Plek or no Plek?

[Michael Mars]

So a Plek setup basically grinds down the frets to allow for lower action.

The last guitar I bought with a plek setup I noticed that the frets were ground a little more then I would have liked and I ended up returning the guitar. Bends were scraping the neck. They were medium jumbo frets to start but obviously much lower after Plek.

So I'm thinking.. is Plek really a good thing? Do I want my frets grinded down at all? Does it shorten the life of frets over time?

I'm on the verge of buying another guitar and struggling with doing it or not. Should I choose higher action over ground down frets?

Part of me feels like altering fets on a guitar is damaging the guitar now.

 

[newholland]

i mean.. your choice is a perfectly radiused piece of wood that never moves (which doesnt exist) or filed frets, which are consumables.

unless you want a plastic or carbon fiber neck, im not sure you have a choice over filed frets.

 

[Frankencat]

Done correctly and with a purpose it can give great results. However the same can be said for a good luthier or tech with the right tools and skill.

 

[KHAAAAAAANNNNNNN!!!!!!!!]

I'd only consider it with SS frets. As soon as you start playing on nickle, you're getting wear. Worth it for some. Not me

 

[ragingplatypi]

A decent guitar tech can give you exactly what you want. Plek machines really just make it easier to do that work, but they’re not necessary for one guitar.

 

[OrganicZed]

The Plek machine is a tool. The person operating the Plek is still required to interpret the data that it produces and make decisions about how aggressively to reprofile the frets. A skilled operator will remove the minimum amount of fret height necessary to provide a nearly perfect setup. They will use their knowledge and experience to make informed decisions about how to balance minor imperfections with playability and fret life. Unskilled operators may be too heavy handed and have the Plek remove more material than is necessary to get a good result. Keep in mind that the Plek does not do any finish work, so the fret crown, polish job, and the fitting / finishing of the nut must still done by hand. The skill and attention to detail of the person doing this work matters and the final result could be quite bad if these tasks are not done well.

Whether you have a fret level, crown, and polish job done the traditional way or with a Plek, there will be some amount of fret life consumed. Most manufacturers do fret leveling as part of the construction of the instrument, so I think you are misguided to think of this process as damaging a guitar. It is a necessary step to achieving a properly playing instrument.

I know that some retailers offer to Plek a brand new guitar before they send it to you. I would rather get the guitar in my hands to decide if it actually needs any fret work before forking over the cash to have it done sight unseen. A good quality new instrument should not need fret work. Unfortunately, many manufacturers do not do a good job and many new guitars will benefit from getting a level / crown / polish.

 

[HomespunEffects]

My Les Paul was factory pleked according to the documentation that came with it. I had a lot of complaints about the guitar but the fretwrok wasn’t one of them. The frets are perfect.

 

[Eagle]

Yes the Plek is a superb analytical device but you are heavily dependent on the user. Plek can do things that are practically impossible any other way but all the decisions are the operator in the end.

 

[the-trooper]

So a Plek setup basically grinds down the frets

Just the same as leveling by hand does.

The last guitar I bought with a plek setup I noticed that the frets were ground a little more then I would have liked

Only if the operator wasn't up for the job, or something else was wrong with the guitar.

Bends were scraping the neck.

But, I have a feeling that pressing on the strings with the might of a thousand warriors might have something to do with it.
Otherwise there should be almost no fret left for strings to scrape the wood.

 

[Frankencat]

Yes the Plek is a superb analytical device but you are heavily dependent on the user. Plek can do things that are practically impossible any other way but all the decisions are the operator in the end.

I looked into getting a Plek machine for my shop. As far as I know there are only two in Florida but it is not cost effective for us right now. I pride myself on the quality of our fretwork but it is all dependent on the person doing the work, r running the machine. It takes a similar amount of experience to understand how to get to a certain result. In the meantime, fretwork is a part of life for guitar players. I consider it a part of setup and regular maintenance. I have a '74 LP Custom on my bench right now that someone hacked pretty badly and it's going to take some serious work to bring it back into playing condition.

 

[Eagle]

Yes you need to use it for things that you can’t effectively do by hand. The common problem with the usual suspects is they don’t even adjust the truss rod the correct relief . This results in the Plek machining it out of the frets.

 

[Frankencat]

That would be really bad.