Gibson Les Paul Traditional Electric Guitar

Plek set-up is a disappointment

I just tried a Les Paul 'Traditional' and the 2008, Standard Les Paul. I was very interested in trying out and feeling the PLEK engineered neck. Both guitars were a great disappointment as to the PLEK'd fret/neck. The nut on both guitars was higher than any Gibson I had picked up since the 80's (when Gibson churned out the worst guitars in its history). The action was high on both. Even at it's high action all around, there was freting out and dead spots all over the guitar's neck. The frets/action on both felt like the frets had been stuck on and the guitars left the factory as-is without a single test. They felt very sterile and unfinished. How could the nuts have been so high if the computer was so precise? The frets appeared untouched or barely touched. The player side of the necks felt very nice and the asymetrical 2008 Standard felt similar to some of the 50's and early 60's Gibson Les Pauls...almost oval in shape and feel. But for all the promise and my excitement in this new PLEK system for precision fretwork, the necks felt like they left the factory before they were worked in any way..unfinished, incomplete feel. Definitely not ready to play for any player. What a disappointment!

Reviewed by Barry Johnson on 8/11/2008 who plays Rock, blues etc.