Reviews for aftermarket Plek jobs

[Fader]

I'm debating on whether to have my local guitar tech (who has always done an awesome job) dress and repair a dead spot at my 15th fret low E string or have a plek job done by Wechter. I've got about week and a half to decide and I'm leaning towards the pleking. I also will have the nut replaced w/bone and the binding rolled.

Can some of you guy's that have had this done aftermarket sway me one way or another? I sure would apprciate your opinions.

The guitar is an 04 G0.

Thanks

[joegeek]

I have a custom shop pleked Johnny A and a les paul that had a hand crown & polish by a local luthier .....the Johnny A has a date with him soon! If your local guy is good he'll give you a better job than the machine & most likely cheaper too!

joe

[joegeek]

Hey, Fader I' wasn't trying to kill your thread! Come on guys any one else have any input????
joe

[Androo]

How those a 'plek' work??

[joegeek]

Here's a write up & a video that explains the Plek much better than I can.

Plek: The Machine That Keeps It Original

YouTube - Fret Magic

joe

[Dino]

All depends on the tech.
I'd be curious to know who offers the plek service and how much it runs.

[Fader]

Whechter Guitars offers it. They are out of Fort Wayne and I'm thinking they may be affiliated with Sweetwater. Some of the quotes thrown around are in the 175.00 range.
I haven't made my mind up yet, the thread hasn't resulted in anyone having the plek job done yet. Come on guy's, I know somebodies out there.

Fader

[River]

Originally Posted by Fader

Come on guy's, I know somebodies out there.

I had my brand-new and virtually unplayed Epi Jr. '57 Reissue Plek'd and am extremely pleased with the results. There are some luthiers who are members here whom I would trust to achieve similar results. I did not know about them at the time. Now that I do, it would be a tough decision to choose.

[Dino]

Originally Posted by River

I had my brand-new and virtually unplayed Epi Jr. '57 Reissue Plek'd and am extremely pleased with the results. There are some luthiers who are members here whom I would trust to achieve similar results. I did not know about them at the time. Now that I do, it would be a tough decision to choose.

May I ask where you sent your guitar and what it ran you?
What was the most noticable difference?

[River]

Originally Posted by Dino

May I ask where you sent your guitar and what it ran you?
What was the most noticable difference?

Search for "Junior" on this page: Pat's Guitars ~ Guitars For Sale! World's Best. It was a package-deal upgrade, so I don't know how much the Plek job alone cost.

The difference, and it's huge, is that Junior is the only guitar I've ever owned on which my clumsily-fingered barre chords ring clean and true all the way up the fretboard.

[twofiveone]

I had my Heritage 575 Custom PLEK by Heritage, it made a great playing guitar even better. I play Jazz using flat wounds (13's) ot it and it just seemed to make the guitar a bit easier to fret big chords and play faster runs. Worth the money IMHO. The guitar came standard with a bone nut and rolled binding, also nice. New Heritages come standard PLEK'd as well as Gibson I see now. Don't know if it is better then a really good luthier doing it by hand, but I was satisfied with the results. It has to be cheaper then doing it by hand in a factory setting and probably will produce consistent results which are what any manufacturer is looking for, remove variability.

[lexluthier]

It all depends on the operator. If someone who knows his stuff about fretwork is running it, the Plek results will be good. The Plek is a CNC machine, and it's like any other CNC machine, it is only as good as it is programmed to do. Doesn't matter if you are machining frets or machining transmission shifter forks, you still need a skilled operator to run it or else you make junk.

[Dino]

I'd maybe consider it if I knew who offered it and how much it would run me.

[carydad]

Had 4 guitars pleked. Great stuff. The shop I use has done over 150 of them and the techs have being doing guitar work since the 70s. Both great guys and I trust their work without the machine-so I can trust it with the machine. It's not a blender. Ignorance can create issues. Generally under 200bucks if you don't need a nut. The full meal deal with a nut is around 2 and a quarter.

They also tell me that the gibson plek is done differently, and they don't prefer it. Apparently gibson does it unloaded(no strings) instead of the in depth measuring the normal process does-and takes more time. I prefer after market to gibby factory.

[Fader]

Thanks for all the great information. I've decided to take it to my Luther and let him have a go. If it plays like a dream then I'm ok. If not I'll send off for a plek job.