When Roscoe moves to their new shop they will also be getting a plek machine. So, I figure, why not? My new fretless will probably be plek'd in construction and I would like to have my others as well.
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Roscoe Club
- Thread starter JOME77
- Start date
Maybe I missed something, but I thought the Plek machine was for fretted instruments only
I saw basses being plek'ed in a shop one time. I do remember it shaves the frets yes..
I also have been told that Roscoe and his team perfectly build and test/check the basses they sell for $4000+
So I still need to get my Roscoe Plek'd? hehe..
Does your bass show signs that it should be plek'd?
is it Pleked? or Plek'd or Plekked? ha.
I also have been told that Roscoe and his team perfectly build and test/check the basses they sell for $4000+
So I still need to get my Roscoe Plek'd? hehe..
Does your bass show signs that it should be plek'd?
is it Pleked? or Plek'd or Plekked? ha.
I saw basses being plek'ed in a shop one time. I do remember it shaves the frets yes..
I also have been told that Roscoe and his team perfectly build and test/check the basses they sell for $4000+
So I still need to get my Roscoe Plek'd? hehe..
Does your bass show signs that it should be plek'd?
is it Pleked? or Plek'd or Plekked? ha.
The PLEK process was created in Germany by a company called PLEKTRON in 1990. It's basically a combination of CMM and CNC that runs a probe down the fingerboard and provides a linear plot of of fret height for each string location. This will tell the technician, and the machine, where there are high spots or low spots that need to be addressed. The machine then will "adjust" the fret heights based on the scan to ensure consistency across the board. There are still tweaks that need to be made by hand, however.
I hadn't considered that it could be used to do this, because every application I've seen involves dressing frets. For a fretless, I suppose it could catch high spots on the board and be used to locally remove them. I'd be curious to hear if that's what their plan is. It's a cool way to use a product for something other than what it was designed for.
"Need" is a strong word.
Some will benefit to a degree, for sure.And guess who'll be offering the service (at a discount for Roscoe owners) soon?
The Plek is already "here" ("here" being the "new shop", which we are about 30% moved into), and will be going online in about a month from now - we will primarily be using it for production purposes, but we will definitely be offering the service on both existing Roscoes and other instruments (not at a discount).
The Plek is only as good as the setup that is given to it to begin with. If the setup is bogus, the Plek'ing is not going to help. So, since we have such a good setup guy (Keith hissonwnself, natch), our thinking is that it will make a significant advance in playability. It will also shave a good amount of time and labor cost off the process.
The fretting is significantly affected by how level the fingerboard is prior to the frets being pressed in, so, yes we will be using it for the purpose of leveling the fingerboard prior to fretting and dressing. It also can shape and slot the nut, which will will be taking advantage of also. You are also correct in that we will use it for fretless fingerboard leveling/dressing. The product (Plek) was originally designed for the sole purpose of fret dressing, but they have added additional capabilities over the years to make it very attractive to a builder like us for production purposes (it can also slot for fretting and cut for inlays, but we will not be making use of that function, as our new HAAS VF3-SS CNC will handle those tasks equally well earlier in the process
).
Will the probe aspect of the machine call out a bad setup if you feed it your own pass/fail parameters? I could see that being a really useful QC check.
The fretting is significantly affected by how level the fingerboard is prior to the frets being pressed in, so, yes we will be using it for the purpose of leveling the fingerboard prior to fretting and dressing. It also can shape and slot the nut, which will will be taking advantage of also. You are also correct in that we will use it for fretless fingerboard leveling/dressing. The product (Plek) was originally designed for the sole purpose of fret dressing, but they have added additional capabilities over the years to make it very attractive to a builder like us for production purposes (it can also slot for fretting and cut for inlays, but we will not be making use of that function, as our new HAAS VF3-SS CNC will handle those tasks equally well earlier in the process
That's cool that they've evolved it to do more. So for fretless basses, you'll just be dressing the fingerboard and pulling it out of the machine prior to doing any of the work for frets?
Don't quote me on this, because I'm certainly not an expert on what it can or can't do by any stretch - but, no, it merely dresses the frets as best it can based on what you give it for a setup. QC is still the "human factor" - there are two stops in QC here: Keith says "it's good", hands it to me and I say "you're right" (usually
). Again, it's a GIGO issue, you have to tell the machine what job to do. It will do THAT job at a very high level of accuracy, but if you give it directions that stink, well...You meant fretted, not fretless, yes?
If so, yes, exactly. The machine will level the fingerboard with the neck "under tension" (actually an approximation of being under string tension), so that it is in the same configuration as if it were strung up and playing. Then, it will be removed from the machine, the frets will be pressed in, seated completely, trimmed, and reinstalled in the machine with the same "under tension" configuration, and the frets will be dressed to be perfectly level.Unless I totally misunderstand things and am completely wrong (I'm not.
)
CrashClint
I Play Bass therefore I Am
On my fretted basses I prefer my strings lower than how it comes from the shop (crazy, right?) so I have had Keith angle the pocket on a couple of my Roscoe basses and the shell pink needs to come in for an adjustment as well as all the saddles are sitting on the base plate and I want the action a little lower. I prefer to have the angle adjusted instead of a shim to keep full contact. What would be cool is if you could mill the bottom of the bridge a couple thousands. Eventually I will get the two fretted Roscoe's plek'd.
songwriter21
I have an obsession for wood. The musical kind.
Dude, nothing wrong with lower action that what's set from the factory. Mine's so low that you could fret it by breathing on it...well, not that low, but really low. You don't need to modify your Roscoe in any way, or have it worked on. Just order a replacement bridge from Hipshot (see the pic I posted on the last page). They're very friendly and helpful. All you have to do is to tell them "Roscoe spacing", and you're good to go (aside from brass/zinc, color, etc.). If you love their stuff enough, try and ask to get a sponsorship from them. I asked, and now get a super-good deal on everything from them. I even get great deals on custom-colored parts, too! Ask for Jason!
I'm the opposite off most of you I think. I like factory set on my fretless. I like my fretted a little bit higher. I like to dig and play hard. I have a buddy who sets it low an days with a lighter touch and lets the amp do the work. I like to dig in.
songwriter21
I have an obsession for wood. The musical kind.
Funny how our tastes are, as you are indeed the opposite of at least my tastes. I like to dig in some, but not to "fight" the bass. I like how lower action relaxes the strings, making them more supple (but not tooooo supple), and therefore giving them a more responsive singing quality.
All it took was the number of basses I've tried over the years, that blew my action out of the water (when it was higher), and I went, "Holy CRAP is that easy to play!"
All it took was the number of basses I've tried over the years, that blew my action out of the water (when it was higher), and I went, "Holy CRAP is that easy to play!"
I might too, but on mine, factory setup was whatever Keith was feeling one day in 1995 accounting for humidity, temperature, barometric pressure, and phase of the moon. Fast-forward 20 years and many, many string and location (and owner...) changes, and that original information is long gone.
I get -a little- fingerboard rattle on the B when I play hard so that's as low as I want to go there. I have a nice level on mwah on the high strings (could be better, still tweaking...) but overall, I like it. I haven't touched anything on the fretted Roscoe tho...
Nothing wrong with having action high enough to keep the strings off the frets & pickups when you play like you like to.
songwriter21
I have an obsession for wood. The musical kind.
songwriter21
I have an obsession for wood. The musical kind.
Well, then I may just be spoiled, seriously. The main culprit was probably my '09 Winter NAMM visit. Btw, if you have the means to go...GO!
Fellow Roscoe'ers..
I fly out in 7 days.. Whats the consensus (or maybe I should ask consequences!) on Flying the Roscoe with a Fender TSA case? There is too much length in the bottom, but seems good width-wise tight..
**Edit**
As crazy as it may be, frankly, I'm tired of carrying my Roscoe Bass on the plane with me and causing my blood pressure to rise immensely, wondering each plane I board, if they will take it off and store it under the plane.. (especially smaller ones.)
thanks
I fly out in 7 days.. Whats the consensus (or maybe I should ask consequences!) on Flying the Roscoe with a Fender TSA case? There is too much length in the bottom, but seems good width-wise tight..
**Edit**
As crazy as it may be, frankly, I'm tired of carrying my Roscoe Bass on the plane with me and causing my blood pressure to rise immensely, wondering each plane I board, if they will take it off and store it under the plane.. (especially smaller ones.)
thanks
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I'm coming baaaaack.
Went in on an STD SKB3005. Mahogany body, MM pickup and 3-band EQ (both Bart), black hardware. Finish is gonna be a darkened tobacco burst. Should be ready in ~6 months.
In related news, new job and increased funds means I'm going to make a very serious attempt to track down Darth Roscoe later this year, and re-acquire him. I had two entirely unrelated people tell me in the same day I should bring it back into the fold, and I took that as a sign that I aught to.
If anyone knows where it is, please let me know.
Then the plans are for a Roscoe P, a Roscoe Thumb, a Roscoe Spector, a Roscoe Thunderbird, a Roscoe Ripper... I'm even sort of GASing for a Roscoe with G&L L2000 pickups/electronics.
I...uh, like Roscoes.
Went in on an STD SKB3005. Mahogany body, MM pickup and 3-band EQ (both Bart), black hardware. Finish is gonna be a darkened tobacco burst. Should be ready in ~6 months.
In related news, new job and increased funds means I'm going to make a very serious attempt to track down Darth Roscoe later this year, and re-acquire him. I had two entirely unrelated people tell me in the same day I should bring it back into the fold, and I took that as a sign that I aught to.
If anyone knows where it is, please let me know.
Then the plans are for a Roscoe P, a Roscoe Thumb, a Roscoe Spector, a Roscoe Thunderbird, a Roscoe Ripper... I'm even sort of GASing for a Roscoe with G&L L2000 pickups/electronics.
I...uh, like Roscoes.
If this is Darth, he's currently listed for sale here on TB, by Matt Morgan in Plano, TX. Serial #6449 for $1900.
