Fret polishing etc..

[Hamish]

I've set my guitar up but I think I've narrowed it down to the fret when i perform a bend there nothing coming from it the fret are not very flat like on my g400 cherry how much those it cost to have the frets worked

[peeper]

Not much, but frets are supposed to be rounded on the top, your SG sounds like IT needs a fret dressing. But make sure you go to the best guy you can find, nothing screws up a guitars feel faster than a botched fret job.

[snookelputz]

Yep, worst guitar I ever bought was an ES-137 that the previous owner had "done a fret job" himself by filing the frets flat (that's almost as hard to type as it is to say quickly). Luckily, I like small-to-medium frets, because by the time a level and re-crown were finished that's what I had left.

 

When you fret a guitar, each string should contact the crown of the fret at the exact highest point, which should be the exact same height for each and every one of the frets. A filed flat fret (still hard to type) might contact the string at the leading edge, or the trailing edge or different points across the fret for each string. You will try to compensate with finger pressure and not only screw up your intonation but you'll get finger and hand cramps and grown to hate the guitar. Personal experience.

 

Plek is a computer-controlled process that ensures each fret is identically crowned and identical in height, not only from fret to fret, but along the length of each fret as well. No matter what string, no matter what fret, it always feels the same the whole way up and down the neck. Great stuff, and highly recommended...even is it is expensive. The equipment and software is cost prohibitive to a lot of guitar technicians, as well. BTW, it makes cheap a$$ guitars feel like a million bucks, and great guitar feel like your first sight of home after a long road trip.

[Dave]

I'd pay an extra $50 to have my Epi run through the Plek machine during the stateside checkout before shipment. Anyone know if the Epi factory does this on any of the models? Both my Epis needed a fret dressing when I got them and both needed it worst between frets 8 and 12. My Gibson LP only needed a truss rod adjustment. There's something going on in the Chinese factory or the difference in humidity between the USA and China. Maybe it happens on the ship in transit.

 

Lots of people on the board have described buzzing in this area on their Epis. I understand that Plek is expensive for a small shop, but a company like MF, or Sweetwater and their peers could offer this service at a lower price when you buy the guitar. They sometimes advertise a setup and checkout before they ship it to you. I think $50 times the number of instruments they ship would pay for the Plek machine many times over.

[peeper]

I have had to correct more than one PLEK'd guitar. Nothing beats a human who knows what they are doing.

[snookelputz]

Especially one who doesn't understand how to program a PLEK machine!

[peeper]

lol

[teegar]

I agree, my Heritage 575 came "plekked" and the 2nd, 3rd and 10th frets were high, buzzing problems across all strings. It was easy to fix but that taught me all I need to know about how reliable a plek job is.

[snookelputz]

Truth be told, when its done right, PLEK is perfect. When it isn't done right, its just like anything else somebody screwed up...somebody else has to fix it.

[carverman]

I have had to correct more than one PLEK'd guitar. Nothing beats a human who knows what they are doing.

 

+1 there.