R.D.
Power User
First …, I need to preface my comments by saying that I have never owned a guitar with stainless steel frets before …. And to the best of my knowledge I don't think I've ever played a guitar that had been ‘plekk’ed’ before either … ?
That said …, the guitar I sent out to Philtone Guitar Company is my relic'ed 80's Strat 'style' guitar ( builder purposely not mentioned, but it's NOT Fender ) …. It's been fitted w/ a Floyd Rose Tremolo, a custom pickguard from James Tyler Guitars …. The neck is a beautiful piece of Roasted Birdseye Maple finished w/ Tung Oil ( I believe ).
The specs were ( more on that below ):
· 22 Frets
· 1.650" Nut Width
· 9.5" – 12" Compound Radius
When I sent this to Philtone, I suspected that the neck would need more than a simple adjustment, along with the new frets, etc; Because when I first bought the guitar I realized that the overall action was higher than my preference, and just a normal set-up didn't provide a complete fix. But, I really, REALLY liked the neck, and I was hoping that the extra stability of the roasted wood would provide a solid base to be able to make it play more to my liking !
Upon Phil's examination of the guitar he commented that the existing fret ends were pretty pronounced, and he saw glue around many of the fret ends with the bottom of the exposed fret tang ends/slots not being filled. Plus he found that there was a slight rise in the fingerboard surface on the upper treble side ( probably explained why the action couldn't be lowered ), and finally the neck radius was actually 10" to 11" ( not 9.5" to 12" as I originally thought ) ….
After a few E-mails back 'n' forth, we agreed to address the fingerboard issue, and Phil said he could use the jumbo stainless frets to actually flatten the radius to 12" in the upper end of the neck. And he included a 'tweak' to the Floyd Rose to make it work in conjunction with the radius a little better !
I just received the guitar back last Friday and here are my first impressions ….
While I'm not really qualified to discuss the "cosmetics" of a fret-job, and quite frankly, I had not previously noticed the things that Phil brought to my attention …. I can tell you that looking at the items he did bring up, I can honestly say that I am very impressed with how things look now … ! I don't see ANYTHING that isn't where it belongs, and just sliding my hand up and down the neck is incredibly smooth, nothing hangs or catches my palm or fingers. IMO – everything is as it should be !
The first thing I did after opening the box was to play the guitar for a few minutes without plugging in ….
1. The guitar seems to be a little bit louder acoustically ( but, that might be the new Cobalt strings ) ….
2. The notes seem to ring much clearer & longer ( more sustain ) ….
3. The intonation seems better, the guitar seems SO much more in-tune ( all over the neck ) than before ….
Now, after plugging in ….
1. I've noticed absolutely NO tonal change AT ALL ! ( no ‘plink-i-ness’ that some guitarists always seem to want to ascribe to stainless steel frets ) !
2. Bending & sliding seems so much smoother as well as more accurate ….
3. It seems easier to bend notes and hold them in tune ( with or without vibrato ) ….
4. It's quite a bit easier to use a subtle vibrato …, as well as a Lukather type wild/wide vibrato too !
5. And yes the guitar seems just a touch louder ( still could be the Cobalt strings ) ….
I don't play out professionally any longer, so this is my only guitar at the current time. And in the time it took to send it out, get the work completed and send it back, the callouses on my fingers were pretty much worn off. But it didn't stop me from playing all weekend long, and even though my fingers are pretty sore today, I can't help but think they're not as sore as they would be playing the guitar as it had been set up previously !
To sum it all up …. I can't believe I waited this long to do this with one of my guitars ! The improvements to the playability and feel of the guitar are more than I ever expected …. I can already see it will change the way I look at any other guitars I might be interested in from here forward ….
If it doesn't have stainless steel frets and/or hasn't been put through the Plek machine … ? Well then it better be "affordable" enough that I can send it out to Phil for stainless steel frets & Plek …. Otherwise I probably won't bother with it !
Finally, if you're contemplating having any fret-work done to your guitars, I would recommend you give Phil Jacoby @ Philtone Guitar Company a call before you go anywhere else. I'm confident that he'll make your guitar play like no other instrument you've ever picked up before !
Respectfully …,
That said …, the guitar I sent out to Philtone Guitar Company is my relic'ed 80's Strat 'style' guitar ( builder purposely not mentioned, but it's NOT Fender ) …. It's been fitted w/ a Floyd Rose Tremolo, a custom pickguard from James Tyler Guitars …. The neck is a beautiful piece of Roasted Birdseye Maple finished w/ Tung Oil ( I believe ).
The specs were ( more on that below ):
· 22 Frets
· 1.650" Nut Width
· 9.5" – 12" Compound Radius
When I sent this to Philtone, I suspected that the neck would need more than a simple adjustment, along with the new frets, etc; Because when I first bought the guitar I realized that the overall action was higher than my preference, and just a normal set-up didn't provide a complete fix. But, I really, REALLY liked the neck, and I was hoping that the extra stability of the roasted wood would provide a solid base to be able to make it play more to my liking !
Upon Phil's examination of the guitar he commented that the existing fret ends were pretty pronounced, and he saw glue around many of the fret ends with the bottom of the exposed fret tang ends/slots not being filled. Plus he found that there was a slight rise in the fingerboard surface on the upper treble side ( probably explained why the action couldn't be lowered ), and finally the neck radius was actually 10" to 11" ( not 9.5" to 12" as I originally thought ) ….
After a few E-mails back 'n' forth, we agreed to address the fingerboard issue, and Phil said he could use the jumbo stainless frets to actually flatten the radius to 12" in the upper end of the neck. And he included a 'tweak' to the Floyd Rose to make it work in conjunction with the radius a little better !
I just received the guitar back last Friday and here are my first impressions ….
While I'm not really qualified to discuss the "cosmetics" of a fret-job, and quite frankly, I had not previously noticed the things that Phil brought to my attention …. I can tell you that looking at the items he did bring up, I can honestly say that I am very impressed with how things look now … ! I don't see ANYTHING that isn't where it belongs, and just sliding my hand up and down the neck is incredibly smooth, nothing hangs or catches my palm or fingers. IMO – everything is as it should be !
The first thing I did after opening the box was to play the guitar for a few minutes without plugging in ….
1. The guitar seems to be a little bit louder acoustically ( but, that might be the new Cobalt strings ) ….
2. The notes seem to ring much clearer & longer ( more sustain ) ….
3. The intonation seems better, the guitar seems SO much more in-tune ( all over the neck ) than before ….
Now, after plugging in ….
1. I've noticed absolutely NO tonal change AT ALL ! ( no ‘plink-i-ness’ that some guitarists always seem to want to ascribe to stainless steel frets ) !
2. Bending & sliding seems so much smoother as well as more accurate ….
3. It seems easier to bend notes and hold them in tune ( with or without vibrato ) ….
4. It's quite a bit easier to use a subtle vibrato …, as well as a Lukather type wild/wide vibrato too !
5. And yes the guitar seems just a touch louder ( still could be the Cobalt strings ) ….
I don't play out professionally any longer, so this is my only guitar at the current time. And in the time it took to send it out, get the work completed and send it back, the callouses on my fingers were pretty much worn off. But it didn't stop me from playing all weekend long, and even though my fingers are pretty sore today, I can't help but think they're not as sore as they would be playing the guitar as it had been set up previously !
To sum it all up …. I can't believe I waited this long to do this with one of my guitars ! The improvements to the playability and feel of the guitar are more than I ever expected …. I can already see it will change the way I look at any other guitars I might be interested in from here forward ….
If it doesn't have stainless steel frets and/or hasn't been put through the Plek machine … ? Well then it better be "affordable" enough that I can send it out to Phil for stainless steel frets & Plek …. Otherwise I probably won't bother with it !
Finally, if you're contemplating having any fret-work done to your guitars, I would recommend you give Phil Jacoby @ Philtone Guitar Company a call before you go anywhere else. I'm confident that he'll make your guitar play like no other instrument you've ever picked up before !
Respectfully …,
