Quality of Warmoth factory fret work~ say that 5 times fast

[Tony Ounsworth]

Got my guitar back from being Plek'd.

It's weird because what I've got now is the total absence of any issues whatsoever. So it just plays perfectly. The main difference is that the action is perfect now at the nut, so no more cowboy chords going sharp. There was a little scraping on bends at the 10th fret before, which I think suggested a slightly high fret, and that's now gone. No buzz anywhere, and a lower action than I'm perhaps used to. Bends still feel manageable though. Feels like a very fast neck now, especially playing legato phrases, but barre chords also feel much easier.

In normal E tuning I've always used 9-46 strings. I'm playing in Eb now, so using a weird mixed gauge of 10-48. I'd been combining two packs of Ernie Balls, but the shop put a pack of Pyramids on it. They seem to be the only people who do that gauge. Anyway, they're rather nice. They don't feel flatwound exactly, but they do somehow feel played in. Less raw feeling than a new set of Ernie Balls.

I'm sure all of the above just sounds like any decent setup, but I feel like I've got the best setup the guitar could get. I'd definitely do it again.

 

[stubhead]

I'm like the poster child for "Save on tools = more money for guitars" but I know it's sort of an obsession, fueled by my amazement at some of the things out there. If I was working in a guitar production environment where time really does equal money, I'd have a lot more specific stuff... but I'd still be substituting and/or making 'em myself. You can just search eBay for "hand vise" and all these nifty little nut-holders show up:




dat 2nd one be MINE :toothy12:

These things fall right in the category of "gunsmith" and "jewelry" tools that cost 1/2 to 2/3 as much as "guitar" tools...  :laughing7:

I'd say I'm now doing 99% of my nutwork off the guitar - combine a little vise with the "magic sheets of plastic lifting the strings at full tension" trick - and some rudimentary skills with a .05" pencil - there's really no reason to ever threaten your $400 board with a mean ol'
SHARP METAL THINGIE  of any sort.

Whether the time wasted putting the nut in, and taking it out to file upon, and putting the nut in, and taking it out to file upon, and putting the nut in, and taking it out to file upon, and putting the nut in, and taking it out to file upon, and putting the nut in, and taking it out to file upon is greater than the time wasted using  SHARP METAL THINGIES really, really pissy-wissy gingerly around $400 pieces of wood instead of just wailing away on your nuts away from the neck, knowing that nothing truly horrible (AKA expensive) can happen - one can only find out by experimenting, no? Just buy five plain boners from Warmoth every order, #NBFB's, $3.75, until you don't need to buy five at a time anymore. I play lots of slide, so my guitars mostly get a playing nut, a high-slide nut, and a tweener... except by now I have a box of 'em, I hardly have to make any more.  :hello2:

(Page 3, 4th post or thereabouts for magic slipper plastic full-tension trick):
http://unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=23035.msg340216#msg340216