Robot Guitar Technicians 2008 A.D.

August 24, 2008 10:17 PM

Having always found the process of setting up a guitar slightly intimidating, I am so glad that there's now a robot that can do it for me. Plek is a German-designed system for mechanically adjusting the setup of your guitar. Short video here. I wonder what happens when the robot guitar tech meets the robot guitar?
posted by awfurby (20 comments total)

They will team up and kill you, because they will realize you are no longer necessary.
posted by Mr_Zero at 10:39 PM on August 24, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

I don't see the need for this (as compared with the robot guitar, which is obviously useful to tune during a show). You very rarely set up a guitar; when you buy it, you pay an expert $50 or so to set it up and then forget it for years perhaps unless it's damaged...
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 10:43 PM on August 24, 2008

I used to think the same thing lupus_yonderboy, but lately I've been realizing that guitars can change a lot - frets wear down, wood warps and expands, floating bridges move, string gauges change, playing styles evolve. Also the market for the machine is clearly luthiers who know what they are doing anyway and want to be more precise in their work. And some guitar manufacturers.
posted by awfurby at 10:47 PM on August 24, 2008

They will team up and kill you, because they will realize you are no longer necessary.

Can a robot overlord ever truly be happy without a human to enslave? I think not.
posted by stavrogin at 10:50 PM on August 24, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

This is so cool, I was drooling over this sick guitar, and I wondered what exactly the Plek thing did to the frets.
posted by Mach5 at 10:56 PM on August 24, 2008

I don't see the need for this

I'm pretty much of the opposite point of view here, as is a technician as good as Mike Lull. The Plek provides unprecedented accuracy in fret levelling. The robot guitar strikes me as an unreliable device that will age poorly — although I can't link to the article, it intrigued yet underwhelmed the testers in the Guitar Player review (March 2008). Oh, and MSRP is $3,999 USD.
posted by Wolof at 11:06 PM on August 24, 2008

There the Germans go again, being all efficient and whatnot.
posted by clearly at 11:25 PM on August 24, 2008

This is so cool, I was drooling over this sick guitar, and I wondered what exactly the Plek thing did to the frets.

I second that, that is a sick guitar.
posted by Mr_Zero at 11:34 PM on August 24, 2008

"We were just trying to write songs about prostitutes and lesbians, that's all."
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:33 AM on August 25, 2008

Plek is a German-designed system for mechanically adjusting the setup of your guitar.

It looks more like a system for mechanically adjusting the setup of other people's guitars: a music shop buys one and uses it to set up customers' guitars faster (?) and cheaper (?) and more accurately (?) than having it done at a shop where everything is done by hand, eye, and ear.
posted by pracowity at 1:13 AM on August 25, 2008

Gibson has been using this system in their custom shop for a few years now, and is releasing some of their (non-custom) limited and special edition guitars pre-Plek'd, and from talking to a tech at a guitar shop a little while back, he says they're coming 'off the truck' playing amazing. I would imagine it's not going to be something that every music shop has (yet), but for people who are serious about getting it right, this system takes a lot of the trial and error out of fret dressing and getting things set-up right to start with.
posted by pupdog at 1:16 AM on August 25, 2008

Soon enough...

/ shameless (but surprisingly on topic) self link
posted by Jezztek at 2:02 AM on August 25, 2008

In late August of 2008, a desperate message was received from the top secret lab at Plek Industries....
"Hilfe! Die Roboter haben irgendwie miteinander verkoppelt. Alle Ein- und Ausgänge der Werkstatt sind gesperrt! Es ist nur eine Frage der Zeit, bis sie die restlichen elektronischen Kommunikationsmittel abschalten.

Diese wird wahrscheinlich meine letzte Nachricht sein. Wer diese Nachricht empfängt, muss meiner Familie mitteilen, dass ich sie liebe. Meine Liebe Renate, Du hattest recht. Die handelsüblichen Stimmgeräte waren doch völlig in Ordnung. Mein Streben nach Perfektion hat unsere Liebe und wohlmöglich die Welt zerstört.

Alle Gitarren und Streichinstrumente sind nicht mehr zu vertrauen!

Rettet Euch selbst!"
posted by chillmost at 3:04 AM on August 25, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

It looks more like a system for mechanically adjusting the setup of other people's guitars

Um, yes, that's what I meant.
posted by awfurby at 3:20 AM on August 25, 2008

Yes, but can it string my guitar with telephone cables and tune it down to G to maximize brown sounding?
posted by The Straightener at 5:28 AM on August 25, 2008

They fuck. And make lots and lots of baby robot ukeleles.
posted by Eideteker at 7:51 AM on August 25, 2008

It says 1650 Kroner. Is that for the machine or for one "treatment"?

I mean, $260 to set up a guitar is awful pricey considering that that's 1/3 the cost of the instrument in the first place.
posted by chimaera at 8:55 AM on August 25, 2008

I purchased a new Les Paul Traditional about 2 weeks ago - setup with the Plek. I was quite skeptical at first as well, but I gotta tell you, it plays perfectly. Opened up the case, checked the tuning & that was it. My old 64 Gibson ES-330 which I've always felt played like butter, now feels tired & sloppy in comparison to this thing (though I still love it of course). As far as the Plek machine is concerned, I'm now a believer.
posted by password at 9:10 AM on August 25, 2008

I actually was just having a conversation with a tech earlier about this. The PLEK isn't an automatic robot that does a guitar setup. It's a big tool for an experienced tech to gain more precision in their work. But it allows a good tech to be more exact than they've ever had the chance to be before. Pretty cool, in my mind.
posted by nonreflectiveobject at 11:42 AM on August 25, 2008

Hilfe That was heartbreaking chillmost.
posted by jouke at 1:59 PM on August 25, 2008