He lives in SoCal. There ain’t no 4 seasons to worry about. I lived in LA for 12 yrs. Never had to touch my truss rods due to weather/seasonal changes.
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To Plek or not to Plek?
- Thread starter Tpi
- Start date
I agree with those who say it’s all about the guy programming/running the plek. It’s not cheap and I had to really save up to have done but was totally worth it.
early years of pleking, I think right when lakland moved to it full time, I played many that had small issues, but generally it’s such a common practice and the machine has formed into such a convenient tool, people have gotten it dialed in. last
I have had work done and worked with Carl who works through lakland and I trusted him over a plek…. well, I still might but the plek is pretty damn good! Not all basses are made equally, so the pleking can’t be either.
I have had work done and worked with Carl who works through lakland and I trusted him over a plek…. well, I still might but the plek is pretty damn good! Not all basses are made equally, so the pleking can’t be either.
I just bought a Sandberg which had fret issues. The B string was unplayable below the 4th fret, so I had a set up and the frets levelled and now it's playing perfectly. I go to a luthier for my setup and maintenance work. I'm not sure that a Plek is better than what this guy can do but IMO either option produces a better bass.
Better to make a new thread, or resurrect this one? I guess I'll just give my 2 cents here and if it ever helps someone who has a good grasp of the Search function, that's great.
I'll try to make this long story short. I learned a bit about setups as a beginner and over the course of ~22 years, I always felt I could get my basses playing well with minimal buzzing and low action, until I made two Franken-basses by replacing necks. The new necks were what I wanted in appearance and profile, and they fit the existing neck pockets without much trouble, but for a year I kept trying and trying to set them up well and couldn't seem to do it. Low action led to too much buzz, so I kept the action higher than my preference.
Finally I decided to have the 2 basses Plek'd by Peekamoose Guitars in upstate NY, which was the only Plek within driving distance for me (Albany to Rhinebeck). It seemed easier and about the same cost as shipping them to Sweetwater and back. The luthier ended up making a custom shim for one bass, too. I got them back last week and they legitimately have never played so well. For me, this step was necessary, and my takeaway is that while neck swaps are not too difficult, they may result in a need for professional help if everything doesn't line up just right. I hope to keep both basses forever now.
TLDR - Plek can be considered a "rescue" option if you have made a Frankenbass that doesn't seem to take a setup well.
I'll try to make this long story short. I learned a bit about setups as a beginner and over the course of ~22 years, I always felt I could get my basses playing well with minimal buzzing and low action, until I made two Franken-basses by replacing necks. The new necks were what I wanted in appearance and profile, and they fit the existing neck pockets without much trouble, but for a year I kept trying and trying to set them up well and couldn't seem to do it. Low action led to too much buzz, so I kept the action higher than my preference.
Finally I decided to have the 2 basses Plek'd by Peekamoose Guitars in upstate NY, which was the only Plek within driving distance for me (Albany to Rhinebeck). It seemed easier and about the same cost as shipping them to Sweetwater and back. The luthier ended up making a custom shim for one bass, too. I got them back last week and they legitimately have never played so well. For me, this step was necessary, and my takeaway is that while neck swaps are not too difficult, they may result in a need for professional help if everything doesn't line up just right. I hope to keep both basses forever now.
TLDR - Plek can be considered a "rescue" option if you have made a Frankenbass that doesn't seem to take a setup well.
songwriter21
I have an obsession for wood. The musical kind.
NEVER get your guitar PLEKed! I took mine in and, while it played fine, I immediately discovered the tech had eaten all my peppermint bark!!!
I’m doing a lot of research on Plek at moment for…reasons.
First operation is a “scan” which is basically a big long touch-off digitizing process of the whole neck; couple thousand points along each string path. The software decides its own zero coordinates (your DRP) based on a number of non-moving surface features on the neck. It’s a bit more specialized in software than a 90s HAAS…the dumb stuff so it doesn’t crash a tool into your fingerboard (like operator having to worry about origins) is truly automated.
Guitar/neck is in a fixture. To my knowledge every time you remove it from the fixture you have to start off again with an update scan.
TLDR; they figured it out and have a way.
There is a fixture and it simulates string tension. Since first scan is with strings on tuned, and that scan also gathers a few thousand xyz coordinates off the fingerboard, the computer knows there the fingerboard should be and you replicate it in the fixture using the computer as a guide.
But since no cutting operation is done without an update scan to make sure the computer knows where everything is, it all works.
There is a local shop near me, about a 10 minute drive, with a PLEK machine and this month they are doing them for $200. Mighty tempted to have my new Fender Indo P bass done. I have the action set as low as I want and I get no fret buzz pretty much anywhere. The only exception is if I bend the G string high enough around frets 10-12 I do get some buzz/fret out, but that is something I rarely do anyway. Since the bass is so new I may just wait another year and let the neck settle in more.
Does the process also check the nut and fret ends? Can I keep the same strings on? My DR Pure Blues are nice and broken in and I don't want to change them anytime soon.
Does the process also check the nut and fret ends? Can I keep the same strings on? My DR Pure Blues are nice and broken in and I don't want to change them anytime soon.
anyone got their bass with a zero fret plek'd? I want mine lowered but 2 local techs told me they don't wanna do it
