Peach Guitars | What is PLEK?

As you’ve probably seen, Peach Guitars are the proud owners of one of the only PLEK machines in the UK. As it goes there are only 4 in the UK and Peach Guitars are currently 1 of only 2 retailers available to offer this service, what a privilege!

PLEK is the culmination of decades of research and experience coming together in one incredible fusion of innovation, engineering and guitar construction mastery. It’s a state of the art, computer aided process that diagnoses faults then levels and dresses frets to the finest microscopic level for optimum playing action with no loss of sustain, minimal fret buzz and a consistent feel across the whole neck.

Created in the 1980’s, by German guitar tech Gerd Anke and toolmaker Michael Dubach, PLEK is the pinnacle of guitar set up, a platform for super accurate set up and fret dressing. Relying on pioneering German engineering thinking and the latest CNC technology, the PLEK takes guitar tech to a whole new level.

Used by the biggest and best guitar manufacturers, including Taylor, Gibson and Suhr, PLEK scans and dresses a guitar under actual playing conditions, strung and tuned to pitch. This is a major breakthrough since the PLEK identifies precisely what needs to be done for perfect fretwork, executes this rapidly, and delivers perfect results on the instrument when restrung.

But how does it work? After an initial assessment by a skilled luthier, your guitar is loaded in the PLEK machine. PLEK will then scan the fingerboard and frets, evaluating string heights, positions and consistencies across the entire neck. During this diagnostic period, PLEK provides a series of detailed graphs and plans to communicate the results and areas for improvement and refinement.

Then the real magic of the PLEK experience occurs, the “Virtual Fret Dress”. This software tool makes it possible to set the amount of fret height to be cut as well as adjusting the radius (making it possible to obtain a compound radius within the frets) as well as the amount of “fall-off” on the upper frets.

Initially, this all happens virtually, meaning that the VFD merely simulates the result of cutting without actually processing the frets.

Frets that are too high or too low can be easily recognised and targeted for virtual correction. This means that when the instrument is actually processed, the amount of fret material to be cut is kept to a minimum.

The machine automatically sets about levelling and dressing the frets for optimum performance and playability. The dressed frets are then polished and your guitar restrung, the level of consistency across the neck is incredible and every note and string will ring clear and true.

PLEK is available as an option on almost all of our stock, you can check by viewing the “Add PLEK” option on each guitar listing. For more info or to discuss your PLEK requirements be sure to get in touch with our team via email - info@peachguitars.com or phone - 01206 765777