PLEKing my refretted Ibanez Artist AM50

Log Out | Topics | Search Moderators | Edit Profile

Author Message Sonar Username: Sonar Registered: 07-2005 Posted on Friday, September 23, 2005 - 9:01 am:    Yes! It's NEW LIFE for a wonderful guitar! Just an opening to say that my Ibanez Artist AM50 has been refretted and a PLEK computer set-up in Baltimore and is ready for pickup on Saturday, Sept. 24. The frets were down unacceptably low and the neck had developed some slight problems over the years that can be solved with fretboard work while the frets were off. This should be WAY better than NEW! I also got new wiring harness with push-pull coil splitting on the tone pots and bayonette-style plug-in connectors for each pickup that will allow me to switch pickups without removing the entire wiring assembly as part of any change. This project should be TOO GREAT and I thought I'd keep you guys posted as to the results. My Ibanez Artist AM205 will get a similar treatment in the future......the AM50 is sort of a test run to see if any fine tuning and tweaks to the plan can be discovered next time around. Funkle Username: Funkle Registered: 12-2001 Posted on Friday, September 23, 2005 - 11:31 am:    Sonar, I'm very curious to hear your opinion on the Plek setup. I have had some guitars Pleked, and the debate has raged here on whether it's better than good old hand fret dress. I was on the Plek side, but I've come to realize that a good Plek job is only as good as the final hand finishing and setup done after the machine does it's thing. -Sven Sonar Username: Sonar Registered: 07-2005 Posted on Friday, September 23, 2005 - 2:34 pm:    I don't subscribe to the great PLEK vs. human debate anymore than I would consider a human with a calculator a match for a computer. There's still LOTS of jobs a human with a calculator can do.....but when it's called for, NOTHING beats the PLEK. In my view, the PLEK is a tool with several layers of great functions. It's not voodoo and it's not meant to replace common sense and experience. First, the PLEK can ANALYZE. Just incredible as a measuring tool. It allows comparison and analysis of the frets and fretboard that's been unheard of previously. Second, it can finish and polish frets. Very fine tolerances with an eye toward the total balance of the piece. I mean, it starts removing fret material....then re-measures and re-calculates before another pass at removing any more fret. It might take up to four or five passes for the PLEK to get to it's perfect determination. I don't see any argument really. It's a tool and a GREAT one at that. The only argument probably would come from those that don't have the tool and must explain some reason that they won't be spending the $100,000.00 to purchase one. So it's not really hard to see where any "argument" or "debate" might come from. Like the old country doctor grumping about those new fangled medical di-ig-nos-tic blinkin' thing-a-ma-bobs they use in the big city being the devil's work, I guess old school fret bangers gotta say SOMETHING....and it's only human to say something bad, huh? Seriously, not EVERY guitar needs the PLEK. It costs more and I understand why. BUT for those trouble guitars and guitars that you just can't find out what the "problem" is.....the PLEK IS THE TOOL! And I'M old school of about EVERY other thing in this world. I'll take three dueces over fuel injection. I don't trust those "digital" scales at the bait shop. I want a REAL Hammond instead of some Hammond organ modeling keyboard (same with the Rhodes). And don't even TALK to me about LINE 6 stuff!!?! But the PLEK is just an amazing tool....nothing more and nothing less. In the hands of a knowlegeable luthier, it's like a doctor with a CAT scan machine.....PRICELESS! :D Funkle Username: Funkle Registered: 12-2001 Posted on Friday, September 23, 2005 - 3:44 pm:    Very well put "So it's not really hard to see where any "argument" or "debate" might come from." It seems silly, but I urge you to do a search on those threads, the resistance in fierce! As you suggest, mostly the resistance comes from romantacism with the notion of the luthier. Every person that insisted it was hogwash happened to be an experienced luthier who took pride in their work, and who had never tried a pleked guitar. It reminds me of people that The problem I had last time I had a guitar Pleked was that they forgot to do the final hand setup after it came off the machine. And although the frets were beautiful, it took a couple return visits to get the setup right. And my teacher has similar complaints with the lack of attention to final setup and detail by the shop workers at Gary Brawer Stringed Instruments in SF. They do a lot of the stars guitars, but If your not a star, you won't get treated like one. "And don't even TALK to me about LINE 6 stuff!!?!" They give modeling technology a bad name. Have you tried the Yamaha modeling amps? -Sven Falcon Username: Falcon Registered: 08-2005 Posted on Friday, September 23, 2005 - 6:09 pm:    Sonar, Ditto the PLEK. Every tool is only as good as the one who uses it. In Phil's case, it is incredibly powerful. I had the PLEK/Phil treatment on my AM 205 and it is really fantastic. Without you telling me about Philtone in Baltimore, I would have gone somewhere else and had someone make changes using far less accurate information. Thanks! falcon Sonar Username: Sonar Registered: 07-2005 Posted on Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 2:54 am:    Sven, Your relaying what happened to you in San Francisco with their PLEK machine is EXACTLY on point. Like ANY tool, it depends entirely on the skill and insight of the operator. The PLEK machine TELL you things and then an operator makes decisions BASED on that information. It reminds me of many early computer software programs....VERY powerful tools and simply incredible in the right hands. But it NEVER meant EVERY purchaser of the software understood how to use it to its full potential. I'm fortunate that I've got a PLEK machine nearby in the hands of a truly nice guy with a DRIVE to get the best out of every instrument. He's relatively young but gifted with a great curiosity and insight beyond his years. I'm VERY fortunate and his having a PLEK machine is simply over the top! I mean, I've had some regular luthiers/repair persons that have come and gone over the years.....they burn out. The day-to-day demands of very particular customers just seems to drive them into the back room never to return. Or they just get too big....start hiring employees that may or may not have the talent you first started coming to that luthier to get. It becomes a "drop off your guitar Monday...pick it up Thursday" but you'll never see or really talk to anyone who cares anymore. Whatever is written on the service ticket will be performed....maybe... Or I had one of my guitar techs get so successful at building guitars that you can forget about him repairing ANYTHING anymore. So I don't think Paul Smith wants to tweak my Les Paul Deluxe he dropped three P90 pickups into with early version of the Brian May switching in 1981. Go figure! Everything changes....and too quickly for my tastes. I'm just glad I'm near Baltimore at this very remarkable time when EVERYTHING I need or require is available from a great luthier. Currently, you can make an appointment and he's pretty good about making you and your guitar the center of attention for the time it takes to decide the best course of action for your guitar. Also, he can be brutally honest, which I admire, He'll tell you straight up if you've got a pig on your hands. He told me this week I'm crazed to consider putting work into a rather nice vintage '73 Fender Stratocaster I recently acquired rather than sticking to my mid '80s Japanese-made ESP Strat knock-off (that plays like a dream). He suggested selling the '73 Strat to a collector type and buying something nice for the wife (yes, a big grin accompanied this sage advise). SO...Will things change? Sure! I'm terribly afraid he'll get "discovered" beyond a comfortable growing line for his business. I worry his business will "grow" and we won't have the time to ponder and experiment. I worry he will get jaded by too many corksniffer Gibson Heritage Special Edition Relic Limited Edition guitar owners that he'll forget the love of bending an old well-worn Ibanez players box to our will. Of these concerns, only time will tell...BUT I'm telling you RIGHT NOW is a GREAT TIME to be an Ibanez owning guitarist anywhere near Baltimore, Maryland! :D Massx Username: Massx Registered: 10-2005 Posted on Thursday, December 01, 2005 - 11:01 pm:    Hey guys. Thanks for the heads-up on Philtone in Baltimore. Based on your reviews, I just made an appointment to have my newly received LR-10 plek'ed by Phil. Sounds like the three-hour drive (one-way) should be well worth it. I have a local guy that I trust for most work, but I think the LR deserves the best I can give it. The guitar arrived in great shape for a 25-year old instrument, but the frets definitely need dressing, and a good overall setup. I'm used to using 11s on my solid body electrics, but they feel a bit light on this more substantial axe. I have a set of round wound 12s I think I'll have to try before I have the setup done. As a (mostly) blues player, I can't see switching over to flats anytime soon - I'll probably save them for my next full-hollow purchase 8-) When I get a chance, I'll post a couple of pics of the LR, maybe a few before and after shots. When I first came to ICW (via Sven's excellent AM site), it was with the aim of learning more about the AM series, and eventually obtaining one. After a couple of disappointments getting sniped at auctions, I decided to make a play at the LR-10 instead, and after a long wait for delivery, have to say that I'm thrilled with the purchase. This is the best instrument I've ever owned, and I can include a couple of '50s era Gibsons and a PRS in that assessment. Great sustain, versatile range of tones, good balance, and the subtle flaming and dot inlays give the LR an understated beauty. Can you tell I like this guitar?? Anyway, thanks to everyone here for their contributions and advice, this is a great resource for expert and novice alike. I'll do my best to give back a little. Funkle Username: Funkle Registered: 12-2001 Posted on Friday, December 02, 2005 - 11:09 am:    Congratulations, and thanks for the compliments. I just had my '80 AS200 pleked by Gary Brawer last month and it plays great now. Gary says that Ibanez guitars almost always have loose frets, and he has to glue them down first. Any pictures? Guitartim Username: Guitartim Registered: 04-2001 Posted on Friday, December 02, 2005 - 11:32 am:    Great thread guys! Always interesting to hear about luthier stories. We could start a whole new thread topic on that alone! From the comments, I can see why Heritage Guitars switched over to the Plek machine on all of their instruments. They had a terrible reputation for some of their fret work...but great IF you decided to return it to them for re-working...by hand. Guess they got tired of the bad rap on their nice instruments and went Plek. For those who have had Plek work done, is there a visible difference, or is it strickly a feel and audible improvement? Also, I've never heard about Ibanez's loose fret issues before. Funkle Username: Funkle Registered: 12-2001 Posted on Friday, December 02, 2005 - 5:13 pm:    "For those who have had Plek work done, is there a visible difference, or is it strickly a feel and audible improvement?" On my pleked guitars, the frets come to a sharper crown. They have more of a V profile than before. The advantage is that the point of contact is more precise and fret to fret intonation is improved. In other words, the machine may actually "move" the crown if the location of the fret is a hair off. Also, the profile has a perfect shape that only a machine could create. Gary claimed both the guitars I brought in needed to have their frets glued - one was the '80 AS200 and the other was an '04 AS1260 Prestige. I guess he knows what he's doing, because he had one of Joe Satriani's guitars behind the counter, which, as you might guess, needed it's frets glued down -Sven

Add Your Message Here Post: -Color- Black Red Green Blue Yellow Purple Orange Cyan Gray White -Font- Arial Courier Symbol Times Verdana -Size- Smallest (-2) Small (-1) Normal Large (+1) Largest (+2) Enter Item number: Username: Posting Information: This is a private posting area. Only registered users and moderators may post messages here. Password: Options: Enable HTML code in message Automatically activate URLs in message Action: