Bumping this one, if I may...

I have a '91 Strat ultra that has been played fairly consistently since '92. The only evidence that it has been well used is in the fret wear... I didn't notice how low they were getting until I bought a new guitar recently. When I picked up my ultra the other week I could feel sharp edges on the frets when I slid along the strings -- some of the more worn ones are keen enough to give something like a paper cut! Owww.

Although they are low, there appears to be just enough to work with to recrown them. Problem is, I have no experience with that procedure. I've looked around, and although I'm far from the most practical guy you'll meet I do have a steady hand and plenty of patience. I feel like it's the sort of thing I should be able to do myself... but I'd feel pretty stupid if I managed to stuff it up. Plus, with three kids in a smallish place I can't see myself finding the time and space to perform this operation.

So... enter the PLEK machine just down the road from me at the Sydney chapter of that L.A. place mentioned earlier (unless there are a few others -- they do have an L.A. branch, though). I asked them if the Wilkinson roller nut would present any problems and they assured me it would be fine... they told me that as long as I have half a millimeter left of fret height the machine should handle it. Near as I can judge, there's room to work with. It's AUD$179 for the plek plus new strings (that's USD$120)... either prices are coming down or it's just a good deal going by what others have said here.

Should I do it..? Or will I be less of a man for failing to file my own frets? heh. As you can tell, I'm doing a fairly good job of talking myself into it... I am interested in the current thinking on the topic, though.

I'd do it in a heartbeat. Who wouldn't want a perfect fret job?

"Oh, no, thanks, I prefer my guitar to be imperfect, it's more 'human' that way..."

If any of my guitars needed a fret leveling and there was a PLEK machine down the road, I'd be right there, expense be hanged.

Hi mondo: fret work is something that is achievable yourself - with plenty of information, time and practice. I wouldn't let my first attempt be on a nice Strat Ultra.

Given the option, Plek that babe...

Meantime: pick up a copy of Fretwork: Step by Step, by the ubiquitous Dan Erlewine. A whole lot cheaper than the tools you are going to need when you've finished reading it...:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Books,_plan ... _Step.html

Good luck - C

Im figuring getting frets Plek'd will only serve a purpose if you keep the neck at a constant straitness, plu if you change string gauge it would kind of negate the whole plek thing. I know that Gibson does plek all their Les Paul Standards and Traditionals, but it says on their product description that this makes the frets perfect according to string gauge and action. My only question is, what if you dont want to use the string gauge they had them plek'd for?? It doesnt seem that they do it custom for every guitar, its just what they do before they ship them to stores.

While not all new things are good, most are. This seems like one of those things that people who havent had it done think its unnecessary, but im sure if you did, you'd see what the fuss is about.

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Human error is all very well in some situations, but if I can largely remove it from guitar setups I, for one, will welcome our new computer numerically controlled overlords.

The string gauge business doesn't bother me particularly as I've used the same ones for over twenty years now. My only concern was with the Wilkinson roller nut, where I wasn't sure whether it fit into the standard category or if it'd tip me over into $249 Kahler territory. The guy in the shop said that the little ball bearings inside the later LSR nuts tend to fall out, but possibly he was just reassuring me that my old guitar wasn't completely outmoded. On the whole, though, they seemed less given to posturing than the staff at many other places... If I get it done and just can't contain my amazement, I'll be sure to post..!

I have never heard or read about it in any of the guitar mags,Thanks for bringing this up as it sounds great,I will be looking into it in the NY area and post what I find out

Well, as promised I am reviving this thread on account of the fact that I actually got my act together and put my ultra in for the Plek treatment.

Not much to say, really, except do it if it's at all feasible for you! My guitar is now in the best shape it's ever been... probably as playable as it's possible for it to be. Apart from the frets wearing down and causing slight intonation problems, I had a few minor issues such as an intermittent buzz on the high E string (turned out the first fret was a little high on that side) and other tiny niggles that I had accommodated over the years, a bit like the way I never notice that I need to change the prescription for my glasses until the optometrist tries out some new lenses on me. My frets now have a perfectly semicircular profile which I never could have achieved myself, and neck relief is 100% as it should be. The only shortcoming is that now everything else is perfect, I notice the absence of hand-rolled edges on my frets (not something that would have been on offer in '91, except from the Custom Shop... maybe that's still the case).

If it's worth it to you to spend a little extra to save many hours of work (which in my case would have yielded an unacceptable result anyway), go for the Plek.

Come on Ceri or Martian,
Fill us amatuers in on the plekd machine. What does it do?

Okay I found a video on youtube. It is a machine that maps the fretboard and frets, and will true every fret, and cut perfectly calibrated nuts. All while simulated string tension is applied. Very very cool.

I love that you think I could tell you - thank you! Their website explains it better than I possibly could.

So c'mon, mondo: the painful bit. How much did it cost you?

Cheers - C

Ah, sorry, I forgot that I hadn't mentioned that bit — I thought it was in an earlier post, and the price was the same as quoted back in April or whenever it was. It was AUD $179 for a standard guitar, which comes to £92 or USD $150 at today's rates. It's the only money I've spent on that guitar in 18 years (apart from strings), so it was well worth it to me. It had been languishing for a little while, but now it's completely revitalised — I lugged it into work today to play at lunchtime, but forgot how sore my fingers get with those heavy ultra roadcases. If you're more diligent with guitar upkeep than I, the difference may not seem so dramatic and the price a little steep... but for me... couldn't be happier!

£90 is what chandlers were quoting a couple of years ago.

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Is plek setup on a bolt on neck guitars beneficial? Bolt on necks can shift and would throw off the plek setup would it not? I can see a plek setup much more beneficial on a glued on neck as it would be more secure from neck shifting.

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http://www.youtube.com/user/gmlasam

Quite possibly... perhaps the benefits would last longer on a set-neck guitar. However, as the main issue for me was the state of the frets, I'm satisfied with any process that can reshape them consistently. Even if I'd mastered the art of crowning frets, I'm sure I would have become bored and neglected the upper reaches that seldom see much wear, causing problems later. As long as there's still 0.5 mm of fret wire above the surface of the fretboard on the most worn spots of the neck they can all be reshaped. I'm tempted to take my CS guitar in, now, to see if it can get better than it already is — I hadn't previously thought that possible...