# Plek Technology in Toronto?



## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...does anyone know if any retailers or manufacturers in toronto have purchased, or are thinking of purchasing, a plek machine?

-dh


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## SCREEM (Feb 2, 2006)

damn, I'd like to have my guitars pleked as well....the closest place i can find is in Nashville TN


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## SCREEM (Feb 2, 2006)

actually there is a place in NYC, may be worth a trip

http://www.peekamoose.com/


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

SCREEM said:


> actually there is a place in NYC, may be worth a trip
> http://www.peekamoose.com/


...i agree - worth checking out. it'd be cheaper just to ship the guitar, though. thanks, mate.

-dh


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## sysexguy (Mar 5, 2006)

I've watched 3 full Plek demos so far, pretty amazing stuff and with Gibson, Heritage and Suhr having machines as well, this is becoming the new standard. 

I know the following:

1) It would take at least 9 months to get a machine
2) It costs about as much as a small home or a really fancy BMW
3) They'd really like a machine in Canada and several parties have shown interest but no deposits
4) The Plek machine will recall a guitar's setup so subsequent set-ups are easier
5) The street price in the USA of a plek fret dress has come down slightly 
6) I've played cheap imports with a Plek job and they are most impressive but the Plek job cost more than the guitar itself

So how many guys would pay +-$200 for a Plek'd guitar in Canada?

Andy


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

sysexguy said:


> So how many guys would pay +-$200 for a Plek'd guitar in Canada? Andy


...count me in, and here's why:

i have a g&l legacy that is my number one. BUT, in the brief period i have owned this guitar, i have been through the mill regarding tuning issues. it would be convenient to think that this particular instrument is a lemon, except that it is a replacement for the original one purchased in 2005, which ended up getting destroyed by ups, and which had even worse tuning issues.

i have invested a fair amount of money installing kinman pickups in the guitar, then re-installed the original single coils when i added a suhr backplate system.

but the tuning issues remain, and i have not yet found a tech who can resolve them for me.

to sell the guitar at this point would mean a considerable loss. thus, if throwing down another $200 meant resolving the tuning issues, i would end up ahead of the game.

similarly, if $200 represents the difference between a semi-dud and a reliable stage/studio "player", i would happily set up an appointment. 

as another example, i have an aerodyne tele that is "this close" to being a player. it cost me five bills, but another two bills invested in a plek set up would easily make it worth a grand, to me.

-dh


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## Xanadu (Feb 3, 2006)

whats a plek job?


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## SCREEM (Feb 2, 2006)

david henman said:


> ...count me in, and here's why:
> 
> i have a g&l legacy that is my number one. BUT, in the brief period i have owned this guitar, i have been through the mill regarding tuning issues. it would be convenient to think that this particular instrument is a lemon, except that it is a replacement for the original one purchased in 2005, which ended up getting destroyed by ups, and which had even worse tuning issues.
> 
> ...


what kind of tuning issues are you having? floating bridge?....if it aint the nut and the bridge is not floating it's the tuning machines or the neck joint.
I'd gladly take a look at it for you next time your in town, pm if interested...I have been able to tame a few strats so far with tuning issues(for free :wave: ).


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## SCREEM (Feb 2, 2006)

Xanadu said:


> whats a plek job?



it's pretty cool :tongue: 

check it out http://www.frettek.com/html/body_tone_quest_report.html


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## SCREEM (Feb 2, 2006)

sysexguy said:


> I've watched 3 full Plek demos so far, pretty amazing stuff and with Gibson, Heritage and Suhr having machines as well, this is becoming the new standard.
> 
> I know the following:
> 
> ...


I'd have at least 2 guitars done.


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

SCREEM said:


> what kind of tuning issues are you having? floating bridge?....if it aint the nut and the bridge is not floating it's the tuning machines or the neck joint.
> I'd gladly take a look at it for you next time your in town, pm if interested...I have been able to tame a few strats so far with tuning issues(for free :wave: ).


...if only i knew where the problem originates. it is a floating set up, which i haven't touched since it arrived from the factory a couple of months ago. the guitar has sperzel graduated locking tuners, a graph tech nut and no string tree. its quite a mystery.

i have an '87 strat plus with a floating trem that holds its tuning beautifully.

-dh


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## SCREEM (Feb 2, 2006)

david henman said:


> ...if only i knew where the problem originates. it is a floating set up, which i haven't touched since it arrived from the factory a couple of months ago. the guitar has sperzel graduated locking tuners, a graph tech nut and no string tree. its quite a mystery.
> 
> i have an '87 strat plus with a floating trem that holds its tuning beautifully.
> 
> -dh


I suspect the neck joint, it may have one of those microtilt neck adjusters like on my strat, if it does untighten the screw and realy tighten the neck screws after, you may hear some deadly cracking sounds :tongue: but thats just a tight neck pocket or you didn't back of the microtilt completely.

Now that the neck joint is real tight you should not have any tuning issues....but now the action is way high at the 17th fret up :tongue: time to take the neck off and put a ol' school shim....if it ain't that it's mabe the saddles moving, clamping them together with a string will solve that issue(very hard to do)

I have invested many hours into my strat, it is as stable as they come now, I tune my guitar before i go to a jam and take it out of the case and start playing for the rest of the night without even checking if it's tuned. It worthe the effort of doing your ouw setups with the help of the internet, all the tricks are there for free in full detail. the only downside is that you end up feeling like a guitar tech rather than player


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## BrownID (Feb 3, 2006)

sysexguy said:


> I've watched 3 full Plek demos so far, pretty amazing stuff and with Gibson, Heritage and Suhr having machines as well, this is becoming the new standard.
> 
> I know the following:
> 
> ...


I visited Gary Brawer's shop last March and got the "grand tour" of their PLEK machine, how they operate it and the financial considerations involved with the PLEK. As much as I would have liked to have owned the first PLEK machine Canada, it just didn’t make sense.

For a repair/set-up shop, you'd have to enough business to have the machine running essentially 24hrs/day to make it "earn its keep" at the going rate of about $200/set-up. Right now, I don’t think that there are enough people in Canada looking for a PLEK job.

For builders, you'd have to be cranking out some serious volume in order to spread the increased cost/unit out. For small builders, if they can't incorporate a PLEK to the manufacturing process without increasing the cost of their instruments more than ~$200, it's simply not worth it.

The way that I look at the PLEK is that it is just another tool like a CNC machine – actually, the PLEK is a CNC machine! For what it’s worth, I’d rather add a CNC machine for routing and cutting frets than a PLEK for set-ups, since there is more to gain as far as building goes. Ultimately I’d like to have all of my guitars PLEK’d, but until one lands in Canada, I’ll leave it up to others to do the PLEK’ing.


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## sysexguy (Mar 5, 2006)

if you want to see some serious CNC action at a small shop:

http://www.demersguitars.com/pics.htm click on the top left video "Tour of the Demers Custom Guitar Shop"

Andy


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

BrownID said:


> I visited Gary Brawer's shop last March and got the "grand tour" of their PLEK machine, how they operate it and the financial considerations involved with the PLEK. As much as I would have liked to have owned the first PLEK machine Canada, it just didn’t make sense.
> For a repair/set-up shop, you'd have to enough business to have the machine running essentially 24hrs/day to make it "earn its keep" at the going rate of about $200/set-up. Right now, I don’t think that there are enough people in Canada looking for a PLEK job.
> For builders, you'd have to be cranking out some serious volume in order to spread the increased cost/unit out. For small builders, if they can't incorporate a PLEK to the manufacturing process without increasing the cost of their instruments more than ~$200, it's simply not worth it.[/COLOR]


...the obvious canadian candidate for this would be.......robert godin???

-dh


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## elindso (Aug 29, 2006)

2 for sure. Probably four. Strat, tele, BLuesbird and LP

Do they use it for acoustics also?


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## Tybone (Feb 12, 2006)

Krike! Austraila has a Plek in Sydney wonder what the business plan was as they only have 20M people in the country.

BTW I am good for 2 guitars now and 1 later.


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## nine (Apr 23, 2006)

Tybone said:


> Krike! Austraila has a Plek in Sydney wonder what the business plan was as they only have 20M people in the country.


Because they're not right next to a country that has one? :tongue:


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## GuitaristZ (Jan 26, 2007)

buzz feiten tuning system?


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## Tarbender (Apr 7, 2006)

david henman said:


> ...the obvious canadian candidate for this would be.......robert godin???
> 
> -dh


Or possibly Garrison out east...?


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## sysexguy (Mar 5, 2006)

PLEK rules. Try a Suhr!!!! (they ahve 2 machines) or a Heritage or a Gibson VOS! Trouble is, with the current exchange, a full blown machine is nearly $200k Cdn. At the PLEK booth at Messe, they had some really cheap guitars that have been plekked and it's friggin' scary.

Andy


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Give it about 5 years. Why? Just a gut feeling. Why so long? Same reason Yorkville Sound decides not to distribute certain Gibson/Epiphone models that you can get in the U.S. Canadian inferiority complex or something dumb like that.


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## z0z0 (Feb 19, 2009)

Dot on Shaft Woodbridge location is working on getting a PLEK.
They want it but working with the supplier is a PITA.
If all goes well they will have it next year - well that is what I was told.


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## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

Tarbender said:


> Or possibly Garrison out east...?


...especially since Gibson bought them.


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