Plek Technology -- The Ultimate Guitar Setup

Deriving its name from the word plectrum, the Plek machine is revolutionizing the way guitar setups are traditionally done. The brainchild of German inventor Gerd Anke, the Plek still relies on trussrod adjustments to be done by hand, but once that is accomplished -- watch out!  The Plek machine takes over with unerring accuracy; measuring, grinding and crowning each fret to 1/100th of a mm.  That's a fraction of a millimetre folks. 

If the map of Plek users in the video (1:29) is anything to go by, it appears that there are already a considerable number of Plek machines earning their keep throughout the US, with some guitar manufacturers owning several:

Martin Guitars (Nazareth) -- 13
Heritage Guitars (Kalamazoo) -- 12
Wechter (Paw Paw) -- 6
G & L Guitars (Fullerton) -- 3
Gibson (Nashville) -- 10
Suhr Guitars (Lake Elsinore) -- 4

Suhr Guitars puts their four Plek's to good use even on their imported Rasmus guitar line.  And other than guitar manufacturers, a number of repair shops have also purchased Plek machines of their own.

See the Plek in action in this video starting at 2:26.

Joe Satriani and Living Colour at Experience Hendrix 2010!

For those of us who couldn't be there, here's a vid of Joe Satriani and Living Colour burning it up on Foxy Lady at Experience Hendrix 2010!

Satch is in fine form here, eliciting some Hendrix-approved tones from his custom three single-coiled, maple-neck Ibanez.  Nice color too.  Let me guess -- Neptune Blue? 

IKEA Butcher Block Guitar by Zachary Guitars

Country superstar Brad Paisley allegedly once said, "a Tele is nothing more than a cutting board, a baseball bat and strings".  

And stepping up to the plate to meet that challenge is Zachary Custom Guitars with this Ikea SPÅR butcher block Tele-style guitar.  

Once this gets out, Ikea could become the next Stewart-MacDonald for those on a shoe-string guitar-building budget. 

Also check out my earlier article on the Bambusa solidbody for a guitar that unintentionally looks like a chopping board.

(Pic Source: www.zacharyguitars.com)

(Guitar parts and accessories resource:  www.stewmac.com)

Tyler Studio Elite HD with Spalted Maple Top on eBay!

According to the seller this guitar was the first Tyler built in 2010 and bears serial number 10001. 

This 7.3lb Honeyburst beauty features a spalted bent maple top on a mahogany body, multi-layer white/black binding, white pearloid pickguard and a maple neck with an Indian rosewood fingerboard.  Check out the peghead pic for a close look at Tyler's 'rolled' fingerboard edge at the first fret next to the low E! 

Pickups are a pair of JT S2 Hot Laura single-coils and a Tyler Studebaker humbucker in the bridge. 

Electronics are classic Tyler -- single volume and tone controls, 5-way switch and a Demeter mid-boost preamp with on/off button switch which is great for kicking in on leads.  The Demeter mid-boost also manages to fatten out single-coil pickups to the point that they almost sound like full humbuckers.  

Hardware includes locking HipShot tuners and a G2RV bridge with Raw Vintage saddles which replicate the heavier high-mass steel Fender saddles of old.

eBay Item #: 230445643794

Vibesware Guitar Resonator And Infinite Sustainer

I remember reading an article about the inventor of the Ebow in a British magazine back in the late '70s. And it wasn't a guitar magazine either -- the following page featured an article about the dying art of English blood pudding making.

But there it was in all its shiny chrome glory.  The first device of its kind to offer the possibility of infinite sustain on the guitar by generating an oscillating magnetic field to keep the strings moving.  The Ebow, not the blood pudding, intrigued me no end.

The Vibesware Guitar Resonator is the new generation of harmonic feedback generators but it works along the same lines as the Ebow.  But rather than having to hold a device against the strings (while hoping for the best), the Guitar Resonator is mounted to an adjustable gooseneck stand.  The player simply steps up to it, aligns the blue LED on the strings and voilà -- infinite sustain. 

The Guitar Resonator includes a variable power control with which the player can adjust the sensitivity of the device.  And since it draws its juice from its own independent power supply, the GR can really make those strings vibrate.

(http://www.vibesware.com/)

And I still don't quite know what to make of blood pudding.

PRS Guitarbud Interface For iPhone and iPod

As iPhones take over the world, their software applications proliferating like bugs under a log, bringing us ever closer to some grim unforseeable eventuality, guitarists everywhere are enduring solder burns and frustrating trips to Radio Shack looking to solve a single dilemma -- how on earth to connect their guitars to their iPhones so they can take advantage of all these cool new apps..

Trust PRS to come up with this handy little must-have.

The 6-foot long Guitarbud by PRS Cables enables a guitar's 1/4" output to connect directly to the 3.5mm input of an iPhone or second-generation iPod. 

For monitoring purposes a female 3.5mm connector acts as a headphone output, an essential if you're going to be plugging into iPhone apps like PRS Jam Amp, StompVox, Riff Raters, GigDaddy, Rectools Pro, Guitar FX Deluxe or even Voice Memos.


www.prscables.com/guitarbud

NAMM 2010 Suhr Modern with Scalloped Fingerboard on eBay!

This Suhr Modern from NAMM 2010 is a throwback to the guitar fashion trends of the late '80s.  (Item #: 280460221922)

The metallic pearl pink paint job, Floyd Rose, pointy headstock and those dual humbuckers would go together perfectly with striped spandex pants and high-cut tennis shoes.   Don't we all long for the good ol' days when MTV videos looked like they were shot by film school dropouts and bands actually managed to sell warehouse loads of records?

But back to the guitar. 

I found it interesting that basswood was the body wood of choice on this axe -- a staple on Ibanez's shred guitars for decades.  Basswood is a softer wood that helps to temper the shrill metallic, top-end frequencies of Floyd Rose bridges.  The addition of a maple top tightens up the top-end a little and also provides a more stable anchor for the Gotoh Floyd's bridge stud mounts.

And what about that 24-fret scalloped maple fingerboard with a compound radius no less?  Dare I say -- pure CNC perfection!

Jumbo stainless steel frets, Sperzel locking tuners (kind of redundant in this case, except that they don't need any winding around the string posts), 5-way switch, single volume and tone, and Suhr Doug Aldrich signature humbuckers make this piece of guitar eye-candy a functioning instrument.

The icing and the cherry on this cake is the Suhr logo inlaid in abalone and the laser-etched wood Certificate of Authenticity.

The Suhr guitars booth at this year's NAMM show surely wins my vote for most imaginative variations on a single theme. Ok, never mind that I wasn't actually there. But maybe next year..

Pat Martino's Sakashta Guitar On eBay!

This is an eBay listing for Pat Martino's personal Sakashta guitar!  (Item #:  150417649967)

According to the seller this guitar was specially built and presented to Pat by the late guitar maker Taku Sakashta in Japan, presumably before the latter's fateful move to the US. 

This guitar is Sakashta's R-Style New York model.  The R-models feature a unique body construction -- the backs and sides are hand-carved out of a solid piece of wood with an X-braced top added. 

This 'hollowed-out solidbody' construction facilitates more modern playing styles and amplified tones, resisting feedback at higher volumes, unlike a full-bodied archtop, while retaining some of the acoustic properties of a hollow instrument.

The hand-carved sides are beautifully rounded and flow seamlessly into the top, eliminating any square-edges on the body. I can only imagine what holding this guitar feels like! 

Dubbed the 'Black Jack' this guitar was apparently purchased from Pat along with several of his other personal instruments when he started his endorsement with Gibson guitars.

As always do the necessary research before committing!