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Just picked up my CIJ JM from the local PLEK workshop....

It's not exactly cheap but it sure makes for a sweet playing guitar ... Medium action 011s and zero buzz. Just a very solid feel.

While they were at it I had them install a treble bleed cap+resistor on the volume which also made the volume control usable, even very useful!

Happiness truly is a well adjusted guitar!

Harald

Lol. How much did this cost?

Its good to have a 'professional' set up a guitar, but i would put a price cap on that. i would rather do 70% as good and save 40 bucks

I played a plek setup '62 les paul (sg style) and it was awesome.

The equivalent of USD 200...

On my number one guitar I even had them pull the old frets, reprofile the fretboard to a 7,25 - 9 inch compound radius and install stainless steel frets AND PLEK... that cost even more of course

But my philosophy is to pay less when I buy my the guitars and invest in setup (doing some stuff myself and paying others to do what I cannot do or don't feel like doing).

All my guitars are MIJ/CIJ, bought second hand, sound really sweet and play like butter In the end I believe I end up with a pretty good price/performance ratio anyway.

Overall I think having your stuff (cars, bikes, guitars, whatever) adjusted/tuned by professionals is totally underrated.

Harald

How do you like the stainless steel frets? I've heard some people say they were too bright sounding, but I liked the feel of them on a couple Parkers I tried.

DuoSonicBoy wrote:How do you like the stainless steel frets? I've heard some people say they were too bright sounding, but I liked the feel of them on a couple Parkers I tried.

I am really happy with 'em. They are slick when you bend, but the best thing is knowing that the PLEK treatment I paid dearly for will be pretty permanent since fret wear is negligable.

I haven't experienced a big difference in the tone, but really, how can one compare the new sound with the old when it's two weeks between the listening sessions...? I guess if the difference was really big you would notice. I don't.

Harald

My old teacher had a custom tele with stainless frets. He was getting a refret every 2 years on his strat (plays a lot), but the tele's frets are still perfect 6 years out.

I think they're what I'll be getting when I eventually need a refret.

hwestman wrote:The equivalent of USD 200...

On my number one guitar I even had them pull the old frets, reprofile the fretboard to a 7,25 - 9 inch compound radius and install stainless steel frets AND PLEK... that cost even more of course

But my philosophy is to pay less when I buy my the guitars and invest in setup (doing some stuff myself and paying others to do what I cannot do or don't feel like doing).

All my guitars are MIJ/CIJ, bought second hand, sound really sweet and play like butter In the end I believe I end up with a pretty good price/performance ratio anyway.

Overall I think having your stuff (cars, bikes, guitars, whatever) adjusted/tuned by professionals is totally underrated.

Harald

Thats a fair outlook. $200 seems ridiculous initially but you are totally right, it also makes me realise i under sell myself. I do set ups including rewires for a fraction of that cost, albeit i dont touch refrets. In fact, having said that the refret is possibly 80% of your bill.

Fran wrote:

hwestman wrote:The equivalent of USD 200...

On my number one guitar I even had them pull the old frets, reprofile the fretboard to a 7,25 - 9 inch compound radius and install stainless steel frets AND PLEK... that cost even more of course

But my philosophy is to pay less when I buy my the guitars and invest in setup (doing some stuff myself and paying others to do what I cannot do or don't feel like doing).

All my guitars are MIJ/CIJ, bought second hand, sound really sweet and play like butter In the end I believe I end up with a pretty good price/performance ratio anyway.

Overall I think having your stuff (cars, bikes, guitars, whatever) adjusted/tuned by professionals is totally underrated.

Harald

Thats a fair outlook. $200 seems ridiculous initially but you are totally right, it also makes me realise i under sell myself. I do set ups including rewires for a fraction of that cost, albeit i dont touch refrets. In fact, having said that the refret is possibly 80% of your bill.

The USD 200 did not include a refret. That was just the PLEK... But then again, the machine costs something like USD 80 000,- ... so I guess they'll have to do a lot of jobs to recoup that...

christ, i'd sooner buy a new guitar for that much.

i find messing around with a guitar's setup quite therapeutic. it took me an evening of messing about with the mustang before settling on the action, intonation and height of the trem bar (and figuring out the trem since i'm a complete moron).

stick on an album, get out some screwdrivers allen keys and a tuner and get stuck it.

Reece wrote:christ, i'd sooner buy a new guitar for that much.

i find messing around with a guitar's setup quite therapeutic. it took me an evening of messing about with the mustang before settling on the action, intonation and height of the trem bar (and figuring out the trem since i'm a complete moron).

stick on an album, get out some screwdrivers allen keys and a tuner and get stuck it.

Aye. It strikes me as a bit like paying someone else to take care of all the talking in your marriage, and leaving you with just the sex.

Reece wrote:christ, i'd sooner buy a new guitar for that much.

i find messing around with a guitar's setup quite therapeutic. it took me an evening of messing about with the mustang before settling on the action, intonation and height of the trem bar (and figuring out the trem since i'm a complete moron).

stick on an album, get out some screwdrivers allen keys and a tuner and get stuck it.

... the screwdriver, allen key and tuner parts I am very comfortable with (and I agree, they are therapeutic)... but levelling frets with extreme precision (including falloff and compound radius)...is way out of my league...

BacchusPaul wrote:

Reece wrote:christ, i'd sooner buy a new guitar for that much.

i find messing around with a guitar's setup quite therapeutic. it took me an evening of messing about with the mustang before settling on the action, intonation and height of the trem bar (and figuring out the trem since i'm a complete moron).

stick on an album, get out some screwdrivers allen keys and a tuner and get stuck it.

Aye. It strikes me as a bit like paying someone else to take care of all the talking in your marriage, and leaving you with just the sex.

...or like having a pilot fly the 737 your on? Or having a mechanic work on your car? Or like having a plumber install water and heating?

Your'e probably a great guy buy that post was pretty patronizing and stupid...

Sorry 'bout that. Flying a 747 is out of my league. Setting my guitar up the way I want it isn't.

Having said that, I've never had a guitar set up professionally before, so I wouldn't really know the benefits. I once got a luthier friend to set up a LTD for me, but that was only because it was a ridiculous setup I was using, and he didn't really set it up, more render it playable.

No offense taken

hwestman wrote:

Reece wrote:christ, i'd sooner buy a new guitar for that much.

i find messing around with a guitar's setup quite therapeutic. it took me an evening of messing about with the mustang before settling on the action, intonation and height of the trem bar (and figuring out the trem since i'm a complete moron).

stick on an album, get out some screwdrivers allen keys and a tuner and get stuck it.

... the screwdriver, allen key and tuner parts I am very comfortable with (and I agree, they are therapeutic)... but levelling frets with extreme precision (including falloff and compound radius)...is way out of my league...

i didn't know this included fret levelling.

fret levelling makes sense, i'm gonna have to get it done soon since i've got fretting out problems that a setup won't fix.

Reece wrote: christ, i'd sooner buy a new guitar for that much.

You really wouldn't if you think about it. He's got a nice guitar and wants a swanky set-up on it, not to chuck the whole thing in the can and buy a Squier or something.

paul_ wrote:

Reece wrote: christ, i'd sooner buy a new guitar for that much.

You really wouldn't if you think about it. He's got a nice guitar and wants a swanky set-up on it, not to chuck the whole thing in the can and buy a Squier or something.

that's not what i meant.

Had my first rehearsal after the summer yesterday.... The guitar was SWEEEEEET!

Playing soul/funk on the JM was a very rewarding experience but thank God for RWRP. Otherwise overdriven leads would have been out of the question.

H