Is their plek as good as their 55 point inspection?
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Plek pro - is it worth $299?
- Thread starter Marley's Ghost
- Start date
Not worth it on a brand new Fender. If you get the bass and find the neck and frets are wanting, send it back and get another. Repeat until you get one that suits your liking.
When I can trust the 55 Point Inspection to catch miscut/damaged nuts and obviously crooked bridges, I will consider allowing them to perform a PLEK service.
Of note: I like and use Sweetwater, but not for instrument purchases. All of my basses are G. Goulds and all have received PLEK service that I believe is part of the reason they can maintain a crazy-low setup with stability. The other major factors are quality in craftsmanship and materials of the basses themselves.
Of note: I like and use Sweetwater, but not for instrument purchases. All of my basses are G. Goulds and all have received PLEK service that I believe is part of the reason they can maintain a crazy-low setup with stability. The other major factors are quality in craftsmanship and materials of the basses themselves.
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I have one bass that’s plek’d from the maker and now I don’t want one without it. It’s the best feeling of any I’ve got. If you can afford it, go for it or get it don’t locally if possible. Makes for a great playing instrument IMO.
Sweetwater will always make it right, if it’s not already upon delivery.
Sweetwater will always make it right, if it’s not already upon delivery.
THIS! Can't they tell during their elaborate inspection process if it is even necessary? It takes a few minutes with a fret tool to check it. NO mass production bass is immune to uneven frets. I would speculate the more expensive the bass the less likely but I own a Rondo SX bass that had better (great) fretwork out of the box than my Fender Ultra Jazz out of the box.
$300 is probably 15% of the cost of the bass. So no - not for a new bass under warranty. Also a Plek service is only as good as the tech performing it so no again. If something neck related happens with the bass will Fender have just cause to deny warranty coverage due to Plek having been performed to it? Sounds reasonable to me....
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I have heard that the 55 point check has been known to miss simple stuff.
Let me put it this way- would you pay extra for a full fret job on a brand new instrument you’re purchasing? I know I have never done that, and don’t plan to..
Not only do I expect to have a brand new bass play pretty well out of the box (after k set it up well), but even a good neck is likely to settle at least a little over time and in my new humid environment; if the neck shifts and settles at all, that PLEK premium is worthless.
Now, if I’m going to specifically go have fretwork done, I will pay a little premium to have it PLEK’d by a luthier/tech who is good and experienced with a PLEK, sure.. but I’m not adding the cost of a cheap bass to whatever I’m buying.
Not only do I expect to have a brand new bass play pretty well out of the box (after k set it up well), but even a good neck is likely to settle at least a little over time and in my new humid environment; if the neck shifts and settles at all, that PLEK premium is worthless.
Now, if I’m going to specifically go have fretwork done, I will pay a little premium to have it PLEK’d by a luthier/tech who is good and experienced with a PLEK, sure.. but I’m not adding the cost of a cheap bass to whatever I’m buying.
Exactly… I’ve never taken a new bass and immediately dropped $200-350 on fretwork, and I don’t know why I’d do so just because it’s a PLEK.
Keep it in perspective. The PLEK is the CNC equivalent of fret leveling. That's it.
If it's being done properly, all it does is the time consuming grunt work of a fret leveling job. Then the human being comes in at the end, and still does the fine finish work by hand – which no [affordable] machine is capable of doing to completion, to the same level as a human. Same way CNC machines cut bodies and necks in guitar factories, but they still have to be properly finish shaped and sanded by hand to actually look good.
It doesn't actually make the work BETTER, compared to a fret leveling job by someone who knows what they're doing (who are few and far between, admittedly). It just makes it faster...yet it costs more for the person getting the work done. So, IMO, it's a scam to charge $200 or $300 for it. It should actually be the same cost as, or cheaper than, a hand fret leveling job, which is about $80 or $100. It's no better in the end, and it takes less labor – meaning it's really helping the business doing it, not the end user.
By simple definition, no well made, brand new instrument should need a second fret leveling, or any nut work, performed after the instrument has left the factory. If the instrument needs that, it's not a well made instrument, period. If you're going to accept that the instrument needs this work after leaving the factory, then it's by definition a mediocre instrument anyhow, and certainly not worth throwing another $300 at. You're better off having a truly skilled local luthier do it by hand for $80 or $100. As long as you go to someone who is actually good at what they do, they you'll get effectively the same results for 1/3 the cost.
By the same token, any instrument that you're spending a bunch of money on (like the instrument in question here) should absolutely not need this work. And if it does, you send that F'er back, or have the local fret work it needs covered under warranty.
IMO, it makes sense in a mass production environment, but not as an aftermarket thing. It really just reduces labor costs by giving the grunt work to machines – doesn't necessarily produce "better" results. If a PLEK job significantly outshines a hand leveling, it's because it was a really well done PLEK job, a really poorly done hand leveling job, or some combination of the two.
The thing I have noticed about factory PLEK work is that once the factory introduces the PLEK, they often think it means the finish fret work no longer has to be done. So they just release whatever the machine turns out...which is unfinished fret and nut work. For example, Gibson's and G&L''s fret work went down the tubes when they started using PLEKs. Sure, the frets were level, but they weren't properly crowned, dressed, or polished most of the time.
So again, we have variability in what it means to have something PLEK'd. There are good PLEK jobs and bad PLEK jobs, just as there are good hand leveling jobs and bad hand leveling jobs. With that in mind, there is NO large scale retailer whose repair work I would trust above an old school, experienced, highly skilled local luthier. The best in the business don't end up doing repair work for big corporate giants like that.
If it's being done properly, all it does is the time consuming grunt work of a fret leveling job. Then the human being comes in at the end, and still does the fine finish work by hand – which no [affordable] machine is capable of doing to completion, to the same level as a human. Same way CNC machines cut bodies and necks in guitar factories, but they still have to be properly finish shaped and sanded by hand to actually look good.
It doesn't actually make the work BETTER, compared to a fret leveling job by someone who knows what they're doing (who are few and far between, admittedly). It just makes it faster...yet it costs more for the person getting the work done. So, IMO, it's a scam to charge $200 or $300 for it. It should actually be the same cost as, or cheaper than, a hand fret leveling job, which is about $80 or $100. It's no better in the end, and it takes less labor – meaning it's really helping the business doing it, not the end user.
By simple definition, no well made, brand new instrument should need a second fret leveling, or any nut work, performed after the instrument has left the factory. If the instrument needs that, it's not a well made instrument, period. If you're going to accept that the instrument needs this work after leaving the factory, then it's by definition a mediocre instrument anyhow, and certainly not worth throwing another $300 at. You're better off having a truly skilled local luthier do it by hand for $80 or $100. As long as you go to someone who is actually good at what they do, they you'll get effectively the same results for 1/3 the cost.
By the same token, any instrument that you're spending a bunch of money on (like the instrument in question here) should absolutely not need this work. And if it does, you send that F'er back, or have the local fret work it needs covered under warranty.
IMO, it makes sense in a mass production environment, but not as an aftermarket thing. It really just reduces labor costs by giving the grunt work to machines – doesn't necessarily produce "better" results. If a PLEK job significantly outshines a hand leveling, it's because it was a really well done PLEK job, a really poorly done hand leveling job, or some combination of the two.
The thing I have noticed about factory PLEK work is that once the factory introduces the PLEK, they often think it means the finish fret work no longer has to be done. So they just release whatever the machine turns out...which is unfinished fret and nut work. For example, Gibson's and G&L''s fret work went down the tubes when they started using PLEKs. Sure, the frets were level, but they weren't properly crowned, dressed, or polished most of the time.
So again, we have variability in what it means to have something PLEK'd. There are good PLEK jobs and bad PLEK jobs, just as there are good hand leveling jobs and bad hand leveling jobs. With that in mind, there is NO large scale retailer whose repair work I would trust above an old school, experienced, highly skilled local luthier. The best in the business don't end up doing repair work for big corporate giants like that.
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Mike Lull (RIP) disagrees. A couple years before he died, he told me he quit offering fret jobs done by hand because he simply couldn't do them as well as the PLEK machine could.
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All it does is the time consuming grunt work of a fret leveling job to a degree of precision humans aren't capable of matching.
No, it isn't. Plek machines have unparalleled precision and accuracy and do not just level "blindly" - user input is essential. The machine takes measures but then it's up to the operator to decide how to proceed.
So no, a fret level is not "better". It's cheaper, of course, and skilled luthiers can certainly do good enough of a job, considering the application. It's not like a fret job is, dunno, like engine head planing, or cylinder boring.
If a brand new $2,000 bass needs to have PLEK done as an additional cost... then I don't see the reason of buying that $2,000 bass to begin with.
It's the principle of it, IMO.
It's the principle of it, IMO.
Wait a year. play it for awhile, let the bass acclimate to your climate.
Is that a little persnickety? YES. but not so much as Pleking a brand new high-end instrument made from fresh wood.
If you have to return it or decide to sell it, that plek aint going to help you.
Give yourself a chance to fall in love with the bass first. you can plek it for an anniversary present if the relationship works out.
Is that a little persnickety? YES. but not so much as Pleking a brand new high-end instrument made from fresh wood.
If you have to return it or decide to sell it, that plek aint going to help you.
Give yourself a chance to fall in love with the bass first. you can plek it for an anniversary present if the relationship works out.
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D
I wouldn't do it.
I can offer a pretty good comparison of factory PLEK and hand fret work from the same company. Lakland. Factory PLEK was good but it was on a Skyline Series and was meant to replace man hours per bass vs hand work. Factory hand fretwork on a USA model with no PLEK is the better player. I really do not believe a PLEK job on it would yield any improvement on that bass. It's really good.
The PLEK work is only as good as the person making the decisions and setting up job. I would expect a new Fender to be good or send it back.
I can offer a pretty good comparison of factory PLEK and hand fret work from the same company. Lakland. Factory PLEK was good but it was on a Skyline Series and was meant to replace man hours per bass vs hand work. Factory hand fretwork on a USA model with no PLEK is the better player. I really do not believe a PLEK job on it would yield any improvement on that bass. It's really good.
The PLEK work is only as good as the person making the decisions and setting up job. I would expect a new Fender to be good or send it back.
I don't know of any high end instrument maker that uses "fresh wood" to make their instruments.
