The Steel Guitar Forum

Does anyone have any experience with a PLEK booth for guitars?
It's computer driven like a CNC machine and the guitar is hung in a telephone booth type box and it dresses the guitar.
This is a blurb from their website:
"Fundamentally, our whole system is built on helping the player, the builder, the repair tech, to achieve a maximum of quality in terms of setup, fingerboard relief, fretwork"
Here is their website: https://plek.com

I have no personal experience with the process.
I don't know in detail what they do that a good set up tech couldn't also do, but that's veering away from the question.

I only know of one person that has done the PLEK thing.
He is a bass player friend.
He has played for many years and has several other high end basses (Fender custom shop, Lakland, etc).
I trust that he has somewhat developed and refined tastes in what he likes and wants in an instrument.

Several years ago he bought a small independent vendor custom made bass.
Over time, even thought it has all of the features that he wants in terms of woods and hardware and electronics, for whatever reason he never really warmed up to it.
In the last year or so, I think that he ran across another good player, and that guy suggested maybe trying the PLEK route.
He went for it.

Verdict? He said that it made a bass that was so-so and one that he was considering selling, into a bass that is now one of his favorites.

I recently moved to Vermont Instruments ( http://www.vermontinstruments.com ), a luthier school, and remembered PLEK.
This is George Morris and his student working on a guitar:

Although the PLEK thing involves creativity and design, along with the programming, it is also replacing much of the craftsmanship and skills gathered by some over a lifetime, like in many other fields.

PLEK essentially optimizes the instrument that is put in it to its optimal performance by measuring certain key aspects that are unique to each individual instrument. Genius stuff.

It pays to be a computer screen operator.
Pretty amazing, the PLEK tech.

Lakland here in Chicago has a PLEK machine for their basses. Last I heard though they use it mainly for their import Skyline instruments. For their American instruments I think they still do manual fretwork. Neck and fretwork are one of the Lakland hallmarks.

Skyline basses are quite impressive (not bargain priced) and that Lakland trusts them to the PLEK machine says alot to me about the PLEK quality.

It's a pretty impressive bit of kit.

I have a G&L ASAT that came from the factory PLEKed. It was pretty good. Then I had my friend Ross Jennings (one of the best luthiers in the area, now retired) do a setup on it. It was WAY better. The difference was remarkable. A good craftsman still beats modern technology.

--Al Evans

I have a few factory guitars that came with plek jobs. My take on plek machines is that they do a good job on fret finishing, and are a good substitute when top-skilled luthiers are not available for factory final fretwork.

However, I also have had a couple of those guitars gone over by a very good luthier, and the difference was noticeable.

Again - that said, well done plek jobs I've played gave good, consistent feeling necks. And definitely better than those done by a marginal or mediocre builder or repair person. My opinions, of course.

Dave is accurate in his post.

Retired from Gibson Custom. Worked many years without Plek,and worked many years with Plek.Hands down,Plek is awesome.Takes the guesswork away. Plek is the only way to go if its available in your area.