Plek Your New Guitar
for Maximum Playability
Precise Evaluation:
After installing your preferred set of strings, our Plek Pro machine scans your guitar's fingerboard and frets, meticulously assessing string positions and heights along the entire neck.
Automated Precision:
The Plek machine works its magic, automatically leveling and dressing the frets to perfection, resulting in maximum playability and consistent, clear tones at every note and position.
Expertly Crafted:
With the frets dressed and polished to perfection, your guitar receives an ideal fret job as if it were meticulously handled by a seasoned luthier, delivering unrivaled playability and unblemished tone.
The Plek process is the Holy Grail of guitar set ups. Out of the box my guitar played better than anything I've ever played. Perfect intonation and action, and no buzz or rattle. The best investment you can make in a guitar! Money well spent!
George S.
Find Your Next Guitar
Electric Guitars
What Is Plek?
Back in the mid-'80s, a German guitar tech named Gerd Anke joined forces with Michael Dubach, a toolmaker, to bring a dream to life: developing an automated, super-accurate process for setting up guitars and dressing frets. Utilizing sophisticated German engineering practices and attention to detail, along with the latest, state-of-the-art German-crafted computer-driven CNC technology, they designed and built machines that take the luthier's craft to an entirely new level. They called their process "Plek." Today, 30 years later, their Plek machines are the pinnacle in automated instrument setup and are used by industry-leading manufacturers such as Gibson and Taylor - manufacturers who are known for the care and attention they devote to optimizing every single instrument they produce. And now, you can have this same process applied to your new guitar when you purchase it through Sweetwater.
How Does Plek Work?
A Plek machine works in the same fashion as a highly skilled luthier with decades of experience. After a fresh set of strings is installed - using your choice of brand, type, and gauge - your guitar's truss rod/neck relief is adjusted optimally. Your guitar is loaded into the Plek Pro machine, which scans the guitar's fingerboard and frets, evaluating the string positions and heights along the entire length of the neck. Then the Plek machine goes to work, automatically leveling and dressing the frets for maximum playability. The dressed frets are polished, and a fresh set of guitar strings is installed, resulting in a guitar that has an ideal fret job, as if it had been fussed and labored over by an expert luthier until every note, every position, and every fret is consistent and rings loud and clear with unblemished tone.
Standard Plek Pro Setup Includes:
Setting your truss rod and fine-tuning neck relief
Installing your preferred brand and gauge of strings (strings are purchased separately)
Scanning your fretboard into the machine and recording the measurements
Setting the action to optimum height
Precision machining your frets for the best playing experience
Polishing your frets to a high shine
Cutting nut slots for better action and tuning stability (if optional nut ordered)
Should I Plek My New Guitar?
The big question is: if you're purchasing a brand-new guitar, will it really benefit from being Plek'd? In almost all cases, the answer is a resounding "Yes!" Unless a guitar comes from the manufacturer already Plek'd, nearly all guitars will see a dramatic improvement in setup and playability after undergoing the Plek process at Sweetwater.
Call your Sales Engineer at (800) 222-4700
Should I Upgrade My Guitar's Nut?
Sweetwater's Plek Pro machine can also optimize your new guitar's nut, ensuring that the instrument will perform at its best from open string to the last fret. In most cases, upgrading the nut will also improve your instrument compared to its "stock" nut. We offer bleached and unbleached bone nuts as well as Graph Tech TUSQ and TUSQ XL as options for your guitar. Your Sweetwater Sales Engineer can help you determine which type will be best for your needs and choose the color of your replacement nut to best complement your guitar's finish.
Call your Sales Engineer at (800) 222-4700
Maximize Your Guitar's
Performance and Playability
As guitar players, it's our dream to open the case, pick up our new guitar, strum the first chord, play the first lick, and experience an instrument that plays and sounds its best right out of the box. We love when every note rings clear with maximum tone and sustains cleanly with minimal buzz or rattle, and notes aren't choked when bending anywhere on the fretboard. When you choose the Sweetwater Plek Pro setup for your new guitar, this dream becomes a reality. Call your Sales Engineer at (800) 222-4700 for more information!
Expertise and Experience
At Sweetwater, we use the Plek Pro machine — the state-of-the-art, flagship version of the Plek machine — because your guitar deserves the very best setup possible. Our twelve in-house Plek Pro luthiers have been personally trained on-site here at Sweetwater by Plek/A+D Gitarrentechnologie's Nick Glockner. Our certified Sweetwater Plek Pro technicians have performed more Plek Pro setups than any other US retailer. This means that your new guitar will be handled and Plek'd by the best in the business, by luthiers with the experience and expertise to ensure that your instrument will be the best it can possibly be. Our commitment is to treat your guitar with the same loving attention as we lavish on our own instruments — you're getting the very best possible Plek setup available anywhere.
