Hacks Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Forgive a silly question from a newcomer, but what exactly is plekking?? I have heard the word many times, and my curiosity got the better of me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elantric Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 http://tinyurl.com/rdojhk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectboy Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Hi Hacks Welcome to the forum. PLEKing, to my knowledge, is the leveling of frets by measuring with a laser beam and some work on the nut to even out the string height with respect to the radius of the neck. That's not a bad thing to do to any guitar if you suspect that the frets (and/or the neck) are uneven, albeit quite costly. Also, according to some, most guitars come out of the shoot with slightly uneven frets. So this process would help new guitars as well as golden oldies with fret-wear or new fret jobs. Apparently, once PLEKed, the action should remain at the same height according to some, to maintain that setting. To me, if it just involves the neck and frets, once they have been laser-leveled by PLEKing, you should still be able to raise or lower your action as desired to some degree. I'm not sure, I have no PLEKed instruments. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve167 Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 I've got an 08 Std LP -- it was Plek'd. Action was on spec but still too high for my taste. I've since lowered it with no ill effects. It's no different than any other guitar. I think that Plek'ing *may* do a better job to ensure that the frets themselves are all level down the entire length of the fretboard. I mean, they could either pay someone to level and dress frets and check action or they can program a machine to do it a lot faster -- I'm sure the machine pays off in the long run. Just FYI there are videos on YouTube showing the Plek machine in action at Gibson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Plains Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Steve, action and plek are two seperate things. Plekking just gives you better, more consistent frets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRom Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Steve' date=' action and plek are two seperate things. Plekking just gives you better, more consistent frets.[/quote'] Cuts the nut too - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarJunkie Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Everything you need to know can be found here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve167 Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Steve' date=' action and plek are two seperate things. Plekking just gives you better, more consistent frets.[/quote'] Good deal! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobv Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 And I don't think there's actually a laser involved. You can still make the Dr. Evil air quotes if you like, the Plek is CNC and very high tech, but the sharks don't have laser beams on their heads. I now have two guitars that were Plekked at the factory, and they really do have great playability since the frets have been dressed by the machine after being installed. Until now, you really couldn't expect a fret dress (level and crown) from a factory guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hacks Posted May 26, 2009 Author Share Posted May 26, 2009 Thanks everyon for sharing your knowledge with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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