The Plek Machine

Joe Glaser introduced Dan to the Plek machine, and its inventors/developers, Gerd Anke and Michel Dubach, at a music trade show in 2001. There Gerd and Michel demonstrated their machine to the American market for the first time. "One glimpse and I realized I was looking at the greatest fretting tool I could ever dream of — and certainly the Neck Jig of the future," Dan says.

Gerd Anke, Joe Glaser, Michel Dubach at Plek headquarters in Berlin, Germany — 2010.

What is a Neck Jig?

In 1973 Dan built the prototype of what would become The Erlewine Neck Jig — a tool that held a guitar body stationary, with the neck supported, so that when the strings were removed the neck remained under simulated string-tension for fretwork. Whether performing a complete refret or a simple level and dress, the jig brought a new level of accuracy to his fretwork. The Neck Jig has gone through many changes over the years. Today the version manufactured by Stewart-MacDonald is used not only in Dan’s shop but in thousands of shops around the world.

That first Neck Jig was simple: a maple-reinforced work board with plastic-capped neck support rods to clamp a guitar onto.

The first Neck Jig (1973).

With the first Neck Jig, Dan would clamp a guitar onto the jig with bar-clamps and set it on any free bench top for working.

By 1975 the Neck Jig was free-standing.

Neck Jig number two was free-standing.

In 1984 the Neck Jig became a full-size, heavy-duty, hard maple workbench with T-slots to accept body hold-down clamps. It also featured an important addition: a tilting table top for putting a guitar in the “playing position” — eliminating gravity and the weight of the neck as a factor in the fretboard’s configuration.

In 1986 Dan moved to Athens, Ohio, and began working at Stewart-MacDonald, where Stew-Mac took over production of the Neck-Jig, calling it the Luthier’s Workstation. The first version had hold-down T-slots end-to-end.

In 1988 the T-slots were replaced with slots routed into the 3" thick sugar-pine table top on both sides — in a pinch you could have a guitar clamped on one side while working on the other. Because it was simply too expensive to produce at a marketable price, the Luthier’s Workstation was discontinued in 1990.

Neck-Jig number five (1988).

In 1999 Stew-Mac reintroduced the Neck Jig, but not as a luxury workbench — instead it was a lightweight, accurate and affordable tool. Clamped into a tilting machinist’s vise, it could be tilted into the “playing position”, and it could be hung on the wall when not in use. Stew-Mac called it The Erlewine Neck Jig, and it is the version still produced today (with continued improvements).

Neck-Jig number six (1999-present).

Neck-Jig number six in action.

In the fall of 2000, Dan and Elliot mounted Neck Jig #6 on a swivel so that in addition to tilting the jig, they could rotate it as well. This put a guitar into the true “playing position” (i.e., with neck slanted upward, not just parallel to the floor) — and hopefully eliminating even more of gravity’s effect on a neck. The results weren’t vastly different from the normal 90° tilt so they didn’t pursue the idea, but the point is that they tried it and are always looking for a better way.

Two months later Dan saw the first Plek machine demo in the U.S. at the winter NAMM music trade show in Los Angeles. "Now there were some guys who truly tried everything!" said Dan. It was over six years, however, before Dan had a Plek Station in his shop.

June 2008. Joe Glaser setting up the new Plek machine!!!

Back to the Future: What is a Plek Machine?

The Plek machine is much more than a neck jig — it’s a CNC (computer numerical controlled), extremely high-precision milling machine that not only holds the guitar in the perfect position for fretwork, it tells the operator what fretwork is needed, and then does the work!

Straight Neck or Relief

The Plek engineers developed software to create "compensated relief". Put simply, the Plek can level relief into frets, giving more relief on the bass side than the treble to allow for the wider vibration path of the bass strings. Our Plek machine is programmed to do both the Plek relief or a traditional straight-neck level and dress. Straight neck vs. relief is the player’s preference, so we offer both options.

There are several Plek versions and sizes, but they’re all aluminum-framed, glass-walled “rooms” with a high-speed milling machine that travels up and down vertically on the rear wall and a front door equipped with a body cradle and neck support system for holding a guitar. The Plek accepts both electric and acoustic guitars of any size or shape.

The Plek Scan

With the guitar under string tension and adequately set up, the operator opens the front door, fastens the guitar into the body cradle, and adjusts the peghead and neck supports before closing the door and locking it.

Plek’s CNC-controlled stylus probes each fret along each string line while noting the relief of the neck and fretboard created by the string tension.

The computer stores this information for future use, and creates a “String Graphic,” which is a 3-D graph of the fretboard surface, the fret height, and the position and height of the strings.

The graph shows the operator where fretboard buzz occurs because of frets being too high or too low, and indicates how much metal must be removed from a given fret to produce optimum playability with minimal fret buzzing. (At this time, the Plek will usually recommend that the operator adjust the truss rod to get the fretboard relief as close as possible to the relief of a “Plek setup.”)

The Virtual Fretboard

After studying the computer graph, the operator selects the correct fretboard radius and the amount of fretboard relief (and fall-away in the upper frets) needed to best suit the instrument and the player’s style. Then the computer creates a second graph — a “Virtual Fret Dress” graph, which allows the operator to compare the height of each fret before leveling to how they will look after the Plek levels them.

Once the operator approves the fretboard relief and action setup shown by the graph, the computer generates a tool path for the cutter to level and dress the frets in real time (and it never gets hand cramps, wrist pain or develops carpel tunnel syndrome)! 

Processing

When all the parameters for processing are set, the Plek operator takes off the strings and starts the fret dressing procedure. The cutter teeth have three radii — narrow, medium and wide.

A new nut can be CNC-cut as well if the process is selected (the nut slotting cutter is mounted on the top of the milling machine head).

Nut-cutting spindle.

Plek'd!

When the fret dressing process is complete, the instrument is re-strung and tuned to pitch. Then a  final scan is run to see if the result corresponds with the set specifications (before the process ends with the frets being hand polished to a high gloss finish). 

NOTE: It’s important to note that in many situations the operator will need to make objective decisions and adjustments based on the player’s style, the way a given neck adjusts, and fret wear in order to custom set the machine’s tolerances to achieve the desired result. So it’s fair to assume that all things being equal, the operator with the most fretting experience, the most patience, and an eye for detail will get the best results from the machine. The Plek machine alone does not guarantee perfect fretwork: like the neck jig, or even a simple fret file, it’s just a tool and is only as good as the operator. So, choose a repair tech whose reputation, skill and manner of doing business give you the most confidence.

Pricing

For Plek-dressing, refretting, and related repair work prices see Guitar Repair Services.