Parker users

simeon

simeon

Axe-Master
i recently hurt my back, so i'm looking to get a much lighter guitar. the one i currently use for my covers band stuff is a lovely Atlas custom, which sounds fantastic and has a Graphtech Ghost system in it, but weighs close to 9lbs. i have a couple of custom headless guitars, the lightest of which is about 5lbs and feels great to play for long periods, but just isn't versatile enough for covers. so i've been looking at Parkers which typically come in at about 5-6lbs....especially the DF724. Parker have also switched to using the Graphtech system for their piezos, which i think sounds far superior to the Fishman they were using before. i know Parker has had some quality control issues with switches and pots etc, but i would replace the pickups and get my tech to replace the switches as well, so that's not really a problem.

just wanted to hear from some Parker users here about their experiences and their likes/dislikes with these guitars, as they're not cheap instruments (the 724 is £1600 here in the UK...twice what my Atlas cost me). i suppose i could get Atlas to build me another guitar with exactly the same spec as the one i have...only hollow...but i'm not sure that would end up being a great sounding guitar...

also...wassup with the Parker trem arm...it looks like it sits so far away from the body, you couldn't possibly use it while picking...is it adjustable?

thanks for any insight you can give me

cheers!

sim

this is the one i'm looking at - a DF724 in black burst -

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Maybe you should take a look at Basslab-Products (basslab.de) It's a german company which is specialized on Guitars/Basses using only composite materials. The guitars are hollow, cause the used composite is more stable than any other material. In "Gitarre & Bass" (THE german quitar mag) the Basslab-Guitars and Basses always get the best critics. Basslab says, they can "tune" the material for each customer specifically. I'm pretty sure, that you won't find a guitar with the same sound quality with less weight than a basslab.

The last parker guitar I played was the first one that came out many years ago. It looked like a toy from Mars but the playability was AWESOME. But I heard that they got problems with the quality in the last years (seems one of the main problems, when a custom shop goes mainstream.......)

Cheers,
Andy from Red Bull Country
 
Seriously play on a few if possible before you buy one, nothing plays or sounds like a Parker and you will either love it or hate it (both feel and tone). You can bend the trem bar to fit your needs. Have a '05 Fly Mojo, switches had been an issue and had to be replaced... no problems with the pots... not sure if these have been resolved on their newer stuff. Personally love the guitar and if something happened to it would not hesitate to get another.
 
I had one of the original Flys (1995) that I sold earlier this year to fund the Axe.

Pros:

Light weight
Stainless frets
Vibrato tailpiece - fantastic, stable, comfortable bridge setup. I really miss that. Best bridge design I've ever had.
Tuning stability - I could take it from home, put it in & out of a hot car (Phoenix summer), and then into an air conditioned building and usually not even have to retune. My current "gigging" guitar has a fixed tailpiece and I have to keep retuning for about an hour after arriving at church now.
Intonation - not only was is dead accurate all the way up the neck, but capoing was never a problem.

Cons:
Body size - I love the feel of a Strat body. I rest my arm on the top contour & the Fly body isn't big enough in that area to give me enough area to rest my arm.
Body thickness - I think the new ones are thicker than the originals, but I found the body to be so thin that the guitar was actually too close to me to play as comfortably as a Strat or PRS. The original body also had a concave back. If you have a large belly, the Fly probably fits like a glove. :)
Neck thinness - The original Fly had a super thin neck with somewhat sharp edges to the fretboard. Probably great if you're a shredder, but I found it uncomfortable, especially for bar chords or thumb wrap-around stuff.

I bought a couple of Night Flys from a music store over the internet & ended up returning them both. The Night Fly had a huge baseball bat of a neck that was just too big for my hands (feast or famine). I really wanted to love the Night Fly, but couldn't. The body size was still an issue for my arm rest, too.

I haven't had an opportunity to try one of the new DragonFlys.
 
Hi Sim,
I'm one of the main the Parker guys on this forum if there are any. I've been playing them since 1993 exclusively. So I'll answer you as best I can.

1. Weight. You're right. Light and comfortable. The newer models ave lost the upper bout angular thing, which I miss aesthetically, but is more comfortable.

2. Playability. Best of all guitars I've ever played. It spoiled me. About once a year, I go looking through guitar shops for something that makes me go "ahhh" but keep being disappointed. Nothing actually plays like a Parker.

3. Contrary to what funkstation says, the problem has not been custom to mainstream but the opposite. Parker is now essentially only a custom shop and when USM took over from Ken Parker, there were a number of cost cuts that entered issues. Not only switches and pots but some other problems too which I won't detail here. What has happened though recently is some major changes have taken place to handle all these issues. Both organizationally and physically. New tooling, supplies, factory move, environmental control, etc.
I have had two custom guitars made recently by Parker and they are absolutely fantastic. They play great, sound great etc.

4. Trem. Ah. The trem. I have issues with the trem. No it does not sit too far. But it's not a pinky-light bar. It takes a bit more force than that. If you can, you should try it. The original Parker trem was a piece of hex steel which you could bent as you wished. The new trem does not really allow that. Also the original metal bushing was replaced with a cost saving plastic bushing. That was an error (and still is) IMO. I hope Parker reverts to the metal bushing and I intend to take this up with them when I'm back from tour.

Oh - I endorse Parker - I should mention that. But I don't mind being critical of what needs improving.

I can answer more specific questions if you want, but I'll tell you this: There's nothing quite as versatile and easy to play that I have yet to experience in 35+ years of playing.

One last thing, I have only played the 724 with bolt neck once. All my guitars have the set neck and full carbon wrapping. But the experience was very similar. Fast, comfortable, etc. I just don't know how much the neck moves with humidity and such. On my guitars, I can thow them in a gig bag, fly halfway around the world, pull it out and not have to tune.

Cheers,
Patrick

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Had a fly deluxe since the late 90's...

Frets still look brand new.
Neck plays like butter..
I lock the trem so i can use my "D-Thing" drop d tuner. They have them with floyds now if that is a concern.

Bottom line, I love mine, use it all the time, weighs nothing which is a big plus. It's a little thinner sounding than my other guitars, but thats an easy eq fix. Will die with it.
 
I agree with Patzag. Parkers are amazing and really spoil you. My first electric was a '96 Parker Deluxe which I still have. Up until it's first visit to a luthier about a year ago, I had never played a gig without it. I also have a Mojo Spring. Patzag has obviously had a lot of experience with them, but personally I would look for a used late 90's to early 2000s model. That was when Ken Parker still owned the company. I've found them to be consistently better in that era. You can find them for quite cheap and in excellent condition.

I'm not a huge fan of the new look and such. The electronics are woeful. They also have a number of issues with frets coming off. The luthier I go to is incredibly good and was the Parker repairer before USMC. He reckons they didn't radius the frets enough so they basically pull themselves off the fret board as they are only glued down. My Spring is with him now for the second time and there is another more recent Parker there with the same issue, also not its first visit. He is increasing the radius on frets as they come off and reattaching them. The finishes aren't as nice either. Basically USMC cut corners wherever they could. With Ken Parker it was a passion, which unfortunately is why he had to sell it to USMC who definitely only care about the bottom line.

My '96 Parker has been used and abused for years and only needed it's first look over after over 15 years of use. It had a small bur on one of the saddles where the string had worn a very small groove and one groove in the nut was slightly too low due to a bad widening job done by yours truly. I've had it come out of the cargo hold after flying from Sydney to Dallas with ice crystals on it and still in tune to all but my strobe tuner. It's fallen off a stage during a pre strap lock strap failure and fallen at the worst possible point at the tip of the headstock and sustained only a small chip. They are easily the best guitars I have ever laid hands on. Licks that are a struggle on other guitars, just flow on Parkers. Even the bad USMC ones, when in working order, feel incredible compared to any other guitar I've ever played. Nothing, and I mean nothing, plays like a Parker. I've been looking at getting a PRS Tree of Life in my local shop, but am wondering if I shouldn't just grab a couple second hand Parkers from that 90s to 2000s era instead.

All IMHO, IME and such...
 
thanks for all the tips guys. there's a mint nitefly SA from 1998 and another from 2000 on ebay UK at the moment. i might look into those, but money is really tight... :(

i could do with playing a few, but there are no dealers in Cardiff at all...
 
will do, but i really don't like the Fishman piezo's enough to go for an early model. the Graphtech sounds so much better to me, that it kinda pushes me more towards the 2012 models...
 
The older ones dug into your rib cage, haven't played a newer one.
 
Simeon. I've been using a Parker for ten years, and love it: there are a lot of sounds in it (you see I wouldn't change the pickups), especially through an Axe, the neck is very easy to play, and it's very light. The Fishman sound doesn't excite. A couple of years ago I switched the circuit for a Graphtech Acoustiphone, but kept the original piezos. At the same time I fitted the Graphtech Hexpander, so I can also use it for synth. There was a blue Fly Classic on ebay last week which failed to sell at £800, and a blue Deluxe on at the moment, which I guess will go for under £800.
 
Sorry about your back. I have a Warwick 6 string neck thru thumb bass so I can tell you weight makes a difference. LOL. I have a carvin Koa and I sold a 68 Gibson es345 that was my main guitar after I got my Parker Mojo. I have had 3 Parkers and I loved every one of them. I had this one Pleked by Gary brauer in San Fransisco and it plays amazing. Havent played any of the newer Parkers but I would love to try the Mojo with the synth Graphtech. I have a Brian Moore with synth but like the quality of the parts but not the guitar very much. I have to agree nothing plays like a Parker.
 
I had a deal with them so I`ve had a few.
Problem for me was that they sounded a bit thin compared to some of my other guitars.
Also I started liking much fatter necks since I got my first Tyler with the 59`neckshape.

But they are great guitars and I sometimes miss them, and I love blending in the piezo for clean tones.
 
I have a Red Classic Fly, it is my go to guitar for gigs super light, durable, it will never need a fret job. Mojo's have thicker necks, never played a NiteFly, never have had a problem with any Parker digging into my chest or ribcage as I am usually standing when playing. I could see if you are sitting it would be an issue if using the older models. Nothing else sounds like them. Warmest sounding guitar I own, I love the neck pickups on the Classic. I use a stereo cable to send piezo to FOH and the rest to my rig.
 
I was all excited for the Parker Maxx Fly 7 string, but the price means I'll probably never own one. :(
 
Hi Simeon, It is really a nice looking guitar. I don't have any guitar. One of friend have three guitar but he not have time to teach us. I also don't have time to learn. But i want to learn how to play the guitar.
 
I have to admit I like the new Dragonfly/Maxxfly shape but I have yet to play one.

I've had a 95 Fly Deluxe and two Fly Mojos (early 2000 models). I love the light weight and the steel frets make bending smooth as silk. The necks a bit on thin and wide side but I grew to like the shape. I have never thought they sounded as good as my traditional guitars (Gibsons, Ibanez, Fenders, etc). I suspect the difference in tone is due to the carbon exoskeleton used on the high-end guitars.

I've had problems with the pots and switches in the Mojos. Pretty poor for an expensive instrument.
 
Simeon, Why not get a custom guitar built, there are plenty of small makers in UK if you search about. The body could be chambered for lightness and all other aspects such a pickups, neck profile etc. would be as you specify. The cost I believe may not be as great as you imagine.
 
well a custom would be the best option...i've had many customs over the years and have had some really great instruments, but i did end up getting a used DF824 from the US. just finishing up the wiring, as i replaced the pickups and installed the Ghost saddles and Acoustiphonic preamp. hope to take it out for it's first gig either this weekend or next.
 
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