Parker Guitars Fly Classic

This is a 2008 Classic in natural mahogany. I owned a 97 classic and thought I needed a change. After playing PRS and a Taylor T5 I came back to Parker. great frets, controls, vibrato, love the finish and the carbon fiber is bulletproof. Wish they would use better material for the back cover panel. really like the light weight!

I get every sound I need, it isn't the guitar that lacks if you can't find your tone. Great sustain and great variety with the spit coil, piezo and magnetic pickups. I do wish there was tone control with the piezo like the first generation flys.

well made and well set up. I find no differnce in fit and finish with the older Parkers.

so far so good,the only problem I have had with either was the jack on the older one needed replacing

don't know

I left Parker and came back, I would buy another if this one were stolen. Great fast versatile bulletproof, love the stainless frets.

1997 fly classic. Came with the 1st generation dimarzio humbuckers (which are proprietary, meaning that old flys can't be upgraded with regular pickups. Also came with a Parker a gig bag.

As far as features go, this one has plenty: piezo, coil-split, innovative body and design.
The neck is very narrow and thin (as much as some Ibanez necks). While I normally despise thin necks, this one is actually rather comfortable to play. The composite fretboard reminds me of ebony to the touch.

The whammy bar on the non-refined flys is decent. Don't expect, however, anything close to an original Floyd Rose (my guitar tech also told me customers complained of broken whammy bars).

I have nothing but good things to say about the design, playability and most innovations of the Parker Fly. However, as stated above, the pickups in older flys cannot be upgraded with normal pickups (there are very few options to replace them with).

I come from a Gibson background and am into hard rock/metal. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I try (even with tweaking the tone knobs and settings on my amps), nothing sounds desirable. The magnetic pickups are brutal: the neck, which is based on an Air Norton, sounds bland and cold. The coil-split is weak and hardly convincing (don't expect a strat-like sound here). The bridge pup, based on a Tone Zone, is decent if you want to play with distortion. In fact, it will handle metal ok. Played clean, however, it is an atrocity: it is essential to play with the tone knobs as the upper frequencies coming from this guitar are unpleasant.

The piezo is the best sounding feature: while it does not sound anywhere as good as a genuine classical/acoustic guitar, it does a decent job. Further, you can blend the magnetic pups with the piezo for a wider array of tones (none too likable imo).

I bought this guitar used. There was a paint chip on the upper horn.
Not sure how well the paint ages: my cat jumped on my guitar rack, causing the fly to drop off. I was surprised at the large chip of paint that came off.

One good thing about the paint is that it does not stick to one's hands (as it is often the case with newer Gibson instruments).
The action is sick: extremely low without buzzing.

While I'm pretty sure the fly is a reliable instrument, I tend to worry about the piezo. When your battery dies, so does your magnetic pickups. According to Parker Guitar's website, the non-refined fly's battery should last about 100 hours (I found this to be exaggerated). The newer, refined, models last at least twice longer.

There have been various comments on the stainless steel frets. While I haven't had any problems with them, I do recommend NEVER using any oil on the fretboard.

Never dealt with them.

If this were stolen or lost, I might save up for a better match for my style (Parker Fly Mojo Flame, which has a thicker and wider neck and sounds much warmer (comes with Jazz/JB)).
If not, I would not buy any other Parkers. While it is revolutionary in many aspects, and has a character of its own, it falls short as soon as you plug it in.

2005 Parker Fly Classic, USA Made my US Music, Not Ken Parker.

Typical Fly guitar, no modifications.

I found the quality of the guitar less than perfect. From day one it was one thing after another, first the 3 way pickup selector went out on the electric side, then one pickup went out, then the piezo bridge, all in the first month ! It spent more time being repaired than played.

It was returned eventually and replaced witha Real Parker Fly from 1998 when Ken Parker Actually worked there.The guitar was used, but perfect ! and i saved $1,000 ! over the New one.

US Music bought the compnay in 2003 and Mr Parker has NOTHING to do with the compnmay, but if you look at their website, you would think he still builds the guitars !

I wish i knew how it sounded, but most of the time it was not working right.

The action was good, finish ok, it did need some minor setup work done.

I would not count on this guitar in a live show or in a studio with the clock running.

The company, US Music was irratated when i called them each time, i got the feeling of " its you again "

If this guitar would have been stolen, i would have been happy, it was insured !

If you want a real Parker Fly Guitar, buy one that was made between 1993 and 2002 other than those years you are getting a Washburn made guitar.

I think it was made around 2003? Not too sure. I bought it in 2005. Has 24 frets that are all accessible (that means I can actually USE the 24th fret). Laminated top made mostly out of composite resin or fiber or something like that. Two volumes, a tone, and a Paizo volume. Active paizo (of course) and passive pickups. I've got DiMarzios in there, but they're not the original. The previous owner (as I've heard from many people) thought they sucked, so he/she changed it. It's a transparent natural red finish (Borat: Very Nice). I'm not sure what brand of bridge it is, but I do know it is able to whammy both ways. The tuners are locking tuners... I wanna say Grover.

I play a lot of Christian Rock and Worship music. there hasn't been a song I couldn't get the sound out of. As far as diversity goes, there's nothing like this. I use a Harkte 400w Bass head with a Behringer 4x12 cab (strange setup, but try it). I use a multitude of effects: Johnson J-Station, Digitech RP-1 (yea I said it... what?), Line 6 POD, Line 6 GuitarPort, Johnson Chorus, Boss Metal Core, and Boss Overdrive/Distortion. Of course I don't use them all at once, but the guitar goes great with each.

I do have to switch pickups when it goes from clean to distortion. One's muddy if distorted, the other is too bright if clean. It's all in the taste of pickups though. The paizo acoustic sound is sweet! Put some heavier strings on it you won't need to change guitars, even if the song calls for acoustic. I do have a problem with the infamous *clink* each time I switch pickups. Usually have to hit a heavy note or turn down the guitar all the way to avoid the crowd or congregation from saying "EESHH!".

The volume knobs and tone knob aren't much help. You get about 0%, 50%, 100%... and that's it. Sometimes the settings I use for clean make the guitar too bright, so I try to take it down a notch... but you gotta be careful because you'll get too low a tone and sound like you're playing John Mayer's "Slow Dancing In a Burning Room" real quick.

Action is wonderful... in theory. You can get the strings pretty darn low with absolutely no buzz. The only problem is the nut, and certain notes on the B string. The nut can't really hold any larger than a 10 gauge set. Right now my B string is sitting on Top of it and the high E string is tuck in there just so that sometimes when I tune, it only tightens from the nut to the knob. The part over the fretboard is not affected. A file is the simple solution for it. Will do. I also get a slight buzz on the 7th fret of the B string if I do a pulloff from 8 to 7... anyone else ever had that problem?

Bridge is amazingly great. I don't whammy, so they've got a lock in the back that keeps me from knocking it out of tune when I lay my hand on the bridge, like for a palm mute.

Wonderful live. Rarely have to tune. No need for backup. Hardware is great. This guitar has been hit by the other guitarist's SG plenty of times and not ONE knick at all. Strap buttons are great. I know that I've played a lower model and the strap kept sliding off because of the position of the button. Mine is dependable, his... not so much.

I use it in just about EVERY gig I play.

Never had to use them. Witnessed it in action with another guitarist and it was terrible. His electronics just... went out. He sent it in. They called him back close to a month later saying he'd have to get another one. After much arguing, they finally sent him one via a music store and it was a lesser model, different color, higher action, cheaper hardware, horrible strap buttons (see above).

I've never used them. Probably never will with that service.

The Good

Great sound. Just like anything, you've got to tweak it to your liking with settings and additional hardware. Fretboard is flawless (no fallen frets like I've read about) and smooth. Strings stay in tune very well. Has a great punch and a beautifully mellow sound all in one setting. Acoustic paizo is great. It's 4 pounds which leads me to believe God made it and Ken Parker took the credit.

The Bad
Some pulloff's sound muddy (almost like the string comes out of tune, from itself-I think it catches a fret-). Not friendly with 11+ gauges. Clinky pickup change. Knobs are WAY too close to your hand. The battery stays in use even if you're not using the paizo.

The Ugly
Well... it is ugly.

I bought this 2000 model in 2005 new.
This US Parker has a beautiful natural light mahagony body.
The back side is black and looks like a piece of art.
It has the last version of DiMarios inside.
I blocked the tremolo with a metal plate because I never use it.
The neck is the fastest and most accurate one I ever played.
The stainless steel frets never wear out and therefor never have a negative infuence on intonation.
I got it with Gigbag and Case.
The piezo offers additional sound options.
This is one of the most versatile guitars ever.

Humbucker fans will not like this guitar because it could be too bright.
I prefer single sounds and so I love these bright sounds.
The classic had only a 3 way switch what did not offer enough options for me.
I dont like bridge pickups alone.
I modified the switching options. Now I have 6 unusual sounds.
Neck single, both singles, neck single and bridge HB.
Neck HB, neck HB + bridge single, both HB's.
I checked out all possible combinations and this is what I like.
It does not sound exactly like anything else.
The piezo needs a little tweaking on the mixer but it is great.

This is the first guitar in my life where I did not have to correct the factory settings.
US Parkers and only US Parkers are really great.
I checked out Korean Parkers but these are only crap.
The classic neck is the best worldwide.
(There are many great guitars but no one reaches this slickness.)

Very solid guitar.
Dont forget to unplug the cord or your wireless system.
It's active and the battery will be empty next time you touch it.
One thing I dont like is that the red battery warning LED lights up only 1 hour before the battery is really empty.
This was too short for me one time.
That's the only reason why you should have a backup with you.

Never used.

I play Pop, Rock and Blues since 1977.
I had many guitars and I still have 10 (good ones).
This is now one of my main guitars because of the perfect combination of playability, weight and sounds.
I like the rugged construction - I dont have to tune this thing any more. Every time before we start playing I check the tuning and most of the time every string is in tune perfectly.
It is not sensitive to temperature and humidity changes.
A little minus: sometimes the upper horn pushes into my ribs.

More than any guitar you will ever own . Two humbuckers that split into single coils and a piezo bridge pick up . locking tuners and a neck and action that plays like a dream , this guitar is very inspirational and hard to put down . It will make you wonder why you own 8 other guitars .

Iplay through a mesa boogie dual recto tremoverb , a tc electronics g major for effects and a sonic maximizer for high and low tone control . I can pull off any style from jazz to spine tingling metal , the lead tones on this guitar are insane . All my guitars pick ups have been changed to seymour duncans or emgs , i always considered myself a seymour duncan man , but this dimarzio is better to me than any pick up i own , i was wrong dimarzios sound way better than any duncans or emgs do , this pick up fucking smokes .

Mine was made in 99 and i replaced the bridge pickup with a newer higher output dimarzio pickup , made for the fly and was given to me by parker . The action is amazing , its better than anything i have ever had . I own a strat , les paul , 2 jacksons , 2 ibanezes and this parker is better by far than all of these guitars .

Only had it for a couple months but it seems as durable as any other guitar but i dont beat on my stuff ..

They were very helpful in trying to give me a pick up that suited my taste , i wanted something with more balls and have found the best pickup i have ever used .

Been playing for eight years and have owned probably at least 20 american made guitars , bought this because of the price used and was looking for a used prs when i saw this , this guitar went beyond my expectations by far , this the most versatile guitar i have ever owned . Im not sure ill ever even need to try a prs anymore , i cant imagine a guitar having more playability and versatility than this one , this guitar almost plays itself . Iwould rate my les paul with a duncan fuul shred a 9 , also my jackson rr1 with emgs a 9 , what do you rate this guitar ? i have to rate it a 10 . Who knows maybe a prs is an 11 , dont know . im extremely anal about my sound and have always loved my duncans and emgs , but this guitar and dimarzio pickups rock .

98 fly classic trans blue, you already know the sepcs.

in play mainly pop rock and blues. Its a great versatile guitar. It would fit jazz or country. I use it with pod pro - g force - g major - roland jc85. I got some hum one time and realize a solder wasnt made, but since i bought used, cant complain. Easy to fix anyway. Sounds bright as expected, but the mahogany body makes it a little fuller sounding. The piezo is awesome, sounds like an old ovation, but sounds better through a PA.
The onlky thing i dont like is that the guitar is so specially made that some things need special tools (jack wrench and the wiring!). But i have to say i changed the piezo saddles myself and wasnt so difficult (the original rotated a bit and the 1st string was going out of tune all the time).

action is awesome on this, ive had it low for a while and about 2 months went back to the factory action... killer, easier to bend. The pickups i think are really good, but not awesome, i would have preferred a paf pro in the neck or something brighter. The tone zone is really good for heavy and splits cool. I solved the neck pu issue wiring the neck pu in parallel to get something similar to a single single an worked awesome so i saved the money in buying other pickup from dimarzio. They are making a lo of pickups for the fly now, email them and theyll sent you the list.
Finish and the overall making was perfect.

well, here the guitar goes down a bit. Its strong enough to live playing and hard rock, will last, even the finish. The strap buttons had to go for a broken screw, im using cliplocks right now and work cool. I can depend on it, gigged with it many times with no backup.
Sometimes i get noise in the signal, maybe the isolating paint is not conducting anymore... I just dont like its so "specialized" made. It makes it hard to customize it.

They are great people, but theyre webiste is damn ugly... the told me that the parallel wiring for the neck pickup couldnt be done... i thouhgt they were wrong, took the guitar to an electronic technician and made it in a minute and i didnt even lost the split coils in the center position...

ive played for 15 years, mainly had strats. The fly is my main guitar and im planning to sell my last strat. I think the fly is versatile enough to what i make. I love it. The neck, the action, awesome. The frets amazing, but since theyre glued its gonna be hard to service them, they look like new though, soy maybe will never need help here.
I like its features, all usable. Dont like its in the thin sounding line. The design is best i known, but it does affect the tone a bit. Anyway i like it and thats why i bought it.
If you wnat better piezo go buy the artist (or supreme? dont remember, maple anyway), sounds richer but brighter. The mahogany is more of a rocker. Would buy again? yes, but would try the highest end models first.

1997 Parker Classic in Red!!! This is damn near my ferarri of guitars if I ever had one.

All mahogany construction w/ a set neck, two humbuckers, active piezo system, carbon fiber fingerboard and stainless steel frets. The whole thing can be run stereo to two amps and split the piezo and magnetic pickup signals or you can combine then to one signal with a literal 'push" of a button.

Has the worlds best tremelo...I did the steinberger thing and Ken Parker might be able to win a match of wits with Ned Steinberger.

It came with a hardshell case...actually a hiscox case and all the accesorries...springs ect.

The trem allows so many options...like a steinberger you can lock or unlock it with a flip of the switch however....in comparion to steinberger you can fine tune the tension more precisely and the trem on the parker never completely "locks" is just disables your ability to use the "pull" on the arm. I like it and favor it so much more to a complete "lock".

Very versatile...too versatile. My only complaint, and I am really picky, was the choice of neck pickup. They were both custom Dimarzio humbuckers. The neck was the air norton equivalent and the bridge was a tone zone equivalent. The air norton was just TOO muddy. I replaced it with a FRED and it warmed it up and cleaned it up. It sounds fabulous. i usually play with the piezo and magnetic pikups on together. It gives the guitar more presence and cleans it up through alot of saturation from effects. you can get a huge array of sounds from this guitar and I would closely compare it to a really nice gibson SG kind of vibe but with all the stratty-like option of the trem, ect. I later bough a nitefly with single coils so I now feel like I have all my bases covered.

I got this used and it seems previously there was a flaw in the finish on the back of the neck. A so-called "professional" luthier in New Jersey thought it a good idea to try and buff it out...well the horses ass burned the finish and there is a big spot in the center of the neck that is orange. What he did not know was that there is a carbon fiber epoxy resin that is sprayed on the back of the guitar and all over the neck to strengthen the neck joint and neck. When you 'buff" carbon fiber type stuff it creates a fair amount of static and will actually literally 'BURN"... like create arcs of electricity...because there are little microscopic metallic flakes. What an ass!!! anyways, this all happened before I bought the guitar so...i had no choice in this happening. However, the guitar was in great shape and I was super pleased. Action, sound setup...was all perfect. I am also to understand that the factory setups are pretty "ON" and really require no tweaking whatsoever. This is a nice thing to know. The guitar is built just so...that I believe it requires it to be relatively exact anyways. The only tip I can give you though is that really light strings like .009's might give you problems. For instance...I find that the high "e" string likes to slide and slip on the saddle. When I bend real good it like to slip and kind of "ping" until it finds another nich to set in and then as I release the bend it will "ping" back to its original place. Heavier strings DO fix this problem. I just thought it worth mentioning.

No contest...very durable and the longevity IS there. Stainless steel frets will never wear and the carbon graphite fingerboard will never warp. The only thing I have noticed on several parkers it the ease at which the finishes seem to want to chip. Especially on edges. They use a a different paint than other manufacterers and it seems a bit brittle to me.

never tried...I bought used. Doubt I will ever use them. I did however, call to order a pickguard for my nitefly. My only complaint is that the customer service guy was very un-knowledgable and very hurried. I just hate to "put out" CUSTOMER SERVICE people...;) It is there job afterall... last time I checked they were to be informed and to help out...maybe I am wrong...probably. Other than that they can be a bit costly...

just about perfect as far as guitars go. Longevity, versatility, aethetics and more. I recommend buying used as it will be considerably cheaper...but new would be nice to make your own war wounds. If you want a high end electric guitar and something more cutting edge with a traditional sound I recommend parker stuff and this model in particular. I really feel you cannot go wrong. As a professioanl luthier and repair technician and as a 12+ year musician...live and recorded...this guitar is nothing but an asset to your playing music as well as making a hobby more enjoyable.

1999 Fly Classic. It has the newer dimarzio customs in it. The rest of the features are the same. Natural mahogany finish (NICE!)Cant get too many more features on a guitar.

This is where I was pleasently shocked. I owned aparker fly back in 1995 (classic). I sold it because I could not get the tone I wanted from it. I have been playing les pauls and peavey signature equiped with emg 81/85 since. Since that time I have purchased a new amp (still have the tech 21 that i ran the parker through) yamaha dg100. I bought the classic just because it was a deal i could not pass up. I plugged it into the yamaha..........THIS GUITAR SMOKES! It sounds better than anything else I own. It can cover any style of music. Just takes a litlle tweaking. I am not sure if the newer dimarzios actually made that much of a difference so I plugged into the tech 21 and could not get the tone I wanted from it. This guitar needs the right chain to make it come alive. I have not touched any other guitar in over a year. Might even sell 'em.

This is the best part........"nothing plays like a parker"....this is not b/s.......I will leave it at that.

Its a guitar. I treat it like one. and it will last as long as I want it to.

Never had to.

try it. you will not be sorry. best thing i ever did was buy this guitar. i wanted to feel this same way when i bought my first one. kept thinking ......if only.....but cant say that now. I will play nothing else unless someone will out do a parker, which I doubt.

98 fly classic, the gorgeous blue one. the features you already know, maybe too many

for rock sounds its awesome(humbuckers)... in clean (split) i think its a bit to thin and too many volume difference with the H sound...
The piezo is great... run it through a dedicated amp or PA, awesome.

Action??? this is THE ACTION!!! i think it would be best with 10s though...

well its a thin piece of wood, so you have to be a bit careful, but wel cared it will certainly last... after 7 years the tuners are not locking enough anymore, so changed them, thats very easy and cheap to do... The finish is beautiful, i wish it would be a bit clearer. I can depend on it and gigged many times with no backup... Only problem is that the saddles (steel i think) are a bit too hard for nickel strings and they break often (lets say every 1 and a half weeks) under extreme use

They even sent me the schematics to get it fixed... it started to make a lot of hum and still does... i grew up on strats so i dont care about the hum anymore... they were very friendly and helpful in giving me hints to solve the issue (im far away in Chile, South America, no parker dealer here)

been playin 12 years. I would prefer more pu's options (just 2 models for the bridge an 2 for the neck, dimarzios and duncans)... i think the neck pu is muddy. Would like better "evenness" in volume in the 3 positions. Too many pots in these one, but already solved in the 2003 model.

I bought this guitar in Viginia whilst on tour in May 2000 however, the gutar had been on the shelf for a while as it was built back in 1998. The guitar is the Transparent Cherry Red finish, hosts 2 humbucker pick ups and has the usual Parker tremelo system and piezo pick up. It also has the Sperzel tuners for locking the strings and keeping it in tune. The guitar came with the Parker hard case (totally useless, falls over way to easy, not enough space inside for extras) the y lead, tools, manual, the tremelo bar but absolutely no spare tremelo plates.

I play a variety of musical styles. I suppose the main style that i'm doing at the moment is a kind of Ceilidh Rock thing. Now don't panic out there - it's not a Scottish tartan and Haggis thing i'm talking about, it's like Jimmy Shand meets Deep Purple - kind of a Jimmy ShandriX Experience if you like. I use a lot of acoustic then change onto electric but for obvious reasons you would lose around 4 bars whilst changing guitars so that was the practical reasons for buying the Parker guitar and it works really well for me. I have several guitar set ups depending on the gig or the size of the venue. The big set up is a Marshall pre amp into an effects unit then through a Power amp into 2 x Marshall 12 inch cabs, a real big bitting sound. I have to agree with the world on this one - The Dimarzio Pick ups Suck! In fact the only people in this world that won't agree on this fact are Parker and DiMarzio themselves. I changed them by myself - see info later.

The guitar was great when i bought it but i had to make slight alterations to it as i use skinny top heavy bottom strings. I couldn't actually get the 6th string through the bridge - the ball end wouldn't go right through but stuck out and kept slipping - so i had to drill it out to allow it to go through. The 1st string being a guage 10 started to cause a high end ring coming through the piezo (anyone had that with their Parker?) so i had to change that up to a guage 11 to get around that. It's as if the string ate it's way into the saddle so i suppose i could change the saddle should i want to go back to a guage 10? Funnily enough i'm not fussy about action as most of my guitars you could get a bus under the strings so no probs there. The pick up selector is very noisy - big clunking noise whenever you change pick ups. It appears to me that it's very strange that such a well thought out designed instrument, lovely, very playable but yet they go and populate it with shitty cheap parts from K Mart. Wake up guys!

Yes the guitar is well good in a live situation. I played 168 gigs last year with only one major breakdown. I was shocked when as i was walking onto stage the third fret fell off???? What the hell is that all about? Here's a challenge for the players amongst you - I had to detune a tone and a half, stick a capo on the third fret then play the gig - fancy that one guys? Parker were no help - they told me what type of glue they used and that a fret shouldn't under any circumstances fall off, but it did! They blamed it on possible rust, yes that's right, i play music for a living and i frequently let me guitars rust eh??? Bollocks! To be fair yes i love the Parker and very rarely have a spare guitar with me at gigs. The finish is good and should last. A big problem is the battery compartment, it's a nightmare to get the battery out at times as the compartment is so tight that the battery often sticks. You have to dig it out with the end of a screwdriver. My problem with Parker is that although they've been around for a number of years now, they seem to have given up with the research and development - try listening to the guys that are out ther playing the gigs, living with the guitar, realising the problems that need to be addressed, don't talk down to us or pass the buck to everyone else. My pick ups were awfull, my toggle switch is extremly noisy, my fret did fall off, i've got no spare tremelo plates, my first string has high end rings, my battery compartment is a nightmare, your after sales service along with DiMarzio sucks!

As previously mentioned - Parker and DiMarzio after sales suck! When i returned from the States i used my guitar with my own set up. The pick ups were terrible from that day on. I spoke to Parker who told me that there was no problem with the pick ups and that if i had a problem then i should approach DiMarzio themselves. I called DiMarzio who told me the same deal - no problems with our pick ups etc etc why don't you look at your amplification?. So guess what, i spent a fortune and i did change my guitar set up. I got new amplification but the pick ups still sounded very weak and equally as bad. The neck pick up was totally brutal to be honest. The next call to Dimarzio was a waste of space indeed. The guy (Randy i think) said that he'd love to get to the bottom of my problem so just bring the guitar in and he'll see if he can detect the problem. I knew what the problem was - the pick ups were Crap! When i told him that i wasn't near New York, not on the doorstep but living in Scotland he thought that Scotland was in London - Doesn't that say it all? Anyway the bottom line was that i took the pick ups out and sent them to a well known pick up maker and manufaturer (no names for obvious reasons). He put a meter over them, did a few tests and he was shocked and told me that in over 20 years working these were the worst pick ups that he'd ever had on his test bench. It's a difficult procedure and expensive when buying new pick ups espeially when buying Parker pick ups. You'll never know what they sound like until you fit them but first you have to order them, buy them then no money back because they're no use to anyone but Parker owners ...BOGUS! Regarding tremelo plates, yes maybe the shop was at fault for that one however, after the shop told me that they would send them to me, they suddenly had a new distributor and wouldn't send them so i would have to ask Parker. You can guess the answer there eh? Buy them from your own distributor in the UK at around #18 a piece!

I've been playing around 23 years and been playing semi pro or pro for around 10 of them. I would buy another Parker tommorrow as they're perfect for what i do however, i would not buy an old one with DiMarzios, it would have to have Seymours or something equivalent. They're great for doing gigs as they're very light and trust me sometimes i'm on stage for 6 hours and my Les Paul would just kill me doing that. I have in total around 16 instruments and my two main guitars are the Parker Classic and an old Ibanez Blazer that i had fitted with a pre amp and a piezo pick up. I bought this Parker because it was reduced in price which fitted into my price range. Looking back i wish that i had borrowed money and went for the midi fly or a hardtail.

natural mahogany, classic...I think I bout it in 98.
I played like 5 of them in the store. guitar center SF
all the good but, the pickup sound....????
like another reviewer said it took me months to realize something was missing. I had been playing an old L5, lots of standards and new jazz; I wanted a new sound. piezos, blend, nice, ,but that in-between sound!?! The Sax, Piano, Bass player even the drummer said,,,just bring a 335, teli or strat,,,which I had...they didn't like the sound.

the solo sound was mostly lacking,,, but I hadn't realized or noticed the literature saying that it was a one-coil each blend, !DOH!

small marshall combo, kitty hawk(new pots and pre amp mod)
1 6L6 recording amp, home made 2 6v6 bogen chassis in a midget marshall cab(nucking fice!!!)

lots and lots of pedals, recording crap and stomp box's,
mod'd reissues and classics(phase 100, trem...)

but that weak-in-weak-out middle sound,,,
which is often lapsed into without remembering
its dual split coil,,, !!!doh!!!
thanks to Raymond Luxury-Yacht I dared to fiddle with the
pickup selector and the fix took seconds,,,

I've played old 100k guitars at my friend Richy's We-buy-guitars in NYC,,,this is silky, subtle, sexy and responsive. makes me feel like I could get that scofield, frezel, dorio thing happening...well hubris is part of the deal.

finish is alright,,, looks nice seems to be ok for a 7 year old guitar.

well the controls do feel fragile but I've had other pots
that felt this way and they lasted since the 70's,,, in fact one bourns pot got put into like 20 guitars; even after breaking off the connection lug!! really I lived through the 80's where you could have a guitar with 20 sounds you wouldn't want to use anywhere = \

I replaced the strap lock the first day, plastic T top from stew mac, like 2.00 a set,,, I bought like 10 sets and put them on everything.

I sent one email, no response.

thanks to the guy who posted the wiring info, it's now better.
it's very easy to change(the discription by Raymond Luxury-Yacht made it seem more difficult)
the details:
when both mags are on, one inner coil is on bridge&neck.

-disconnect the black and white(already together) for the bridge
and it's both coils on (for the bridge pup)

-disconnect the red and green(already together) for the neck and
dada, both coils are on.

first I wrote down what goes where and taped it onto the cavity cover.
next I found out which sound I liked,,, (bridge both coils)+ 1 coil neck. As I remember a classic tone from the 70's but not hollow. horray!!!!! its like when I changed a few caps and resistors and got my reissue TS10 to breath and not kill bass tone.

I had already reviewed this guitar and gave it much kudos EVERYONE knows the features, for the record I had installed a Sperzel 'D' Tuna which I defintely recommend to those who need to drop.

The Sound of this guitar is suprising considering the weight etc. I loaned it to a friend who does lot's of Song writing demos and he couldnt stop saying how well it would sit in every mix. I have used it live and studio, live it's a bit cumbersome to switch settings and the volume knobs are waaay too light to be used to control gain to the amp. I also have a PRS Custom 22 10 top for when I need that rolled back sound.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aha...Now I can gripe let's see: I have had no fewer than 3 frets 'FALL' off this guitar. I personally spoke to Ken Parker at NAMM about this, he insisted it was the cleaner I was using...(What cleaner???) I really think it's the glue that melts in hot climates..33 deg C average. My tech hates this guitar for this. I wish the frets were not just glued onto a flat fretboard.

Well I have dealt with USA MUSIC for the replacements frets and Flat Springs cause I broke 2 of those. They were great.

GREAT GUITAR!!..Hate the fret installation, that all.

I have an Honduran Mohagany with no finish. I worked at their factory awhile and was able to pick one up before it went to the paint shop. It is very vibrant and loud with no paint, just some tung oil rubbed in, looks like a million too. I have the 2nd hotter version of their pickups in it. Never been one to use a tremelo, so I locked the bridge down so it doesn't float.

It suits my heavy and clean styles perfectly. I use a SD-1>Zinky Master Blaster>Electro-harm Small stone>JCM2000 DSL with a Sonic maximizer in the loop. I love metal, and with the right rig configuration you can really get some wickedly defined metal tones. I think the pickups can be muddy with certain amps. I think that all the sounds you get from different pickups can be full and rich if you know how to set your amps EQ to bring it out. I have played a nice Les Paul through my same setup, and think the FLY easily holds its own.

Design is the key work here, everything retains it setting so well you never have to do a darn thing to it. I set it up to my specs years ago and haven't touched it since.

I have played it for years.. very durable. An extremely light guitar makes it a pleasure to jam for hours with. No shoulder aches after. Have had to replace 1 piezo and 1 flex cable. If you didn't know how to do these things, finding parts and doing it can be challenging. Steward McDonald has FLY parts!

Difficult to get parts you may need, I think the company may have moved to NY? Steward Mcdonald has a limited selection of FLY parts.

The things I like most are it's easy playability, it holds it's setup well, and sounds really great. The things I dont like, it's tendency to sound muddy without proper amp/settings, it has had several parts fail, and the replacements were expensive and proprietary!

Not sure what year it was made. This is the standard model classic, transcherry finish, with Seymour Duncan upgrades installed by Ed Roman Guitars.

I love most of the features of this guitar: it's light weight, it's neck (so fast and smooth), it's easy adjustability for trem and action, and it's looks.

I give it negative marks on one count: the placement of the volume knob: I keep accidentally hitting it while playing and turning the volume down. I understand that the newer models have changed the position of the volume knob so this may not be an issue.

Bummer. No sustain, even with the duncans. Thin overall. Also, a harsh edge, possibly the result of the stainless frets. Piezos are pretty good, nice acoustic sound; I could see how one of the acoustic-only Parkers would be a great choice for someone who wanted only that sound. But I needed some good old-fashioned sustain out of the mags, and this beauty just didn't deliver. It took me a week to realize that it didn't have the sound I wanted, and it went back to eBay. I was very disappointed, because it is overall such a beautiful instrument. It might be just right for a player who wants a sharp, crisp sound.

Outstanding build quality. A work of art and craftsmaship, very solid.

I think it's probably pretty reliable, since it had had at least two owners before me, been shipped back and forth across the country, had a pickup upgrade, and was still in pristine condition when I got it (except someone had used something like car wax to polish it... ick!). So, even though I didn't keep it for long I'll give it high marks.

Been playing 35 years, gone through lots of diffent guitars, effects, amps, etc. Have settled on a Goden xtSA (which replaced the Parker, and which I am deliriously happy with), play through a POD XT into a Carvin PA--don't have a guitar amp anymore, don't want one, the POD/PA combo is better for my style. Play about one gig a week, usually as lead guitarist, sometimes as solo act.

I wish the Parker had more sustain. The duncans in the upgrade seemed like low-end Duncans to me; I love the Duncan Jazz, and they weren't even close.

2001 Parker fly classic
She gets 20 (not 10)

You get an awfull sound from a guitar that costs THOUSANDS $
DONT try to get a real WARM sond.Espesialy a warm drivesound.
I play jazz-fusion and I can asure you that this guitar is far away from this direction
Its rocks ok
I have try a Brian Moore with duncans and itsfar away as about the jazz sound
SINGLE COILS ARE TERRIBLE. NO fatness at all

No problems at all

With a very carefull set up (there is a very sensitive vibrato brige)
its great

I am from Greece so I cant trust any guitar tech here.

I beleave that the TERRIBLE SOUND problem has totaly solved by the factory using Saymour Duncan
Anyway the guitar remains one of the finests instruments are ever made
(it s the finest I ve ever seen and believe me I play jazz for about 80 years etc!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)**&%$#@!(^*$^

This is a 1998 classic model, has 24 frets, hum-cancelling on middle position, custom dimarzios, beautiful transparent blue finish, unique bridge style, locking sperzel tuners, neck is perfect fit not overly flat. I could go on, but you can read other reviews for all the features I missed. Came with molded hardcase. More features than any other guitar I know. All features are useful as well.

This guitar is the most versatile I have ever seen in a guitar. I play primariliy, jazz, blues, clean rock, some heavier rock, and classical. This guitar suits all of those except for classical. The mahogany body gives it a nice warm tone which is worth the extra money over the deluxe. Piezo gives a nice acoustic sound over an acoustic amp and a relatively good acoustic type sound over a normal amp. Only dislikes is the decrease in sound in the middle position (not overly bad at all) and perhaps an overly bright tone in single coil mode. Overall deserves a 10.

I bought this guitar used, so have no knowledge of factory setup. Could find no flaws in the guitar. Transparent blue finish is high gloss and has the wood grain visible through the finish.

Guitar seems very durable and as if it will last a long time. Would never gig without a backup.

N/A

This is the greatest guitar I have ever play. Perhaps the only feature that bothered me was the upper hook of the body which sometimes digs into me and can hurt after a couple of hours, but its not really a big thing for me. I've found this guitar to be the most easily playable guitar and the sound is extremely versatile. I will probably eventually buy some other guitars such as a high quality archtop, and if it were stolen or lost I would most definatly buy a new one. Lets hope it never comes to that. If you have any other questions about this guitar, feel free to e-mail me, I will be happy to answer.

I bought this Parker Fly Classic used. Not sure what year it is, but it is in mint condition. The body-shape is awesome.
- made in the USA
- beautiful baby metallic blue finish (not seen anywhere else!)
- 24 frets
- Piezo/preamp system
- 2 custom wound DiMarzio pickups
- mahogany body/basswood neck
- Fishman bridge (fixed, floating, and bend-down only bridge)
- Sperzal locking tuners
- 25.5 scale
- 5 lbs.
- Seemless neck joint.
- came with hard shell case, instruction book, tools.


The most features out of any other guitar on the planet in my opinion. People are insane to give anything but a 10.

I use a Fender Frontman 25 amp. I play every single type of music imaginable. The Parker has often been praised for its versatility, and now I can see why. Fender? The phased-out single coil function covers it. Les Pauls? Easily. Acoustic sound? The Parker will suffice for that. You won't get an amazing nu-metal sound though. I don't think these pickups are hot enough for that, but it will cover everything in between like a charm. My solos are nice and smooth. The combination of the magnetic and Piezo sound is nearly limitless.

By FAR the most comfortable guitar I have ever played. You will agree when you play one as well. It's feather light - this is a GOOD thing people, not bad. There is absolutely no neck heel which gives the allusion of a one piece guitar.

The guitar was in mint shape when I recieved it. There were no flaws that I could find.

I broke the string on the very first day. I guess I was too eager to play. I have had this guitar for a while and it still plays like it was brand new. Hopefully it will stay that way....

Never dealt with them.

I'm 16 and I have been playing for about 2 years. Don't be quick to judge, I know my guitars, and I know how to play them. I have played everything from PRS, to Ibanez, to Gibson, to Fenders and all their nuances extensively. The Parker wins in the aspects of playability, and versatility. Although it was really expensive for me, it was well worth it. If it were lost, I would be so angry, that....

They are expensive guitars. Mine better not be lost. I have been waiting to get this guitar for a long time. Did it live up to my expectations? Above and beyond. Best guitar I own - hands down. I am giving this guitar a 9.5 (0.5 off for the price). Since there is no 9.5 option, I'm rounding it up to 10. EMAIL ME WITH ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS WONDERFUL INSTRUMENT.

This is a brand new axe, i got it around christmas time 2002. Its a beautiful see-thru cherry red.

The features have been covered many times... locking tuners, an amazingly advanced trem system, piezo acoustic pickups, and some brilliant custom dimarzio mag pickups.

Mahogany body, basswood neck-thru (to call it a neck-thru is an understatement, its more like a body-thru or something), carbon/glass exoskeleton, bonded-on stainless steel frets (as opposed to the more common inlayed nickel frets... less reliable, softer, and more vulnerable to wear and tear). Where the neck meets the body, the neck is actually thicker than the body. This makes for incredible upper fret access. The shape of the neck just keeps going into the body and you can play comfortably right up to the 24th fret.

The neck is wide, flat, and relatively thin, a lot like Jackson necks. Unbelievably comfortable. The carbon/glass exoskeleton is also great, it really helps on both resonance, tone complexity, and tuning stability. It is so rigid that it eliminates the need for truss rod adjustments as the seasons change so that your guitar can hold its tune more properly. That saves some good cash on setups :)

The array of tone controls is pretty complex but easy to get the hang of. It gives you overall volume, magnetic pickup volume, magnetic pickup tone, and then a co-axial piezo volume knob with a piezo tone O-ring around it. Then there are 2 switches... a mag pickup selector (bridge, coil tap bridge and neck, and neck) and a piezo only/mag only/mix selector. Near the output jack is a red button that you can push to have the piezo and mag signals going out on the same output, or you can have them go out on separate outputs so you can split the piezo signal off to run it direct to the PA or to an acoustic amp.

The axe comes with a very nice locking hardshell case. Included in the case is a set of wrenches and tools, a nicely illustrated instruction manual, a special stereo Y-lead (for separating the piezo and mag signals as mentioned above), a key to the case lock, and a trem plate for use with .10 gauge strings.

FYI this whole trem plate business is what goes in the back of the guitar instead of springs. Rather than stretching a spring, Parker trems get their tension from compressing a plate. This takes up less room than a spring trem and allows parker bodies to be as thin as they are.

Im using this guitar with a Tech21 Sansamp PSA-1 preamp into a TC Electronic G Major FX unit, into the FX loop return of a Marshall JCM900 head (im only using the poweramp section of the head, not the preamp section).

This guitar is material proof that the myth that bigger bodies = bigger tone is just that... a myth. The carbon/glass exoskeleton works wonders on the tonal qualities of the already very high quality mahogany that the guitar is made of.

Chords just leap out of the guitar with such gusto it almost seems like the guitar is doing the playing for you. Palm mutes make thunderous thuds and lead riffs just dance around inside the guitar. I've never heard a more lively sounding axe. Very full, very rich, very deep.

I'm in 3 musical arrangements right now. I'm in a rock band, a hardcore metal band, and a jazz/funk band. I can find a sound in this axe to suit every one of those styles perfectly. My main musical style, however, is metal. I seem to be one of the only metalheads to review a fly classic, so let me tell you now that despite what you've heard, Parkers also make EXCELLENT metal guitars. They're not just good for jazz/funk/fusion.

You hear about Parkers often being used by studio musicians who play whatever they're payed to. They use these things for a reason: they need a guitar that's as versatile as their playing so they can keep up with their careers as studio musicians.

The action from the factory was absolutely perfect. Intonation was also immaculate and the pickup height was great. There were also no dings in the finish, crooked frets, mis-placed dabs of adhesive, or any flaws that have become all too common in the world of high-end guitars now a days.

Not only was the guitar beautifully set up and flawlessly made, but (get this...) it also arrived from the factory perfectly in tune! I'm not sure wether i should credit that to Parker's beautifully advanced trem design, the rugged hard case, or the careful package handlers, but it was very impressive nonetheless.

Everything is rock solid. I've had no problems with it, and i've gigged it multiple times. There have been no tuning problems, so long as you remember to TUNE IT IN FIXED-BRIDGE MODE, NOT FLOATING! That's extremely important to remember.

My one gripe is that the trem bar system is kind of dodgey. It has no way of attaching itself to the trem... you just kind of stick it in there. It doesn't hold very well, but the manual says all you have to do is bend the arm a little bit and it'll hold like a charm. So really all i have to do is fish out a pair of pliers. I have yet to be bothered with doing that though heh heh...

I haven't had to deal with them yet (thankfully), but the other day they sent me a free parker fly t-shirt in the mail. That was pretty cool, so I'm giving them a 10 for that.

I've been playing around 5-6 years now. I don't regret purchasing this guitar at all.

Not to get all mushy or anything, but to me, playing this guitar is like a religious experience. Its neck is so perfectly sculpted, its body so light, and its frets so perfectly shaped and bonded, it feels like im not playing the guitar at all. It felt a bit weird at first, but then i realized that it felt weird because everything i was playing required so much less effort than it did on any other guitar. This is the most musical of musical instruments, as you dont have to fight with it. You just play it, no questions asked.

There is NOTHING i dislike about this guitar. It fits me like a glove. It feels just like an extension of my body when i play it. I urge everybody to try one if they havent already.

1999 Fly Classic in natural mahogany, with the usual features for this model: Sperzels, Parkers' vibrato system, piezo with onboard 9v preamp, and 2 DiMarzio humbuckers, mono or stereo output. The body is mahogany, the neck basswood. Came with a decent case, tools and manual. It has a lot of features for a guitar, but not all of them work that well in my experience, hence the rating.
I like the body shape, but I think it would be improved by removing a triangular section of wood on the back side of the upper horn where it is in an L shape so that it wouldn't poke so much. It wouldn't have to be a big change, just taking off some of that corner and rounding off the remaining edge.

I bought this guitar for the way it played, but was ultimately disappointed with the tone. The Dimarzios are nothing special; they have fairly high output, which makes them a good choice for players that want to use distortion all the time, but the clean tones are so so and cannot do the pretty, chimey sound that I felt the guitar could have delivered with the right bridge pickup. The neck pickup was useless to me, not nearly enough highs. The piezo is OK, it has the basic sound that they are known for, which can get you into trouble if you mix a lot of it into your signal. The biggest problem for me was that I liked to keep the tone knob for the mag pickups near the top setting, but the pot or preamp had a problem of some kind and made a noise right about where the sweet spot was. The noise was always in the same spot on the travel of that knob.

It was setup OK from the factory but I immediately set it up to my satisfaction. After a few months the output jack came loose; it's a weird jack with the external portion right on the wood, and no clear means of adjusting it. It is round, not hex shaped so you could turn it with a standard wrench. The retailer, and then Parker support, advised me that you need a special tool to tighten it. They couldn't tell me where I could get one of the tools, nor what they are called, and the store didn't have one. What kind of bullshit jack needs a special tool to tighten ? I felt this was an extremely poor choice of parts. The other parts and finer points of construction of the instrument were fine.
I felt the manual could have been clearer regarding the bridge. Really, I would have been happier with a hard tail version, but it was discontinued before I ordered mine. If you want to disable the vibrato system and use it like a hard tail, you have to increase the tension on that weird knob that goes through the top of the guitar, but not all the way, it needs to be a little less than that or else you may have tuning problems. The point of even tension is something you have to find by trial and error, it can't be marked for easy location, which sucks.

The finish seemed fragile, so I was always careful with it and didn't have any problems. I used straplocks (you have to use the original screw from the strap button on the top horn). The aforementioned lousy output jack was losing its' black finish, but the rest of the hardware looked pretty much as new when I traded it after about 2 years of use.

I sent the guitar back to Parker after having it for a few months because of the output jack issue (!) and the noise on the tone knob. They turned it around fairly quickly and covered the expense, but when I got it back the noise was still there exactly as it had been before on the tone knob. At least they tightened the jack for me... but I still didn't have that stupid tool in case it happened again. I have heard that the noise on that tone pot is due to a design flaw in the onboard preamp, but if that is the case they should have a) been up front with me about it and b) taken care of it with an updated design and offered me the fixed version for free when it became available. The warranty was one year, not nearly enough for a guitar in this price range in my opinion.

A mixed bag for Parker here. I loved the neck, precision fretwork and the light weight; I think these could be amazing guitars if they had better pickups and electronics, because the acoustic sound from the unplugged guitar and sustain are excellent. This was supposed to be my ultimate guitar that I would have forever, but after a couple of years I had had enough and traded it in for a Rickenbacker at about a $1200 loss (that's a lot of money to a working schmuck like me). I think Parker needs to go to some kind of standard pickup shape so the user can change them with aftermarket pickups. I realize the thin profile makes this difficult, but I don't see why a P 90 shape wouldn't work, they are not very deep at all. At the very least they should offer some alternate pickups in the original housing shape so that you could customize your Fly to get a passable vintage type sound.
Despite this experience, if Parker offered a hardtail version that addressed the issues I have mentioned and allowed me to put other pickups in without routing the intrument, I would seriously consider buying one.

I've got as 1997 Transparent Emerald Green Parker Fly Classic. Without going into too much detail that's already been covered here in previous review, I'll just say that it's got two humbuckers, one piezo acoustic pickup, onboard actove mixer for the two pickup types, stereo or mono out (i.e., two separate outs for mag vs. acoustic via a y-cable), a super fast graphite neck (especially with Elixer nanoweb strings), stainless frets. The body, despite what others have said, is pleasantly light - some don't like how light it is...it's a real treat after playing a Les Paul. It (purchased used) came with two pairs of strings, y-cable, OHSC, tremelo arm and instruction manual. Beautiful figuring to the mahogany body visible through the transparent finish. The bridge is adjustable from full-floating like a Floyd Rose (but not quite the same), to fixed, or bend down only.

I play Jazz and fusion (and xmas songs this time of year). It jams. It has so many sounds that it's simply amazing. I particularly like it dry, unprocessed. That's sort of the point, anyway - to get a mix of the natural sound of the acoustic WITH the magnetic pickup sound. Even better is a processed sound on the mag side with a cleaner piezo mixed in. VERY unique. No amount of processing can make a regular electric guitar sound like a Parker, IMHO. Anyway, I play it through my V-Amp and I love it that way, too. As has been said before, the DiMarzio pickups aren't the hottest in the world, however, hot doesn't necessarily equate to 'good sounding'. The DiMarzio pickups sound quite good, and are well matched to the piezo and the overall intent of this guitar.

Finish is nearly flawless. The fellow I got it from took good care of it, and it had a great finish to begin with. The knobs have a nice rubber grippy feel, and despite reports that the master volume is too close to the strings, I find that if you have decent pick control, the knob is fine where it is. The factory setup was excellent (I'll explain later how I know, since it's used).

Well, the guy I bought it from took meticulous care of the guitar's appearance, yet, overtightened the balance wheel such that it was frozen! I had to send it back to the factory to get it fixed. They claimed 2-3 weeks to fix - it took 18 days from my door, round trip back to me. Not bad, especially at the Xmas season.

As for durability - if you read the manual and understand how the Parker's unique controls work, you'll have no trouble. I haven't played it live yet, but, I imagine it would be just wonderful. It's PLENTY light enough that it won't break your back (<5lbs).

I suppose the only thing that could go wrong live is that the battery could die (that supplies the onboard electronics), so if you plan to play out, just make sure you're batt is fresh.

Yes, I've dealt with customer support - they treated me very very well. I called at the 2 week mark to ask about my guitar's repair (see above), and it happened to be done that day. At my request, they even threw in a few Parker Stickers! When I called the next day to get my tracking number, the person answering the phone recognized me by name right away! The guitar is now back in my hands and it's damn near perfect except for some *very* minor pick scratches from the first owner. Almost indistingushable from new. Parker even cleaned it up nice before they sent it back. They also set it up for me, and the setup is nice and low with no buzz.

Overall, I'd give it a 10. This is one of those guitars that you have to experience to believe. If I had to keep a few guitars out of my huge collection, this one would be in the top 3.

I bought it for a very steep 4200$ canadian with the insurance money from my stolen Les Paul custom. Mine is cherry red and very nice looking.
I won't repeat what everyone already said about the features. It's pretty mind-boggling. The only pickup set up I almost never use is the piezo-bridge mix.

I don't get the bad reviews this guitar gets in the sound departement. It has a very fat sound in the middle coil position, which is great for playing funk. It has a VERY smooth legato-style, round sound on the neck position. Turn the tone down in that position and you have an great jazz sound, add in the piezo in the mix and you have an unreal jazz sound, something a Gibson can't touch imo. The piezo is so-so when plugged in a normal amp, but surprisingly efficient in a PA or an acoustic amp. You can have great distortion sounds out of all the mags. Very satisfied.

At first the guitar was pretty good, but the action was too high. I lowered and tighted the tremolo and for a short 2 months, it was perfect. After those 2 month, tough the high E string started buzzing slightly and my G string started getting sharp every time I use my tremolo/whammy bar too much. It's weird since I basically changed nothing and it suddendly changed.(if you can help on this, just send an E-mail) The neck, is pure bliss tough, I've NEVER tried a better neck, easy, fast and a great cutaway make's it the easiest playing guitar out there. My playing instantly improved when I played it, it's totally unreal since I played on a Les Paul Custom before, and I thought it was an incredible guitar. It still is, but the Parker is that much better. Also, the weight difference is an extra that can't be forgotten.

I think this guitar looks very reliable, I've never had a let down in the 6 months i've had it. I don't bring a back-up guitar to gigs yet(too broke), but I don't feel like its a necessity.

Havent had to deal with them yet.

It's a God-sent. The only thing that bothers me about the guitar is the switch emplacement for the mags, still have a hard time getting used to it. For the rest, it's the mother of all guitars!

I bought this Fly Classic used. You can look up features on the Parker website. Basically, it is a H/H/Piezo configuration.

I find it difficult to believe some of the other reviews that down rate the sound of this guitar. I use my guitar with a Boss GT-6 processor (processing the mag pickups) and direct in the Piezo pickup. I amplify via a Peavey KB/A (Keyboard, Accoustic) amp.

I can make pretty much any tone I want with this guitar! If you compare it to digital products like VG-8s, Variaxes etc, the 'accoustic' sounds wins on the Parker hands down.

I personally like the humbuckers..they are not has hot as some others I have seen and let's me hover around Strat sounds as well getting into darker humbucker tones.

Sustain is fantastic, but this is my first guitar that isn't bolt on so I may be unnecessarily influenced.

I bought mine several years used and it plays and looks like new! It ages well and plays well...I do not think it can be beat! I've yet to exploit the Parker bridge at all. I don't think I like the idea of having to replace bridge springs with each guage of sting, but they are cheap to get...just a hassle.

Mine is older than some and it looks and plays great. Everything I've heard say this will be one rugged guitar.

n/a

I've played since I was a teenager (I'm 44). Slowly moving up guitar levels during that time (with a 18 year hiatus in the middle to start a family). This guitar is the best I have seen. I've played new ones in stores for several years and always wanted one. My previous guitar was a US Strat.

I insure my instruments ( I play out ), I would be heartbroken and would look HARD for another Fly like this one.

End statement: Great guitar! My back likes it too! I do not find 'thinness' in the sound of it...the sounds fits me just right. Remember tone is a preference issue, you'll only know by trying one out (a few times with different amps)

2000 parker fly Classic

This Guitar does have a lot of features and available mods. But being a slight technophobe, features are not always a good thing. I like the piezo/active blend feature and the locking tuners, but the tremelo setup quacks when set to non-floating. Stainless steel frets wont wear out and neither will the carbon fibre fretboard....

As his guitar was a gift I had no chance to play it before I recieved it, and like all neckthru parkers it sounds really shallow in normal mode, but thru an acoustic amp the piezo does have a warm feel.
This guitar is clinically quiet, I mean if you do studio work it would be great but in a small club I would rather have a less sterile axe.

Exellent finish, really low action (I took it up a little to get better string response). One small blemish in the mahogany (my wife says she got a hell of a deal on it due to this)but it is not a major flaw.
The neck is very fast with great access near the heel (well thats becuse there isn't a heel)

I dont play this guitar often so I cannot comment on durability....

Never Spoken to Ken But i hear good things

I have been playing guitar for 13 years, sometimes with a band but never in a studio situation. I feel this guitar would be great for a studio musician or a Jazz guy but not for smokey clubs and such (it's just to damn sterile!)

Plenty of gadgets and interesting styling. Kinda reminds me of "Purple Rain" and I'm not sure that's good, but nonetheless an innovative guitar with a varitable pallette of choices within your reach. All of which,in my opinion, fall a little short of it's price tag.

This guitar sounds like it has a thin body. It sounds like 4 lbs. Fortunately I traded $700 worth of gear for a 95' Classic and don't have to write a review rationalizing to myself why I blew $2500 bucks on one. The Piezo sounds better with thicker gauge strings. With them on, the Parker becomes harder to manipulate. The intention is there and I applaud that. With lighter gauge strings you can really rip it up on this neck. It is a fast, trim design. Parker has a lot of hype behind it but not much depth and sustain. It has it's moments but I like a hot bridge pickup sound, the Parker doesn't produce that. It's tinny and lacks dimension. The Red Lace Sensor in my USA Strat wakes me up in the morning. I never play my Parker. I just show it to people.

Great action, nice looking finish. Like I mentioned earler, with lighter gauge strings you can really rip it up on this neck. It is a fast, trim design. I acquired this Parker used with dings, don't really know how durable a finish this is. Electronics are working now.

Don't know how it would stand up in a live performance because I am not willing to compromise my sound. Seems durable enough though. I have 11 guitars 10 of which I like better than this. It is still very cool I just happen to own a few cooler guitars. Such as my Vintage Ibanez Artist. 24 frets of flawless action. It would take too long to write that review for that . A real value at $250 US w/ OHSC.

N/A

I own several amps and am a gear junkie. The Parker Sounds decent through my Roland AC-100, JC-120. Marshall JCM 800 2205 head w/ DD-5/GE-7 in the loop. Unfortunately I was never satisfied with decent as far as guitar sound, so I can't see rating this guitar too high.