gabson Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Recently learned about these Plek machines. As primarily a guitar repairer does this mean i am beginning to be replaced by a machine?! Does anyone have more info on them? [url="http://www.plek.com/en_US/home/"]http://www.plek.com/en_US/home/[/url] anyone experienced a finished product? Slightly scared, Jack! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 [quote name='gabson' post='710798' date='Jan 13 2010, 12:24 AM']Recently learned about these Plek machines. As primarily a guitar repairer does this mean i am beginning to be replaced by a machine?! Does anyone have more info on them? [url="http://www.plek.com/en_US/home/"]http://www.plek.com/en_US/home/[/url] anyone experienced a finished product? Slightly scared, Jack![/quote] My Lakland Decade, like all new Laklands now, was PLEKed. It's very smooth and even up and down and across the fretboard. But I believe the machine still needs a skilled operator - it's not robots taking over - and anyway at Lakland it's $200 for a PLEKing. And a PLEK machine is about $10,000. So I think there'll still be work for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 [quote name='gabson' post='710798' date='Jan 13 2010, 12:24 AM']....anyone experienced a finished product?....[/quote] All Laklands are Pleked these days before they leave the factory. Isn't Plek just an aid to help you guys set up instruments? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 When I looked into Plekking a while back the machines were incapable of taking into account how the neck bends inconsistently along its length as string tension is applied. Not sure if they’ve updated the software since then though. A good fret job isn’t hard to achieve if you play with a straight neck anyway, regardless of the action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 (edited) AFAIK, the only Plek machines in the UK are at Chandlers (Kew) and Charlie Chandler's Guitar Experience (Kingston). I'd imagine they'd have little impact on your business in Salford. I can't imagine anyone travelling all the way to London to pay a couple of hundred quid and be sniffily patronised by the ghastly (and warring?) Chandler brothers. Edited January 13, 2010 by skankdelvar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gabson Posted January 13, 2010 Author Share Posted January 13, 2010 Haha I've heard whinges about Chandlers too. Interesting about the inconsistent neck bend issue - i would be surprised if they weren't still developing it for that kind of price. I guess it may always be the same old preference for "hand made" type work too. To be honest i see it as a challenge.... Cheers guys Team human! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 To be fair to Chandlers in Kew, they deliberately and specifically discouraged me from using their PLEK machine. Told me they could do a much better job by hand and the sales person conveyed more than a hint of disgust at the thirty thousand quid he confided that they'd spent on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 From the Lakland website: [quote]We at Lakland are very excited to have this technology in our process. Fret filing the manual way is miserable. Think about it - sanding metal! All of my employees are musicians. 4 or 5 fret files a day - everyday will take a physical toll. We have done it manually because it has been the only way to get the basses to play their best. The latest Plek technology relieves my techs from the physical damage. They can now use their heads and not their hands. [b]The Plek is only as good as its operator, meaning a thorough knowledge of fretting is necessary. Our Plek will be operated by the luthiers that have fret expertise. [/b]We are just getting started. The end products have been wonderful - just like our hand work.[/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gabson Posted January 13, 2010 Author Share Posted January 13, 2010 Sweet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balcro Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 [quote name='chris_b' post='710803' date='Jan 13 2010, 12:39 AM']All Laklands are Pleked these days before they leave the factory. Isn't Plek just an aid to help you guys set up instruments?[/quote] Warwick too, I believe. Balcro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 [quote name='Crazykiwi' post='710844' date='Jan 13 2010, 03:59 AM']To be fair to Chandlers in Kew, they deliberately and specifically discouraged me from using their PLEK machine. Told me they could do a much better job by hand and the sales person conveyed more than a hint of disgust at the thirty thousand quid he confided that they'd spent on it.[/quote] I, and others I know, have also been told exactly this by Chandlers. Their PLEK machine has accumulated a nice thick layer of dust through lack of use according to a friend of mine who lives near there. Any decent luthier/repairman can give you a set-up as good as a PLEK machine for a lot less money IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Wazoo Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 (edited) [quote name='skankdelvar' post='710832' date='Jan 13 2010, 01:49 AM']AFAIK, the only Plek machines in the UK are at Chandlers (Kew) and Charlie Chandler's Guitar Experience (Kingston). I'd imagine they'd have little impact on your business in Salford. I can't imagine anyone travelling all the way to London to pay a couple of hundred quid and be sniffily patronised by the ghastly (and warring?) Chandler brothers.[/quote] As of present date, only Charlie Chandler Experience store still uses the pleck if a customer asks for it, while Chandler Guitars in Kew ([b]who's brother Doug is no longer a part of[/b]), are refraining it from using it as they believe a good luthier does a much better job. In fact they would only use the plek to correct a badly warped neck as a last resort. I go there 3 or 4 times a month and I can't remember the last time I have seen that thing being used, it is gathering dust under a transparent tarpaulin. I have been a long time friend of the Chandler family and I do not think it is polite to mention either of them as ghastly or warring for that matter, Doug Chandler left Chandler Guitars in Kew some 15 years ago, Charlie branched out on his own soon after his brother's departure for his own personal reasons, and they have both been operating independently ever since. The present repairmen in Chandler Kew specially this chap called Leon, are very skilled and let's not forget Brinsley Shwartz also works there 2 or 3 days a week and he knows more than a thing or two about repairs. Edited January 14, 2010 by bass5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry norton Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 If I spent 100 quid on a bass I would expect it to be set up by a child worker on near slave wages If I spent 400-1000 quid from a large manufacturer with good resources I would like it to be PLEK'd or something similar If I spent more than this I would expect it to be given that personal touch from the hands of a skilled luthier. prices may vary It's probably a good idea for mid size production in the west where the cost in hours spent setting up piles of guitars would be very high (a-la Warwick), but I would throw my 200 quid at a good luthier rather than a glorified CNC grinder made from Alprofil & RS components.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikay Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 I had my Lakland JO4 plecked by Charlie Chandlers last year (it's an early model, before Lakland had a PLEK) because I'd heard great things about PLEKs and wanted a low buzz free action. Wasn't happy with the result so took it back to Paul in their workshop who spent some time setting it up manually and did a much better job (perfect in fact). Had interesting discussions about my particular setup issues with people at Charlie Cs workshop and my view now is that there's no substitute for a skilled technician who knows his stuff and takes the time to understand the individual idiosyncrasies of the instrument. The PLEK is just a tool. It can iron out major inconsistencies in a neck (nut slots, high frets, imperfect relief profiles or fall off etc) to get a good basic setup but optimising this for each instrument is ultimately a manual process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancient Mariner Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 Interesting comments: this is the first negative stuff I've heard about Pleking. In the guitar world they're considered to offer better fret work than *most* luthiers working by hand are capable of: certainly when Gibson started using a machine a couple of years back everyone breathed a big sigh of relief when they started shipping guitars with consistently acceptable frets. The point about them is that they measure the neck under full string tension and then cut the frets, ensuring that even an iffy neck plays acceptably. However at a very high cost it's almost impossible to justify: I'm certain that Chandler's priced themselves out of the market (original review in Guitarist mentioned a stainless steel refret and plek treatment at £100 each, but investigating a few months later suggested it would cost a LOT more than that). I don't think any decent UK luthiers have anything to worry about from plek at this point in time. You have much more to worry about from guys that already have good luthiery skills losing their ordinary jobs and trying to make a bit of money setting up in competition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 The way i understood it was that having a Plek machine enables Lakland to produce basses that are set up as well, or better, as if they were done by hand but in a much quicker time frame and so they can produce more basses. I cant see any downside to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikay Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 [quote name='dave_bass5' post='723689' date='Jan 24 2010, 11:11 PM']The way i understood it was that having a Plek machine enables Lakland to produce basses that are set up as well, or better, as if they were done by hand but in a much quicker time frame and so they can produce more basses. I cant see any downside to that.[/quote] Just to clarify my comments, I've got nothing against PLEKs. I've played several factory pleked basses and without exception they've all had a much better and more consistent setup than most (fenders for example!). A standard PLEK setup will probably work well for most basses but it is working to a mathematical formula which I guess can't always take into account the varying physical characteristics of each individual neck. Mine for example just required an extra tweak in the right places to get get it dead on. In the end it probably comes down to the skill of the operator so the bottom line is that we still need skilled technicians and not just machines! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbloke Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 I think the machine costs 6 figures and needs someone suitably trained to operate it. It can't handle scalloped fingerboards or fanned frets and needs to be constantly calibrated. I own two very similar basses. I had one plekked because I couldn't sort out the action at Charlie Chandlers said it needed a major fret dress. £145 and 2 weeks later I had a bass with lovely shiny frets but still had a problem with the action. I took my other bass into my local music shop where the guitar tech gave it a fret dress by hand. £50 and he filled and sanded all of the dings along the neck and headstock and it played perfectly first time. You have nothing to worry about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gabson Posted January 26, 2010 Author Share Posted January 26, 2010 Interesting comments chaps - i have thoroughly enjoyed reading them. Bass chat isn't bad is it? Im fairly new to blogs and the crowd seems spot on here! Jack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee650 Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 Dont worry jack i live in bolton, and my wife works in salford, so i will consider your services in the future, bit of hum on both my smith and my jazz, will need sorting out as soon as i can afford it. A machine will never replace a skilled tech all the best - lee Interesting comments chaps - i have thoroughly enjoyed reading them. Bass chat isn't bad is it? Im fairly new to blogs and the crowd seems spot on here! Jack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gabson Posted January 31, 2010 Author Share Posted January 31, 2010 Wayy sweet. Yes, please give me a bell and ill happily look at them Lee. Cheers, Jack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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