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Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Aug 24 2008, 10:33 PM

I just heard about this system...Its a computer guided machine capable of analyzing the setup of your instrument to a unmatched degree of precision.Its only available in US currently..Have you heard about it ?? Do you have any details , or you did such setup on your instrument ?

Here is an article about it : http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/techno-tools/Jun-03/1248

Posted by: RIP Dime Aug 24 2008, 10:43 PM

I've heard that Gibson is using it on it's new models. Other than that I don't know much about it.

Posted by: redoced Aug 24 2008, 10:59 PM

i know framus is using it!
sounds cool...

http://www.framus.de/modules/infos/info.php?katID=14719&cl=EN

Posted by: skennington Aug 24 2008, 11:33 PM

Gretsch had also been using it for a while. Gibson Custom Shop was the first. Here's the timeline of how the thing evolved..... Pretty neat!

http://cms.plek.com/en_US/uber-plek/daten-und-fakten/

Posted by: audiopaal Aug 25 2008, 12:11 AM

Interresting, thanks for sharing

Posted by: fkalich Aug 25 2008, 12:58 AM

I have a plek'ed guitar. Gibson Les Paul. I have 7 other guitars, including 4 gibsons, 2 american fenders, and a parker. I consider the plek'ed neck to be something all guitars would want to have. there is a difference. one thing that threw me for a awhile was that that neck bow given a truss rod adjustment was a little different on the two sides of the neck. I thought maybe my neck was twisted, even though it played beautifully. later I found that was intentional, with pleking. you need the bit of neck bow on the bass strings to account for the elliptical vibration of the the fat string, but you need less of that for the unwound strings. so they adjust for that when they plek it.

you can definitely set your action incredibly low if you want, because it is so precise. but that would be lower than I would want.

Posted by: Gerardo Siere Aug 25 2008, 01:44 AM

Also Suhr use its on all their guitar, it is not suposed to beat a sckilled luthier, but it should beat the average repairman.

Posted by: kaznie_NL Aug 25 2008, 09:12 AM

Well if the computer is capable, then it's always more precise then the human! Maybe it's good for basic setup, then personal preferences can be done by yourself.

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Aug 25 2008, 01:12 PM

Well the skilled luther operates the machine...So Its just a much more precise job done...



Well you can say what you want for your setup (i won't give a default one)..So I guess you don't want to mess with it once its done...

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Aug 25 2008, 01:54 PM

Sounds pretty cool, too bad there isn't a machine here in Serbia

Posted by: Scott Gentzen Aug 25 2008, 05:36 PM

Oddly enough, there's one not too far from me in Bailey's Crossroads, VA.

US$180 ($220 for floating bridges) for what they're calling "Plek Pro Complete" service which besides the Plek treatment, the do a tuning/intonation, clean and tighten down all hardware, clean/polish body and frets, oil the fretboard, etc.

If I had that kind of extra money laying around, I'd consider it. Looks like an interesting guitar shop. Will have to stop in. Not a lot of good, small indie guitar shops around here.

Updated: forgot the link to the shop... http://www.crossroadsguitarshop.com/

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Aug 25 2008, 05:38 PM

Yeah its pretty pricey, but I guess you do such setup once in a really long time

Posted by: Scott Gentzen Aug 25 2008, 06:09 PM

For someone playing in their basement with a < $500 guitar it doesn't make a lot of sense. Maybe if you have an inexpensive guitar that you love playing that's kinda messed up, this thing might be able to fix it up for you. My Ibanez Roadstar falls into that category.

If you're a gigging musician and have higher end guitars, it would make more sense to get this done. Increased wear and tear on the instrument combined with the need to have it work correctly all the time.

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Aug 25 2008, 06:14 PM

Yeah you are right! But I guess I'll have to wait until they get these machines in Europe (and in Serbia) Guess it will be a long wait though

Posted by: Juan M. Valero Aug 25 2008, 06:23 PM

mmm really interesting, thanks for sharing !!

Posted by: Marcus Siepen Aug 27 2008, 12:00 PM

interesting