and more people would use the service.
One of Peach guitars big selling points is every guitar they sell is given a good going over before leaving their warehouse.
Ive had a few really awfully set up guitars from them and stopped using them because of it.

I've looked about on sites and one says in Germany it's about £80K for the machine with training & another says $100,000 in the US.

Sorry I meant to say I don’t think these machines are cheap and quite expensive to buy.

Lewy · September 2023

axisus said:

Nerine said:

flying_pie said:

I'm incredibly sceptical about Plek. Of course there's a measurable difference. That can't be denied but I am doubtful of how that translates in the real world. You can say the same thing about 240bpm and 240.35bpm. They are measurably different yet no human can tell the difference just from listening. Just because something can be more precisely measured doesn't mean it has to be.

I'll happily revise my opinion when there are lots of videos where someone tries, say, 10 guitars having never played them before and correctly distinguishes all the Pleked ones from the well set up ones. Until then I'll view it as another guitar industry con

Con?

What?

I think it's a con in that 'Plekking' is not worth £180. You are not paying for £180 of work, you are helping to pay off an expensive bit of kit.

How on earth is that a con? Should businesses not recoup their investments in tech?

jasonbone75 · September 2023

^this

@Lewy is right. Whether a human or a machine does the work both require paying and have a cost. One is an hourly rate the other is a depreciating asset over time. Both perform work.

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Anyone had a guitar Plek'd by Andertons?

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