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Before Plek existed it was still possible to get an excellent setup but now we're being told that's apparently not good enough and there's a ridiculously pricey way that's microscopically more precise.
It seems like paying for a Red Bull F1 aerodynamics workover for your family estate car because you've been told it will make it better. Not necessary and it sounds to me to be a complete waste of money. That's why I vote it as a con.
The very fact that someone here had it done and tells us it magically gave chords a more visceral growl effectively confirms... yeah. Let's just leave it there.
The truth is that, like a lot of things in the guitar game, there are trades associated with it that have been allowed to abuse people's confidence for years. Techs who don't give time frames, aren't insured and often don't actually know what they're doing. Guitar teachers who only teach kids half a song, so they have to pay for another lesson to learn the rest. Etc, etc, etc. We've all been around this business for long enough to have encountered, or at least heard of such people and now technology is showing them up, with better teachers going online, either via conferencing apps or YouTube, and equipment offering reliable premium services for the instruments themselves.
Now, whenever it's not something I can sort myself, I will still take my guitars to the local guy who I trust and who has done good work for me in the past. If I lived closer to Andertons or Charlie Chandler's and needed a refret though, I would probably take it in for a Plek job. Why? Because the one guitar that I own that was Pleked in the factory remains the only one that I have never, ever had a single choke on (and I play with my action mega-LOW). Basically the strings are either on the frets and unuseable, or they're up enough to be clear and the whole fretboard rings out. Nothing is uneven. There are no frets that are even a tiny smidge higher than the ones next to it. Personally I'd pay to get the same again, if I was dealing with a 'keeper'.
TL;DR: Go with the service that suits you and your budget. But as for it being a 'con', it's John Suhr and Charlie Chandler vs sceptical luddites. Gee, that's a tough one. I'm going to have to sleep on it before I pick a side.
And as said previously, if it's good enough for Chandler and Suhr then that settles it. I don't live near Gulidford or London so it's an irrelevance to me. So my guitars go to Angela Arnott (Guitar Angel, 42nd Street Guitars) and they have always been spot on.
It's how I'd start up a Plek service. And I'd have one of my permies looking over their shoulder as they worked.
I get mine done by someone just as good as Feline and I've got a Plek'd guitar. There is absolutely no way you're playing them blindfolded and being able to tell which is which. They're just as good as each other.
If you have access to a great tech I dont see any reason to pay the extra for Plek. It's a machine that gives great benefit to the shop that's bought it, and the customer pays extra to cover their costs of having bought it.
Would be good to hear from Feline on this matter, in general. I have no idea whether it'd be best to get it done by plek or by hand.
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The plek machine isn't a con in itself, it does just as good as a great tech. They're saying that the con is pretending it's some magic thing that is worth more money to the customer, when really that extra money is just for the shop to pay the costs of having the Plek machine.
@Nesrine - I have seen those videos. I do know how the process works. And I'll explain why I still think the process is a con. You seem it's all down to tolerance. It's a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.
A Plek machine shows a good tech does a good job of setting up a guitar. But now we're being told that the good job the tech did is not quite good enough so it needs redone and costs more so it makes extra money for the store and the Plek company, as well as perhaps cynically taking away market share from the good local techs.
Consider the precision of the measurements that the Plek process now claims needs to be rectified - that's not something the human body can't easily tolerate. FFS lots of us can go easily between playing guitar, bass and ukulele, never mind swap between guitars with different scale lengths, string gauges and fret wires gauge without difficulty. Similarly nobody can tell the difference between absolutely perfect pitch and a fraction of a percent out. But the Plek process tells us it can fix these ultramicroscopic issues that we now apparently need to have fixed.
If you wanted to you could spend money to get aerospace engineers to build your garden shed within incredibly accurate tolerances but it's unnecessary as a decent joiner or DIY dad could do a good enough job. That's the essence of my point. You've bought some lovely guitars, had work done on them, are enjoying the results and that's great. I'm just disagreeing that Plek is playing as big a part in that as you think it is. And just because other people are buying into the claims doesn't mean it's true.
I'll look forward to the day that people can reliably tell when their Pleked guitars have reverted to "good tech non Pleked" levels of fret variability through environmental change/wear/etc... but that will never happen. By the time we realise we need work done on our guitars the changes are miles bigger than the Plek v tech variance that the machine is more than capable of measuring.
And, sorry, but I found the notion of visceral growl relating to intonation to be Tufnell-esque and it did make me smile. Following that logic pianos or harps should be the most viscerally growly instruments around and I think we can all agree that's not the case.
Maybe you don't live near someone who you know can do a great job? Could post perhaps but no-one really wants to unnecessarily ship their pride and joy backwards and forwards? Maybe the local guy is rammed and you want it done soon? Don't know what the issue is with now being able to get a perfect fret level performed by one of the big stores who are considered reputable.
I understand the point in principle but seems more like just that, a point of principle rather than a real problem. A plek is an option to give you a perfect fret level but costs a premium because the machine is bloody expensive. Doesn't seem particularly out there to me. Surely it's up to the individuals to decide if it's a worthwhile investment as it's hardly compulsory? If places that plek start pushing it as 'the only way to get it done right' then I'd take issue with that but it's not currently the case - it's simply an option you can take or leave.
Yeah I was waiting for the Lee Anderton has shares in Plek expose, then the ensuing pile on.
I can't help about the shape I'm in, I can't sing I ain't pretty and my legs are thin
But don't ask me what I think of you, I might not give the answer that you want me to
The Plek is a fascinating and useful tool, and is in it’s most basic description a CNC fret levelling and crowning machine.
I think that getting the best out of a Plek process can involve a good or great tech doing a little aftercare on the guitar - I recall Charlie Chandler offering a “humanising the Plek “ additional service back in the day and I see that as where it all comes together
So I had a long conversation with Dan Erlewine (many of you will know who he is as the head R&D guy for StewMac) who has been a guide and mentor to me in many ways, and we have been friends since 1996
Weekly we do maybe 3-6 full fret dresses and refrets as opposed to a Skim and fallaway (which we seem to do more often as a way to simply get a better basic set-up), so based on that turnoverit would take between 6-12 years of Plek use to simply BREAK EVEN on that investment.
Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
Stockist of: Earvana & Graphtech nuts, Faber Tonepros & Gotoh hardware, Fatcat bridges. Highwood Saddles.
Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.
Expert guitar repairs and upgrades - fretwork our speciality! www.felineguitars.com. Facebook too!
I'll happily agree to disagree and leave it at that. I'll also revise my use of language from "con" to ""unnecessary use of money " from Felilne's helpful post. I'm glad you're happy with your setup though.
@Dan_Halen that's how it starts... fast forward a couple of decades and the techs including @FelineGuitars (who hasn't bought one) will have been put out of business by the evil Plek using megastores and Skynet will have us all under its control (dons tin foil helmet)
My impression is that a Plek should be able to produce results akin to the very best techs. Possibly better, but I think we may then have passed diminishing returns into the gains being only theoretical.
However, the very best techs are few and far between. Anderton are a known quantity. I think the price is a little expensive (for understandable reasons), but for some people it might nevertheless be good value. Certainly not a con in any way to my mind.
I switch between a fat neck Tele, modern Fender Strat, a short scale Jag, Gibson scale, Musicman skinny nut, 34" basses 4 and 5 string, and a Baritone almost 30" scale.
I just tune them up and play. Never had an issue (touch wood). I'm maybe very lucky!
If I did want a setup, I'd go to a recommended tech, (if I was near Feline, it'd be them!).
If they plek a new guitar for me and it's done at the factory, fair play.
A skilled human touch is my preference if/when required
Not applicable to me now as I'm semi retired with the shop, but I would have loved to be able to employ the likes of Jon at Feline Guitars - ie a skilled repair guy at the shop as I feel it would add credibility to the store - The question becomes a) would such a tech want to work on a day to day basis, at a shop doing what he is told to do and some of it would be as mundane as hell b) could the shop justify hiring such a tech - They would have to take enough on repairs to pay his wage/expenses and make a profit out of employing him inc relevant tax/paye/pension etc - In a busy store like Anderton's I'm not so sure the likes of Jon would actually be utilised to his best skill level, as so much work would end up looking after simple new set-up adjustments that benefit the store and its customer, but will probably add little day to day 'happiness' to the likes of a good tech
I can see the business principles of such stores having a Plek option as the Plek is probably better than a mediocre junior tech that many often employ
Going back years ago, some will recall what an asset Charlie Chandler was to his brothers store when Doug owned/ran Chandlers back in the day - But then Chandlers mainly sold 'nice boutique' quality guitars back in the day- Today a busy 'box shifting store' sells so many Asian imports and indeed 'regular factory' USA models that often need some attention to get the best out of them so as I say I'm not sure a good tech would enjoy such 'bland' work on a day to day basis - It would be like an Aston Martin tech working on a Ford Mondeo
I got three guitars refretted with stainless steel and plekked back in 2007 when I lived in Berlin, and they are still some of the best playing instruments I have come across. They all have a particular feel which is different from other guitars I own which have been fettled by human techs.
So fret shaping for radiused boards - is that a thing or are all frets shaped the same regardless the fretboard radius?
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