pleking

bldrguy · #1 02-18-2018, 09:44 PM

I bought a 20 yr old santa cruz I love but am thinking about getting it plecked and set up at santa cruz shop. THoughts?

vindibona1 · #2 02-18-2018, 09:51 PM

I don't think you can ever go wrong with the maker working on their instruments. The results of Plekking are directly related to the skill of the Plek operator. I've never had a guitar Pleked, but I've had a demonstration by one of our local shop that has one of these machines. While I'm sure the Plek can do a good job, so can a skill luthier/technician by hand. But having said that, I can't imagine that Santa Cruz won't do a really good job.

Looburst · #3 02-18-2018, 09:51 PM

Nothing but good can come from it.

bldrguy · #4 02-18-2018, 09:54 PM

That's what I thought. The santa cruz folks are really helpful and I think id love to send it to them to get it done right.

Looburst · #5 02-18-2018, 09:55 PM

Yep, you really can't lose.

hairpuller · #6 02-18-2018, 10:02 PM

Hey, I'm having my '08 plekked this June at SCGC! Can't wait to have it all checked out and playing to its full potential. We are going camping for 4 days south of SC and having the work done at the same time.

Go for it!
scott

#7 02-18-2018, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bldrguy

I bought a 20 yr old santa cruz I love but am thinking about getting it plecked and set up at santa cruz shop. THoughts?

Do it. Who else can you think of who could do it better? They will make it great again. It'll be money well spent. I have two SCGC guitars now and I can tell you that when they are setup right they are truly amazing. When they get older and out of shape they're gonna sound less ideal than their potential. I've played some older SCGC guitars there were not well maintained and for a few years that tone is what I associated with SCGC, which does not do them proper credit. The more you do to them to get them "right" the more amazing they sound.

Racerbob · #8 02-18-2018, 10:22 PM

Keep in mind that the machine at SCGC is more detailed than other machines. They worked with the manufacture to incorporate information about the string movement dynamics. I don't know if that extra detail has been made available to other users of the machines.

Looburst · #9 02-18-2018, 10:30 PM

Yes it has, Collings has been using it a while too.

AZLiberty · #10 02-18-2018, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bldrguy

I bought a 20 yr old santa cruz I love but am thinking about getting it plecked and set up at santa cruz shop. THoughts?

Thought number 1 is what is wrong with it now? Send it to SCGC and they will run it through the PLEK and set it up with the same generic setup that they ship new guitars with. The frets will be fine but the setup could be higher or lower than you prefer.

I'm of the mind that a PLEK setup is sort of like Home Depot Cabinets. Serviceable enough, but nowhere near as good as paying a professional to build them right.

wooglins · #11 02-18-2018, 10:43 PM

I have seen it at the first install in US and demoed by the gentleman that trained folks to use them for a number of years. Amazing machine, meticulous result. As soon as you place any significant wear on your frets the result is lost.

Interesting that Taylor does not use plek machines, but their frets and fretboards are both CNC processed at a very high resolution using proprietary programming, which I suppose is similar to plek only it happens as part of assembly instead of after assembly.

The Santa Cruz video on the process looks amazing, small shop getting big production benefits where it matters.

MikeD · #12 02-18-2018, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AZLiberty

Thought number 1 is what is wrong with it now? Send it to SCGC and they will run it through the PLEK and set it up with the same generic setup that they ship new guitars with. The frets will be fine but the setup could be higher or lower than you prefer.

I'm of the mind that a PLEK setup is sort of like Home Depot Cabinets. Serviceable enough, but nowhere near as good as paying a professional to build them right.

Please do some research on the process. You’ve obviously never seen one in operation along side a luthier as he explains the process in detail. I have, over 25 times, and the level these things work at is mind boggling providing the user really understands the software. They can be cookie cutter if programmed to be, or fully custom. Custom setups can be saved on the computer, and then any other guitars you own can be setup exactly the same. TJ Thompson has one and my setups are saved on his computer for bar fret acoustics, T-fret acoustics and electrics. Each setup is a bit different because the guitars are quite different in terms of build. Everything is measured and taken into account. Frets are each measured in something like 100 spots, and then based on the amount of relief you want/need, the program adjusts where the fret heights should be and goes to work. After it’s done, it goes back and remeasuees everything and shows you a before & after on the monitor. If you play it and want to change something, you strap it back in and tell it what to do. It’s quite amazing. You should check it all out someday.

rogthefrog · #13 02-18-2018, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AZLiberty

I'm of the mind that a PLEK setup is sort of like Home Depot Cabinets. Serviceable enough, but nowhere near as good as paying a professional to build them right.

That's... Not a good analogy at all.

A better analogy using cabinets: a plek setup is having your cabinets hung by an experienced professional with levels, planes, and attention to detail.

Good builders aren't necessarily as good at setting up guitars as professional setup techs. The average builder does 10-20 setups a year. A plek shop like SF Guitar Works does 10-20 setups a week, if not more. Their setups, with plek, are exceptionally good.

And presumably a SCGC was "built right," yet they still do plek setups.

Mr. Jelly · #14 02-19-2018, 05:10 AM

My understanding was that the plek machine does what a good luthier does only it's less labor intensive with the machine. I'd suspect if a person sent in a SC guitar to the SC shop to get the neck looked at it would come back better whether a plek machine was used or not. I never took it to be a magic machine.

HFox · #15 02-19-2018, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bldrguy

I bought a 20 yr old santa cruz I love but am thinking about getting it plecked and set up at santa cruz shop. THoughts?

I had my SCGC Da-1 plecked by Santa Cruz shortly after I found it .
It had been mistreated by the previous owner and as I wanted to get the SC sound I sent it out to CA.
It was my first interaction with Richard Hoover and Carolyn Sills.
After inspection they suggested a neck reset and pleck treatment along with some cosmetic "cleaning up".
When I received it back from them it was an awesome sounding and easy playing guitar......."Git Er Done"!!!!