Should I have this guitar pleked or leveled?

I had a Strat re fretted with SS frets I think about 25 years ago.
The cutting head made chatter marks on the fret wire and it never played to my expectation.
I l know this is an isolated case. It points to the ability of the person setting up and running the machine and the machine itself.
I now have a local luthier that does amazing fretwork including the fall away I prefer above the 12th fret for notes that ring crystal clear!
 
rcm78 said:
Sounds like the neck is back bowed. Add some relief and check again.
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Hmmm, I'm def not extremely knowledgeable about guitar mechanics... I'm attempting to learn.

I had the strings off the guitar when I checked the frets with the fret rocker. I'll check again soon.

I was prepping the guitar for a nice setup. I had the strings off, put some lemon oil on the ebony fret board, polished the frets, and I figured now would be a good time to check the frets with the fret rocker - while the strings were off. I have no idea if the neck was straight, up bowed, or back bowed when I checked the frets with the strings off. Is the neck supposed to be perfectly straight when fret rocking the frets? I have both a straight and notched stew mac straight edge BTW.
 
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Sleestak said:
Frets can be leveled by a good luthier. I've noticed that many new guitars have "pretty good" fret dressing, but it's rarely perfect. I'm fairly picky about my guitar setups (I do nearly all of my own tech work on them), so I do frequently find that some frets need a little attention. Also, a lot of new guitars need attention on the fret ends. This stuff takes extra time, so it's not surprising that mass producers let it slide.

I do have two guitars that were Pleked. In both cases it was part of a stainless steel refret that I had a local expert handle. Those guitars were already great. They are my #1 and #2 touring guitars, and have been along for the ride for 30 years, so they both had badly worn frets. The stainless steel refret brought them back to near-perfect playability. I play tested them both post-refret, and it was a massive improvement. The subsequent Plek treatment made those guitars into glorious music machines. It brought out another few percentage points of awesomeness. BUT... I don't think I'd do this to a guitar without stainless steel frets. It's an expensive process, and because regular frets will wear down over time, the precise crowning and leveling will start to be lost - especially in the areas where you play the most.

If the frets near the nut are bothering you, I'd recommend getting the guitar to a good luthier for a pro setup. Once the neck relief is correct for your string gauge and playing technique, have them file or re-crown any pesky frets.
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if i wanted to go w stainless frets and the Plek process, how does it work? do i have to find a luthier that has a plek? or do i have it refretted and brought somewhere else to plek it and then bring back to the luthier? guess im unclear on the process/parties involved and what needs to be negotiated up front with the luthier.

ive got a 98 peavy wolfgang standard that could probably use a refretting.

thanks!
 
PSea said:
if i wanted to go w stainless frets and the Plek process, how does it work? do i have to find a luthier that has a plek? or do i have it refretted and brought somewhere else to plek it and then bring back to the luthier? guess im unclear on the process/parties involved and what needs to be negotiated up front with the luthier.

ive got a 98 peavy wolfgang standard that could probably use a refretting.

thanks!
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Find someone reputable to do the SS refret first.
The PLEK machine is quite expensive, so not many people have them.
Then the plek if that is what you are after.
 
DiedTrying said:
Hmmm, I'm def not extremely knowledgeable about guitar mechanics... I'm attempting to learn.

I had the strings off the guitar when I checked the frets with the fret rocker. I'll check again soon.

I was prepping the guitar for a nice setup. I had the strings off, put some lemon oil on the ebony fret board, polished the frets, and I figured now would be a good time to check the frets with the fret rocker - while the strings were off. I have no idea if the neck was straight, up bowed, or back bowed when I checked the frets with the strings off. Is the neck supposed to be perfectly straight when fret rocking the frets? I have both a straight and notched stew mac straight edge BTW.
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Ideally it should be straight. Even if the strings are on and the desired relief dialed in, a fret rocker should not reveal any high frets.
 
PSea said:
if i wanted to go w stainless frets and the Plek process, how does it work? do i have to find a luthier that has a plek? or do i have it refretted and brought somewhere else to plek it and then bring back to the luthier? guess im unclear on the process/parties involved and what needs to be negotiated up front with the luthier.

ive got a 98 peavy wolfgang standard that could probably use a refretting.

thanks!
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I’ve had good luck with two shops that have pleks onsite. Philtone in Baltimore (do your due diligence! Phil is notoriously slow but does excellent work) and Sport Hi Tech in Exton PA.
Phil did my 2003 Peavey Wolfgang 12 years ago. There’s still no fretwear on it and it plays better than new.
Anyone that lives near Nashville should go to Joe Glaser.
 
rcm78 said:
I’ve had good luck with two shops that have pleks onsite. Philtone in Baltimore (do your due diligence! Phil is notoriously slow but does excellent work) and Sport Hi Tech in Exton PA.
Phil did my 2003 Peavey Wolfgang 12 years ago. There’s still no fretwear on it and it plays better than new.
Anyone that lives near Nashville should go to Joe Glaser.
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I wouldn't touch Phil Jacoby w/ someone else's money ....

He did a re-fret / plek on a strat 5 or 6 years ago and other than the aforementioned "slowness" it turned out great !

Fast forward to last spring/summer and I sent him a Les Paul to re-fret & plek. We had discussed the project, so it wasn't like I dropped it on him out of the blue ! Once he got the instrument, it disappeared into a black hole ! He had the guitar for over 4 months ( after he promised it in 6-weeks ). He wouldn't return E-mails or phone calls. He finally answered by accident one day when I called from a different number ! I had to threaten to have him arrested for theft and he offered to send the guitar back to me at his cost ....

When I got the guitar back, he hadn't even opened the original shipping box that I sent it to him in !

Don't just walk away from him ..., RUN LIKE HELL !




Consider yourself forewarned ....
 
R.D. said:
I wouldn't touch Phil Jacoby w/ someone else's money ....

He did a re-fret / plek on a strat 5 or 6 years ago and other than the aforementioned "slowness" it turned out great !

Fast forward to last spring/summer and I sent him a Les Paul to re-fret & plek. We had discussed the project, so it wasn't like I dropped it on him out of the blue ! Once he got the instrument, it disappeared into a black hole ! He had the guitar for over 4 months ( after he promised it in 6-weeks ). He wouldn't return E-mails or phone calls. He finally answered by accident one day when I called from a different number ! I had to threaten to have him arrested for theft and he offered to send the guitar back to me at his cost ....

When I got the guitar back, he hadn't even opened the original shipping box that I sent it to him in !

Don't just walk away from him ..., RUN LIKE HELL !




Consider yourself forewarned ....
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Wow, sorry to hear about your experience with Phil. He's Plek'd 3 or 4 of my guitars, but that was 4+ years ago. His work was utter perfection in my case.
 
DiedTrying said:
It's a brand new Gibson Les Paul. I was checking the frets with a fret rocker tool and this is what I found:

fret rocker laid on frets 1 2 3 = slight rocking

fret rocker laid on frets 2 3 4 = slight rocking

fret rocker laid on frets 4 5 6 = slight rocking
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I'm trying to picture how that is possible. Is this at different areas of the board, ie, side-to-side?
And what made you decide to check them? Are you getting a local buzz?
 
R.D. said:
I wouldn't touch Phil Jacoby w/ someone else's money ....

He did a re-fret / plek on a strat 5 or 6 years ago and other than the aforementioned "slowness" it turned out great !

Fast forward to last spring/summer and I sent him a Les Paul to re-fret & plek. We had discussed the project, so it wasn't like I dropped it on him out of the blue ! Once he got the instrument, it disappeared into a black hole ! He had the guitar for over 4 months ( after he promised it in 6-weeks ). He wouldn't return E-mails or phone calls. He finally answered by accident one day when I called from a different number ! I had to threaten to have him arrested for theft and he offered to send the guitar back to me at his cost ....

When I got the guitar back, he hadn't even opened the original shipping box that I sent it to him in !

Don't just walk away from him ..., RUN LIKE HELL !




Consider yourself forewarned ....
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Yeah, I get it. My experience was positive. His communication was prompt and he delivered my guitars as promised, but for everyone of me there seem to be a dozen or so of you.
 
PSea said:
if i wanted to go w stainless frets and the Plek process, how does it work? do i have to find a luthier that has a plek? or do i have it refretted and brought somewhere else to plek it and then bring back to the luthier? guess im unclear on the process/parties involved and what needs to be negotiated up front with the luthier.

ive got a 98 peavy wolfgang standard that could probably use a refretting.

thanks!
Click to expand...
I just found a luthier with a Plek machine, and asked if they'd do stainless steel frets. They agreed with the stipulation that I'd have to pay an extra $100 to replace their fret files, as the stainless steel frets are murder on them. It was worth it. Those frets are still mirror shiny after all this time. Zero wear, and I've played over a hundred gigs on them since then. It's the last fret job your guitar will ever need.
 
A couple of years ago I sent my ESP E II M II off to go through sweetwaters plek machine. It was good to go when I got it back. Since then it has pretty much just sat in its case. I checked the frets on it again the day before yesterday and there are now some around the 12th fret area that have some extremely minor rocking when checked with the fret rocker. Go figure.

The guitar still plays extremely well, so I'll let it be.

 
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DiedTrying said:
A couple of years ago I sent my ESP E II M II off to go through sweetwaters plek machine. It was good to go when I got it back. Since then it has pretty much just sat in its case. I checked the frets on it again the day before yesterday and there are now some around the 12th fret area that have some extremely minor rocking when checked with the fret rocker. Go figure.

The guitar still plays extremely well, so I'll let it be.

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Do not assume the fret rocker is telling you what you think.
 
scottp said:
I had a Strat re fretted with SS frets I think about 25 years ago.
The cutting head made chatter marks on the fret wire and it never played to my expectation.
I l know this is an isolated case. It points to the ability of the person setting up and running the machine and the machine itself.
I now have a local luthier that does amazing fretwork including the fall away I prefer above the 12th fret for notes that ring crystal clear!
Click to expand...
What is this "fall away" you mention? I'm guessing that as you go up the the neck the frets are each progressively just a hair shorter than the one before?
 
SweetPete said:
What is this "fall away" you mention? I'm guessing that as you go up the the neck the frets are each progressively just a hair shorter than the one before?
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YES! This way, in theory with big bends you will not have any fretting out, quieting of the notes.
 
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