Parker Fly Owners and Fans

Well, if you decide to move it along PM me and tell me more including what you would ask for it.

I certainly will...I have no real idea what would be a fair price for one. I know guys who sold them for $1,200 (!!) several years ago (and they were a hard sell) but I think they are climbing in value. The one on reverb.com for $5,500 is pretty steep but.....???

It was Dave's Guitar shop in LaCross, Wisconsin that advised me not to mod it, particularly since they expected the original, pre-refined Fly's to appreciate over time...but who knows...?
 
I certainly will...I have no real idea what would be a fair price for one. I know guys who sold them for $1,200 (!!) several years ago (and they were a hard sell) but I think they are climbing in value. The one on reverb.com for $5,500 is pretty steep but.....???

It was Dave's Guitar shop in LaCross, Wisconsin that advised me not to mod it, particularly since they expected the original, pre-refined Fly's to appreciate over time...but who knows...?
Condition is a big part of it. A mint Deluxe with paperwork and spare parts just sold for somewhere around $1,999 US on Reverb. I am watching to figure out what they are going for consistently. People are all over the place with their asking prices. The sold listings seem to cluster Flys between $1,600 and $2,400. There are some outliers in both directions.

https://reverb.com/item/33053807-parker-fly-deluxe-2005-red?show_sold=true
 
I have a '98 Classic red/wine colored Fly and used to play it exclusively until I couldn't handle changing the 9V battery every couple of weeks; man, that thing eats batteries.

It's not like it starts to sputter and dies suddenly; the sound seems to thin out over time and you get tone-suck and then start dialing in more low end/mids, etc. and wondering why it's sounding so thin, even though the flashing battery status LED in the back says the 9V is ok.

I have mods to rewire it so the magnetic pickups go direct to the output jack (like a conventional guitar) but have been advised that would hurt the resale value so I've not done that. I've been toying with the idea of selling it for years since I've playing Suhrs for some time.

I do have to say it's amazing to play and feels awesome...killer sustain, fantastic access to all frets up to the 24th, the best neck/body joint ever, light, ergonomic...it's so ahead of it's time in many respects that I feel guilty for not giving it the love it deserves, but can't bring myself to mod/re-wire it.

This thread made me pull it out today and have a play on it; I really need to either sell it or mod it.

EDIT:

Whoa! I see there is one on reverb.com...asking $5,500 CDN o_O

Battery should last about 100 hours in a pre-refined Fly.

Rewiring it so the mod is fully reversible is no big deal, you could even remove the whole pre-amp board and ribbons and just do straight mag conversion, easy enough to reverse. Lose the piezo though..
 
I have a '98 Classic red/wine colored Fly and used to play it exclusively until I couldn't handle changing the 9V battery every couple of weeks; man, that thing eats batteries.

If it eats batteries like crazy then either there's a mis-wiring OR you're letting it plugged in for long periods of time.
I do (normally) about 220 gigs a year and change my battery every three months or so. So accounting with 2 guitars being used, that's about 30 gigs to a battery - not too bad.
 
Be aware of the flex circuit board in the original Fly, very easily damaged and and requires total replacement of the wiring if you have any issues with it or the pots. Costs $200/$300 to swap anything. Now add the frets falling off certain batches of later ones. Frets have no tang on Flys, they are glued to a unslotted paper thin carbon fingerboard.
 
My first post here. Hello!
I have a '93 Parker Fly (SN 343023BP) that I bought in ~May of '95 after I got my first "real job" and have loved the hell out of it ever since. I was actually thinking of buying a new Les Paul Standard at the time, new paycheck burning a hole in my pocket, but the guy showed me the Parker and I'd seen it on some tech TV show and ended up with it. Didn't buy my first Les Paul until ~2010. No regrets.
Anyway, I'll be searching around, but I'm wondering about repairing the...gelcoat?? The guitar is in amazing condition. A couple of tiny chips at the end of the headstock (my buddy put them there the winter after I bought it), and it was in otherwise excellent condition. But there was a freak accident involving a falling window AC unit and a nearby Parker Fly on its stand in my bedroom... The thumb side edge of the neck between frets 5 and 6 got a scrape, chipping a bit of the coating off. So it chafes the webbing between my thumb and index finger or the inside of the thumb sliding over the rough spot. I could sand it down and polish it, but this guitar is in amazing shape otherwise and that would stab a hole in my soul. I know that it's a composite exoskeleton with poplar body core and basswood neck core, so I'm assuming this coating would be like a fiberglass or carbon fiber gelcoat.
I've never dealt with gelcoat. Any input on how to go about a good repair job?
Any posts on this subject are welcome; I'll try more searching and am willing to read and learn from past posts, but my searching so far results in Parker boat gelcoat repairs.
Thanks!
=Mack
 
  • you can easily lock/unlock the bridge to float/lock it in place
This should come standard on all guitars with a tremolo of any kind IMO. I hardly ever use tremolo, yet all but three of my guitars have it. I have TremolNO in three of my Floyd Rose type guitars, but it's not ideal - costs a chunk of cash, and is a bit of a pain in the ass to install, to the point where most "normal" people wouldn't bother. In one of the guitars it also sticks out a bit too much, so I have to remove the rear cover so it doesn't interfere. I suppose I should buy a shorter brass block for it, but that's even more pain in the ass.

Manufacturers could easily come up with far less involved designs.
 
My first post here. Hello!
I have a '93 Parker Fly (SN 343023BP) that I bought in ~May of '95 after I got my first "real job" and have loved the hell out of it ever since. I was actually thinking of buying a new Les Paul Standard at the time, new paycheck burning a hole in my pocket, but the guy showed me the Parker and I'd seen it on some tech TV show and ended up with it. Didn't buy my first Les Paul until ~2010. No regrets.
Anyway, I'll be searching around, but I'm wondering about repairing the...gelcoat?? The guitar is in amazing condition. A couple of tiny chips at the end of the headstock (my buddy put them there the winter after I bought it), and it was in otherwise excellent condition. But there was a freak accident involving a falling window AC unit and a nearby Parker Fly on its stand in my bedroom... The thumb side edge of the neck between frets 5 and 6 got a scrape, chipping a bit of the coating off. So it chafes the webbing between my thumb and index finger or the inside of the thumb sliding over the rough spot. I could sand it down and polish it, but this guitar is in amazing shape otherwise and that would stab a hole in my soul. I know that it's a composite exoskeleton with poplar body core and basswood neck core, so I'm assuming this coating would be like a fiberglass or carbon fiber gelcoat.
I've never dealt with gelcoat. Any input on how to go about a good repair job?
Any posts on this subject are welcome; I'll try more searching and am willing to read and learn from past posts, but my searching so far results in Parker boat gelcoat repairs.
Thanks!
=Mack
Hi Mack!
Where are you located?
I would send the guitar to Shazrock http://www.shazrockpaint.com
She's harder to reach than the pope but will get your neck in the exact same condition as before the fall and won't charge an arm and a leg for it. She was the lead painter at Parker for years and is a real genius. Sharron is your girl. Worse comes to worse, she'll give you advice on fixing it yourself. But I'd send it to her.
 
This should come standard on all guitars with a tremolo of any kind IMO. I hardly ever use tremolo, yet all but three of my guitars have it. I have TremolNO in three of my Floyd Rose type guitars, but it's not ideal - costs a chunk of cash, and is a bit of a pain in the ass to install, to the point where most "normal" people wouldn't bother. In one of the guitars it also sticks out a bit too much, so I have to remove the rear cover so it doesn't interfere. I suppose I should buy a shorter brass block for it, but that's even more pain in the ass.

Manufacturers could easily come up with far less involved designs.
I'm with you on this. If I want a tremolo, I'll play the guitar with the tremolo. I'm not sure what the latest, greatest floating tremolo designs offer, but I hate having to compensate during bends. I learned on a guitar with a tremolo and got used to it, then I got the Parker without a tremolo and lost the touch. When I got my PRS, I had to re-develop that "touch" and it was annoying.
 
Thanks a million Patzag!
I'm in Los Alamos, NM.
I sent them an email. Fingers crossed!
Use the phone provided. You'll need to try several times and send several emails. Communication is not their forte, but they do amazing work!
 
I have a pre-refined Classic. Hands down the best guitar I ever played by a long shot. Dreaming of a 7 string. One day I’ll be able to buy one of the dozen or so out there, and I’ll sell every other guitar I own.
 
This should come standard on all guitars with a tremolo of any kind IMO. I hardly ever use tremolo, yet all but three of my guitars have it. I have TremolNO in three of my Floyd Rose type guitars, but it's not ideal - costs a chunk of cash, and is a bit of a pain in the ass to install, to the point where most "normal" people wouldn't bother. In one of the guitars it also sticks out a bit too much, so I have to remove the rear cover so it doesn't interfere. I suppose I should buy a shorter brass block for it, but that's even more pain in the ass.

Manufacturers could easily come up with far less involved designs.

Agreed...having the ability to lock/unlock the tremelo easily and quickly is a definite advantage and feature.

I have a Tremol-No on my 1976 Strat and have blocked my two Suhr guitars. I don't use the whammy but it is nice to enable that function at the flip of a switch on the Parker for the (rare) times that I feel like using it.

I also thought the Steinberger TransTrem was a very clever implementation. Aside from being able to go up/down 'in tune' (you could raise/lower chords/multiple notes like you were using a slide) the entire assembly would lock when the bar was dropped...best of all worlds...
 
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I'm with you on this. If I want a tremolo, I'll play the guitar with the tremolo. I'm not sure what the latest, greatest floating tremolo designs offer, but I hate having to compensate during bends. I learned on a guitar with a tremolo and got used to it, then I got the Parker without a tremolo and lost the touch. When I got my PRS, I had to re-develop that "touch" and it was annoying.

I'm with you there. When I got my Suhr Classic Pro I decided, for whatever reason, I was going to try and use it without blocking the tremelo and get used to the feel/compensating when bending, etc.

It drove me insane; I blocked it after about four weeks. Just couldn't (and didn't want to ultimately) get used to the feel when bending, hated the multiple rounds of tuning to get it all in equilibrium and that I couldn't quickly tune to a drop-D, and pulling the guitar sharp when resting/anchoring my hand on the bridge. Doing double-note bends was also.....irritating...
 
Battery should last about 100 hours in a pre-refined Fly.

Rewiring it so the mod is fully reversible is no big deal, you could even remove the whole pre-amp board and ribbons and just do straight mag conversion, easy enough to reverse. Lose the piezo though..
If it eats batteries like crazy then either there's a mis-wiring OR you're letting it plugged in for long periods of time.
I do (normally) about 220 gigs a year and change my battery every three months or so. So accounting with 2 guitars being used, that's about 30 gigs to a battery - not too bad.

I do get about 100 hours on it but find that it seems the tone starts to thin out as it depletes (vs outright dying out/sputtering, etc.) well before then.

I take it you both don't find that? I've not logged any time on the Parker for some time now and I should re-visit this to see if my perceptions are incorrect.
 
Be aware of the flex circuit board in the original Fly, very easily damaged and and requires total replacement of the wiring if you have any issues with it or the pots.

The flex circuit is indeed very fragile and I can see it being damaged quite easily. I swapped out the pickups on mine (to the Generation 2 Fly DiMarzio pickups) and had no issue (I'm uber-confident in my soldering skills and methods) but wouldn't want to have to do a lot of tinkering with the electronics.

I wonder if you can even get a replacement flex wiring system if needed....???
 
I take it you both don't find that? I've not logged any time on the Parker for some time now and I should re-visit this to see if my perceptions are incorrect.
Not in the least. However, when the battery starts to go and the LED lights, it won't last long and the tone definitely starts to fizzle and thin out.

Here is a good resource for parts, advice, even a line with Ken Parker. And this is a decent spot for Parker fans to "meet".
https://flyclone.com/index.php
 
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