Parker Guitars Fly 5-String

I had a custom 5-string made. A 5A quilted maple top was paid for but not delivered. It still looks good but they made the edges fade to black which was not asked for. I ordered it in January of 2004 and was told 6-months but it took over a year. It is fretted and has the piezo pickups plus the two jazz pickups. The piezo only has a tone and volume so it doesn't have the best control. Blending them adds some versatility but my Fodera and MTD can get much more varied tones with the exception of the straight piezo upright sound. It has spertzel locking tuners (nice feature if they had been installed right).

For finger-style it sounds pretty good. The neck is very thin which actually makes my small hands cramp pretty quickly. I plays very nicely but if I have to do a lot of fast stuff for a while it hurts. It doesn't have a great slap-bass sound and the action isn't as fast as my Flea bass or my MTD. For people who like dark, rich sounding basses, this would work well.

The bass was not made as ordered. There was a scratch on the nut. It did not come with the hard-shell case that was ordered but a soft/hard case. Otherwise it looks beautiful. After about 20 hours of use two of the tuners swiveled. I took it to a local repair shop and was told because the pins weren't installed that keeps them clamped and they were just pressure screwed tight. $25 repair that solved the problem. The finish is a gloss that picks up fingerprints like crazy.

Everything seems really nice. The hardware is all very nice and I've had no problems with any of the electronics.

Horrible. The bass was ordered before Parker was sold. After about six months when the bass was supposed to be delivered I began calling to find out the status. I was given a run-around for a while before finally talking to a person who knew what was going on. I was told it would be an extra two months because of the sale and moving their factory. After two months I called and was told that it was basically done and just had to be set up. Two months later another story about a problem with the paint or getting the 5-string model right. They promised to return calls and never did. Just aweful.

I've played for 16 years. I currently own a MTD USA 5-string and a Modulus Flea 5-string. I use Phil Jones gear. I previously owned a Fodera Monarch 5-string, a Modulus Quantum 5-string, and a Warrior Signature 5-string. I would compare this to the Quantum in a lot of ways tone-wise. I would take the Fodera as the best but it was too heavy and then my MTD a close second. My Flea is a slap-bass monster and I just use it for that. I would use the Fly bass a lot more if the neck fit my hand better. I love the graphite feel and since I play for church, the tone actually sounds good most of the time. I would never buy another one, mainly because dealing with Parker (US Music?) was a nightmare. If you find a used one cheap, it is a great bass as long as slap isn't your main thing. If you have a good repair place and plan to use them, it would be okay, but don't buy a new one.

Slim, yet sturdy and fast, responsive neck, with stainless fretwires (they'll eat up your strings, so if you don't change your strings often, you will with the Parker Fly-bass). The body is laminated with a flamed top and back. There are two sets of passive single coil pick-ups AND a piezo pickup in the bridge. There are locking tuners (small for a bass, but easy enough to use). There are active EQ (low and high) and the electronics are rounded out by a master volume, an electric pick-up volume, a pickup selector switch, a piezo volume, and a piezo tone pot. The battery is inserted in the back through it's own door, and there's a low battery indicator. The only thing bad about the bass's features are 1) it's quite a reach from the strings (playing position) to the volume (and other) knobs; and 2) NO HARD CASE -- only a gig bag. You can find a generic case that will fit be be sure to take the bass with you to try it out (no mail order!)

Great sound. I've gotten many complements to the sound of the bass from professional sound guys, comparing it to the legendary great sound of a P-bass through the PA. Plenty of bottom if you want it. Expressive mids, and all the high's you want to dial in. It's just plain fun to listen to.

From the factory great. Perfect for my playing style. No mechanical or electronic or finish or cosmetic or manufacturing flaws.`

Has held up well during a year's gigging about 3 weekends/month. Get a hardshell case and you're all set.

Haven't had to use it yet.

Great bass.

http://www.parkerguitars.com/pdfs/Fly%20Bass%20Manual.pdf

For the past 4 years, I have been searching for a fretted 5 string whose design centers around the following traits:
1.) Comfortable, lightweight, ergonomically-talented construction
2.) FAST, STABLE, and easily adjustable/responsive neck (one that has a reactive truss rod). A neck that can handle a wide variety of temperature changes and has narrow string spacing!!
3.) Massive tonal variety due to its electronics and pre-amp components.

The Parker Fly 5 String Bass satisfies all of these requirements like no other fretted bass I have demoed on the market. I have flown all over the country and demoed just about every high end bass (over $3,000) in the marketplace and right now, NOTHING compares to this bass.

The bass was set-up well, although the nut could have been taken down just a touch for a little lower action.

The bass's intonation and fretwork were overbearingly meticulous. I have actually cut my fingertips on several custom basses due to shoddy fretwork. I need avery fast and responsive bass for the type of music I compose. A bass that response to delicate fingerpicking, tapping, and full-blown slapping!

As a solo artist, I write imaginatively edgy, textural soundscapes that prominently feature energetic bass and drums driven progressions, soaring counterpoint, and confrontational vocals. This is MOODAL music. You'll often hear 4 to 5 bass tracks within a blend of rock and pop genre textures, strewn together with reckless rhythmic structures, improvisational chord tones, and sometimes, layers of ambient music.

This bass is far more durable and reliable than other custom basses, due to the carbon fiber skin on the neck and choice of woods/build methodology. Very forward thinking concepts exist at Parker!!

The warranty is for a year I believe and their tech's return calls and e-mails quite quickly and responsibly.

I have been playing bass for well over 16 years and am proud to utilize this bass as my primary tracking and compositional tool. The neck has an ungodly ability to tolerate lots of different string dimensions AS well as alternate tunings.

I wish they would make me a custom 7 string fretless with 14.5 mm string spacing so that my bass arsenal would consist of ONLY a fretted 5 and a fretless 7 (tuned EADGCFA#)!!

It's criminal that there are other "custom" basses on the market cost well over $5,000 and they simply don't compare to the acoustic or electric qualities of this bass.