ENGLISH 22
Truss rod
There is probably no wood material that can hold about 6 kilos of tension from each string in a guitar’s lifetime without
any damage. Here’s where the help of an inconspicuous element comes into play, assisting in not only the neck’s sta-
bility but in the setup in general as well: the truss rod. Due to string tension, a wood neck will react and usually bend
concave to the strings creating an up-bow. To make a guitar playable a minimal up-bow is required instead of a totally
straight neck. For this adjustment the truss rod comes in handy.
Where most guitars in today’s market have a one-way truss rod adjustment, Framus chose the better solution and of-
fers a two-way truss rod adjustment, which allows for better neck setup regardless of string gauge. But it could happen
that when a light string gauge is used, like 008 sets, the string tension is not enough to create an up-bow but instead
the neck reacts and goes the other way creating a down-bow, meaning convex to the strings. This situation, which can
also occur due to climatic conditions like extreme heat, cold, dryness or humidity, is certainly not a pleasant one and it
makes the strings lie perfectly flat on the first couple of frets creating a buzz and maybe even not ring at all. With a two-
way truss rod the necessary adjustments can be made to bring the neck back to a slight up-bow.
Frets
Accuracy and experience are crucial when it comes to frets because they are not only responsible for playability but also
for clean and perfect intonation. To accomplish this with no exceptions all fretting activities from cutting the slots, inserting
the frets, leveling, to polishing, are left to a machine or a human being based on the requirements. The Framus factory
in Markneukirchen has so far the worldwide only working economical fretting machine, which is a second generation
in-house design and can precisely install frets down to 1/1000th of a millimeter. Final setup and polishing are done ma-
nually since the eye of a trained Framus employee is irreplaceable. The end result is perfect intonation a superior playa-
bility proving once again that our concept is coherent.
Plek
“Plek
®
- wir gehen der Gitarre an den Hals,“ which in German literally means “going for the guitar’s jugular” meaning
the guitar’s throat/neck, is obviously a word game that only works for that language. Nonetheless it’s the motto for the
company A+D Gitarrentechnologie GmbH from Berlin, Germany. They specialize in combining traditional guitar-building
techniques with the endless possibilities that microelectronics allow thus creating a new worldwide quality standard. Their
Plek
®
-technology will be used by Framus as a production add-on in all their guitars starting in 2007.
What is behind Plek
®
? It’s a new computerized procedure to enhance fret jobs and the overall setup of the guitar thus
guaranteeing an optimal vibration of the string in all positions. After measuring the overall string tension the truss rod is
adjusted to achieve optimal relief or up-bow. Next the frets are precisely leveled (down to 1/100th of a millimeter), then
polished and finally the string action is set according to five standards: super low, low, medium, high, and extra high. .
This will warrant an optimal and individually set string action. For more information visit www.plek.com.
