Has anyone here had their guitar Plekked

Subject: Has anyone here had their guitar Plekked
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 12:18 PM

If so, were you happy with the result, was it worth the money ?

Subject: RE: Has anyone here had their guitar Plekked
From: GUEST,zig
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 12:26 PM

wot's plekked?

Subject: RE: Has anyone here had their guitar Plekked
From: Ebbie
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 12:32 PM

I agree- waHt's plekked?

Subject: RE: Has anyone here had their guitar Plekked
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 12:33 PM

http://www.plek.com/en_US/home

Subject: RE: Has anyone here had their guitar Plekked
From: catspaw49
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 12:50 PM

A friend of mine told me that Dan Erlewine down at Stew-Mac in Athens (45 miles south) got one awhile back. He's pretty god-like in his abilities so I figure if he has one of the "plekkers" (or whatever they call the thing) then it must be pretty real........in other words, D.E. does great fretwork already so if he bought one then that's a pretty strong recommendation, at least to me!

I haven't been down there in about 8 or 9 months since a lot of my 3D life had me going in the other direction (figuratively AND literally) ({;<) Hopefully after Christmas things will relax a bit!!!


Spaw

Subject: RE: Has anyone here had their guitar Plekked
From: Amos
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 01:44 PM

That's a remarkable presentation--makes me want to find a provider and have it done!


A

Subject: RE: Has anyone here had their guitar Plekked
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 01:55 PM

what I can't decide is whether the PLEK machine is capable of actually producing a better result than a skilled human hand and eye could do, or whether its benefits (for the luthier) are purely in time saving (which must be considerable).

The luthier still needs to do the saddle and nut set-up in the time honored way, as far as I can see.

Git yore ass down there Spaw and report back, y'hear ?

Subject: RE: Has anyone here had their guitar Plekked
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 09 Dec 08 - 05:16 PM

Looks like a load of bullshit to me. There are two possibilities that the techology might offer, one of which is hinted at and the other ignored. It also does not deal with intonation.

Apart from those possibilities, it's simple (if skilled).

1. Remove strings, set neck straight
2. Using long file, make frets flat (straight along neck)
3. Maintain neck profile (usually compound radius) while doing this (NB, this will determine the radius of the bridge saddle, too).
4. Re-crown frets (and smooth ends).
5. Re-string.
6. Set the neck relief or progression (to some extent this depends on how ham-handed the guitarist is).
7. Cut nut slots. As I have said elsewhere there is only one right height. It is so that the first fret clearance of an open string is the same as the second fret clearance of a string fretted at the first fret.
8. Set saddle height.

Now the two things that they are NOT mentioning but may be involved are these.

9. A string with no harmonics vibrates as a sine wave. As you pull up string tension and adjust a truss rod the neck progression may or may not approximate to a sine wave. I expect it will be closer to an arc of a circle. A computer controlled machine can cut fret height to achieve closer to a sine wave, so long as the frets are thick enough.

10. But a string does not ring without harmonics. The first overtone of course has a node at the octave, and most guitarists know where the other harmonics are. The way a guitarist plays and the distance from the nut that his fingers/plectrum strike and displace the strings will alter the proportion of harmonics. If, for example, a straight string were carefullys truck it might be possible in thiery to achieve the first harmonic with no fundamental and n higher overtones. In that case the displacement of the string would be two sinewaves (or, I suppose, two wavelenghts of a sinewave) with a node ( a point of no vibration) at the octave.

If that was the most common vibration of a string, a neck would need to deviate accordingly from the basic sinewave to minimise fret rattle. It's basically Fourier analysis from the other end. The more overtones, the more complex the waveform.    That is going to need a computer that watches VERY carefully how the owner-plucker plucks!

Subject: RE: Has anyone here had their guitar Plekked
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 03:01 AM

The (literally) hundreds of enthusiastic endorsements from experienced guitarists on practically every guitar forum would seem to indicate that it is far from bullshit.

Subject: RE: Has anyone here had their guitar Plekked
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 10 Dec 08 - 04:32 AM

Yeah but (present company excepted) there are a lot of guitar techs who seem to have no idea - I'm no guru but you would have no idea of the number of times I have had to take guitars back to techs who have screwed up (NOT usually Brian Rodgers, who is, happily, a little OCD in a good sense) - buzzes, rattles, nut/saddle profile different from neck, excessive action at first fret, strings too close to edge of fingerboard or frets rounded off too deeply so effectively narrowing the fingerboard, sticky nuts, etc etc - soif the machine automates a process it may ted to make it more consistent.

Second, what about all the fuss there was about the Buzz Feiten tuning system - and the Zager souped up guitars. If people pay for the latest fetish, they are going to tend to think it's wonderful.

Someone with money to burn can take some of the more expert 'catters and pay for thier guitars to be done - and then I'll take the outcoming view seriously - maybe you goodself, Murray, and Big Mick, and Joe if it's well established in the USA. Or the good folk from Stew-Mac. One needs a luthier-player or 6 to evaluate this.