cliffmac Posted September 29, 2014 Posted September 29, 2014 Not sure when it started never really noticed but the DR and EF come plek'd now. Good or bad whats your opinion?
agradeleous Posted September 29, 2014 Posted September 29, 2014 Never played one pleked but read up on it and seemed like the new in thing . Design and machine creation was from Germany. I believe but don't hold me to that lol What I wonder is how it compensates for a wavey fret boards or is QC so high that only qualified units make the cut ? I would like to give one a go sometime :) nice to read the following comments .
capmaster Posted September 29, 2014 Posted September 29, 2014 A one-figure number of these machines per year are built in a small factory in Berlin. The company recently extended their Berlin facilities. Some of my younger guitars came PLEK'd from the factory, all Gibsons by the way, some not like MIM Fenders and a PRC made Epiphone. It makes a notable difference even if one prefers a relatively stiff action like I do. Fret heights and surfaces are of breathtaking consistency. However, neck and fretboard should be stable before processing the guitar. Otherwise, waviness occurring later will foul up the result. On an SG of mine, the 19th fret just above the neck-body seam has "grown" with time, some hundredth millimeters, but notable when scrutinizing thoroughly. I guess I will have it re-PLEK'd on warranty. PLEKing is a vast improvement in particular for fret dressing on compound radiused boards. This system has definitely no problem with cutting each fret wire to its unique radius. I believe that the advent of compound radius had a lot to do with PLEK. For any fretboard with a string spacing widening from nut to bridge, creating the fretboard as a truncated cone is the only reasonable thing to do. Fretting out of bendings is a thing of the past with them. Making a cylindrical fretboard would only apply to guitars with same string spacings on nut and bridge. For everything else it has always been and still is compromised.
cliffmac Posted September 30, 2014 Author Posted September 30, 2014 Never played one pleked but read up on it and seemed like the new in thing . Design and machine creation was from Germany. I believe but don't hold me to that lol What I wonder is how it compensates for a wavey fret boards or is QC so high that only qualified units make the cut ? I would like to give one a go sometime :) nice to read the following comments . I am looking forward to the replies and opinions.
Mik Neville Posted September 30, 2014 Posted September 30, 2014 When I talked to Gibson customer service about getting my DR500MCE plek'd They told me that plek'ing may or may not make the guitar perform better. They told me if I liked the way it played and sounded I might want to leave it alone. Mik
agradeleous Posted September 30, 2014 Posted September 30, 2014 Good read folks . In my ventures I believe I asked the question of having thecEpi Dr500 guitar pleked but it seems if is not part of the pre screened models they won't do it . It seems they have to have programmed all the manufactures exacting specs if any of these vary it can make big mess of things . having one individually programmed might cost ya gates money if they would consider individual pleking but since mechines are still few in numbers I doubt that will happen :( in time though .....
cliffmac Posted September 30, 2014 Author Posted September 30, 2014 Good read folks . In my ventures I believe I asked the question of having thecEpi Dr500 guitar pleked but it seems if is not part of the pre screened models they won't do it . It seems they have to have programmed all the manufactures exacting specs if any of these vary it can make big mess of things . having one individually programmed might cost ya gates money if they would consider individual pleking but since mechines are still few in numbers I doubt that will happen :( in time though ..... Go to the Epiphone website both the ef and dr masterbuilts come plek'd. Does this mean the price goes up or do they just want to offer a more unique product from the factory?
stein Posted September 30, 2014 Posted September 30, 2014 I don't think it matters. Fretwork is either good or bad, only the end result matters. Frets are also kinda like tires. If you play the guitar, they will wear and need work. So if the guitar has the "PLEK" badge when new, it doesn't mean much to me. Last I was on the market, shopping, Gibson had just come out with "plek'd" guitars, some were and some weren't. I didn't scrutinize between which were or weren't at the time. They all seemed fine to me at the time, although I have seen some examples of rough fretwork on new guitars, some gibson) in the past. The rest of my knowledge comes from the internet, reading about the plek machine and reading various postings or sales stuff about it. My unqualified opinion: I don't like it. There are plenty of qualified poeple who can do fretwork. I have watched some who were good at it, and it doesn't take all that long to do, especially if they are practiced. I've done it, and it takes me a lot longer, but I can tell it wouldn't be the case with more practice. Then there is the work one would do before starting to dress the frets, making sure the frets are down, checking for loose, etc. As alluded to above, there may be some work or issues to address of the fretboard or guitar as this is done. All a machine can do in this case is replace the worker. And the machine can't think, check something, or see problems. On the machine side, it makes it a little faster, but then also it comes down to the operater of the machine, the durability of the machine, and of corse, the cost of the machine. If I have a choice on one of my guitars, I'll choose the guy who does it himself, confident he knows more and expecting a better result.
rct Posted September 30, 2014 Posted September 30, 2014 We lived a very long time with some very great guitars without ever hearing of a Plek machine. The sounds everyone wants came from guitars that never saw a Plek machine. It's like slicing bread with a laser instead of a bread machine. It's still bread, and you can still make a crappy sandwich with it no matter how nicely it is cut. rct
cliffmac Posted September 30, 2014 Author Posted September 30, 2014 Both good points. Just got a reply from epiphone and they are indeed done at the china factory
stein Posted September 30, 2014 Posted September 30, 2014 We lived a very long time with some very great guitars without ever hearing of a Plek machine. The sounds everyone wants came from guitars that never saw a Plek machine. It's like slicing bread with a laser instead of a bread machine. It's still bread, and you can still make a crappy sandwich with it no matter how nicely it is cut. rct The bread I have been getting lately has had some serious QC issues- holes in the slices where mayo squirts out, crust uneven and coming off, slices being different sizes along the loaf. It's hard to make a good sandwich that way. It's not like I don't know how. I carefully bookmatch the slices before I do anything.
crust Posted October 12, 2014 Posted October 12, 2014 My 2 Masterbilts have a little oval "plecked" sticker on the head-stock. Man, are these nice instruments. My personal opinion of "plek" set up guitars is...well, they are all going to be exactly the same, day after day, until the cutting tools wear out. So, quality and quality control-wise, consistency and lack of variation is a very good thing and when the machine is set to produce a "perfect" set up...proper bridge and nut work, all the same...well, you will know what to expect and how the "feel" is on any particular "plecked" guitar. They should all be exactly the same...really
cliffmac Posted October 12, 2014 Author Posted October 12, 2014 My 2 Masterbilts have a little oval "plecked" sticker on the head-stock. Man, are these nice instruments. My personal opinion of "plek" set up guitars is...well, they are all going to be exactly the same, day after day, until the cutting tools wear out. So, quality and quality control-wise, consistency and lack of variation is a very good thing and when the machine is set to produce a "perfect" set up...proper bridge and nut work, all the same...well, you will know what to expect and how the "feel" is on any particular "plecked" guitar. They should all be exactly the same...really So you are all for it? Pretty sure I am to like you said the QC should improve greatly.
crust Posted October 16, 2014 Posted October 16, 2014 A Plec machine removes the "human error" factor when it is set up and running properly...dig it ? Perfect, each and every time. My 2 Masterbilts are "easy" on my old fingers, and I greatly appreciate that. What is the word...good "articulation" well, yes, it has that, and more...lol, great, great instrument (for the price) . Masterbilts are not inexpensive, keep them humidified, particularly in the "dryness" of Winter. Get a "case humidifier". You did get an Epiphone case for it...right ?
cliffmac Posted October 16, 2014 Author Posted October 16, 2014 A Plec machine removes the "human error" factor when it is set up and running properly...dig it ? Perfect, each and every time. My 2 Masterbilts are "easy" on my old fingers, and I greatly appreciate that. What is the word...good "articulation" well, yes, it has that, and more...lol, great, great instrument (for the price) . Masterbilts are not inexpensive, keep them humidified, particularly in the "dryness" of Winter. Get a "case humidifier". You did get an Epiphone case for it...right ? but of course mine has been steady at 46% for the past year and sound amazing.
crust Posted October 16, 2014 Posted October 16, 2014 but of course mine has been steady at 46% for the past year and sound amazing.
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