Parker Guitars Fly Deluxe

I think you know all the spec. mine is black with a thinner neck, is an early prodution,simple cann't ask for more from one guitar.

Ok, it is what I'm went to talk about, I trade in my 92's les paul standard for this Parker fly, I love my Paul, it sound so sweet to play alone, but every time I play with a full band ( other guitar, bass, drum, keyboard, vocal), the Les Paul just lost in the mix, of course I can turn up the treble or mid, but then it lost it's sweet sound. when I get my Parker fly, the problem gone, this guitar keep me happly about 2 years. The more I play, the more I hate it, this guitar simple get no tone! if you only play nu-metal, this is the one for you, this guy cann't even play a good metal solo, the sound is so thin, so cold, it is so bad for my blues playing.

I live in Calgary, Canada, all my other guitar must get a pro set up every one or two years, but never this Parker, I never fix or adjust anything on it, full point.

The only reason that I still keep this guitar is because it's reliability, I bring it out on every gig, it never let me down, it do break a E string once, but I can charge it on the fly, it is no folyde rose here, it always in tune, it can cut all the sound like a Telecaster.

never need them, and they get a helpfull site anyway.

I been playing for 15 years, my other guitar are Gibson es335, 2002 Gibson Les Paul standard, Gibson SG 61's, Orville Les Paul custom w/ EMGs, Fender floyd rose classic strat, James burton tele, Ernie ball Axis super sport, some acoustic, mesa nomad55 head, 4 12 mesa cab, G-major for effect, so you can see the taste of my music is all about tone! I do recommend this guitar for beginner or people don't care about tone,because it is so playable, trouble free and looks good.

Poplar body with basswood neck
Parker cast aluminum vibrato bridge with stainless steel saddles
Composite fretboard
Graphtech nut
Sperzel locking tuners
Two Custom DiMarzio humbuckers
Six-element Fishman piezo system
Master volume, mag volume, mag tone, and piezo volume/tone knobs
Three-way mag selector switch
Custom designed Fishman active circuit pre-amp
Split stereo or summed mono operation

The guitar is made in 2003 and the colour is a really nice ice-blue. It is a thru-neck guitar and it's really really light weight. The body's very thin and comfortable.
It came with a deluxe Levy's softcase, tension plate for 10s (came with 9s and I'm happy with them.), handbook and a stereo cable.

I play rock, some metal, blues and jazz. It suits me well. I'm using it with a cheap Marhsall amp and a Gt 6. The guitar's very quiet. I like it how the lower end is not muddy unlike my les paul.
The piezo is convenient when jamming since I don't use a lot of acoutsic guitar, only once in awhile.

The guitar's set up very well and it's still fine after flying with me on the plane in the overhead cabin. The neck and body are nice and smooth. There's a little paint imperfection on the neck but it's not much of an issue.
It stays in tune well and pickup selector's quiet.

I haven't played live with it yet. It feels a bit fragile because it's so light but it should last since it feels pretty solid.

I've been playing for a few years and I also own a Gibson Les Paul Gothic and Epiphone Supernova. If it were stolen/lost, I'll try and find one again (I bought the last one the shop bought in) but I don't know if I can afford another one!
I love the light weight and in particular the smoth neck of the guitar. It's the best feature of the guitar IMO. I also like the way teh volume knob is close to the strings. I have short fingers and I can't manage to use the knob when I pick on my lp.
I compared it with Carvin guitars (DC series with piezo) but I ended ip choosing Parker even though it costs almost twice of the Carvins I was looking at because it feels so good to play. I also looked into Musicman Silhoutte but the thru-neck of Parker feels better (and the guitar looks better to me.)
I wish it came with a hardcase. My lp costs just a bit more than half of this one and it came with a hardcase.

This Fly Deluxe was made in 1994 (according to the serial number). The controls are very versatile and allow many different sounds to be dialed in. I bought it used a year and a half ago.

I am playing mostly pop, jazz and fusion music and I can find all the necessary sounds there, and more. The combination of the magnetic and piezo pickups are fantastic. I am using Mesa/Boogie amps with it, and I find the guitar to be very quiet, without any noise.

The basic sound of the guitar is quite bright and allows you to cut through the mix. However, playing with the controls gives you good darker and deeper sounds as well. However, it takes time to find the best combinations and get yourself adjusted to the controls. Don't expect to find the best sounds right away. The guitar is a bit like the Mesa/Boogie amps; they have to be tweaked with patience to get to the best sounds, but the guitar is definitely worth the time and patience. The basic sound is balanced and accurate, and works very well with effected sounds without turning muddy. The guitar sounds good of course without effects, as well.

I bought the guitar used, but it was still in nearly perfect condition, almost like new despite it's age. Only scratches in the finish told that it had been played a lot.

I find the guitar very dependable.

I haven't dealt with Parker directly. The rating is because of the lack of the support in my own country.

I have been playing and doing gigs for about ten years, and I have owned several high quality guitars. The only negative thing about the guitar that I can come up with is that you have to order different springs to change the string gauge. It's not very easy to get replacements for a guitar that is rare in Europe.

As with all parker flys this was made in the US.Mine was made in 1996 though i bought it used a year ago.Th body ispoplar with a basswood neck and carbon/epoxy fingerboard.Mine is jet black with all the basic parker features:locking tuners piezo system and a vibrato bridge.

I play extreme metal.I run it into my digitech 2101 preamp which goes into a qsc poweramp then into a set of two peavey 4x12 cabinets.In comparison to my jackson rhoads (dimarzio X2n in the bridge and a dimarzio Evolution in the neck)It's obviously much more quiet.No unpleasant hums from the guitar itsself.There's no complaint about the pickups except that they don't have very high output, so unless you've got an amp with some balls you should think about changing them.The overall tone of the guitar is very good for leads.It's got a nice smooth sound.The pickups have more of a mid range which fattens the tone so your leads won't cause people bloody ears.

Well i bought it used and it was in mint condition(still is).No adjustments were madeit was perfect when i got it and it hasn't had a setup in a year and it's perfectly fine.I'm 100% pleased with this guitar.

I've used it contless times and it's absolutely reliable never once hasit given me problems.The guitar plays and functions as if it were new.You don't need a backup with this guitar.

Never needed to contact them, a ten in my book.

I've been playing for nearly 4 yrs now and out of all the high end guitars i've played this is by far the best.It's got a lightning fast neck and access to the higher frets is easy.The frets themselves are super thin and will almost never wear out like on other guitars.The body is ultra light.I'm sure when I put the better parker fly pickups in this guitar it'll be perfect in every aspect.I have no desire to purchase a guitar from another company again(except maybe a carvin 7string because parker doesn't make them:( )

What more could you ask for in a guitar?!? 24 frets, a piezo that can be mixed with the magnetic pickups, a remolo that stays in tune really well and can also be used as a fixed bridge, locking tuners and more. You can read other reviews too for features, but this pretty much sums it up.

Well, this is important to all people who own a guitar. SOUND is the key. I bought my Parker in December of '02 and I had it for a while and started to play it a little more. I loved the guitars playability, but something was wrong. THE SOUND!! GAHH, I was so pissed off. The guitar sounded like shit! The pickups were so tinny, had no balls, low end, not enough output and they plain sucked. The tone sucked from the guitar. Spending like 2 grand on this guitar, it shouldn't sound bad! The piezo sounded great, but the magnetic pickups, no. Ok, heres the deal. I got my guitar modified. Now because of the modification, this is the most amazing sounding guitar, quite possibly the best sounding guitar I've ever used in my life!!! I had a parker made in '98. All the Parkers made before some time in '99 have the older dimarzio pickups which are horrible. The newer dimarzio's arent too much better though. I didn't get new dimarzio's like all the other people. I got something else. SEYMOUR DUNCAN!! Ok, what you should do, if you love your Parker and want an amazing sound from it is contact Ed Roman (www.edroman.com). Ed Roman's shops are the only one's who have the qualifications to do this pickup modification. It costs 239 dollars. The old pickups are replaced by these special seymour duncan black back pickups which are the only pickups seymour duncan makes that I know of that can fit in the guitar correctly. These pickups also are the best pickups seymour duncan makes, they have the highest frequency response so the pickups "hear" more sounds than normal ones and have very very high clarity and an awesome tone. The bridge pickup has a great amount of output, a rich, full, creamy and fat sound and the neck pickup is warm, smooth and just so nice sounding. This pickup mod is what makes the guitar. It sounds literally 10 times better after the mod if not more. Before the mod, I give it a 5, now with it, I give it a 10. The guitar overall gets a little hum because its so thin. I play metal, classic rock, progressive, punk, hard rock, ska, and just about everything. This guitar is extremely versatile and is great for all types of music. I love everything about my guitar now.

The guitar was set up perfectly from the factory, the action was amazing, It was even in tune practically even though I bought it 4 years after it was made!! The pickups were a great height, but they sucked so I got rid of them. The guitar was flawless!! NO scratches, dents, dings, or anything. Everything was perfect rigth outta the box. Personally, I hate gague 9 strings. I use 10's on the guitar which make it a lot chunkier sounding I think, it just is better for detuning and gives more control over the guitar.

This guitar is built like a rock! I dropped it once when I was polishing the neck on my bed. The guitar was upright and slammed into my bedpost because my hand slipped so I actually pushed in into the post. I thought the guitar was done for, and this is no exaggeration, NOT ONE SCRATCH CHIP OR DENT in the guitar. I was amazed. Ive banged the guitar into a thing or two, its very study and built well. The finish is amazing and won't wear off, it retains its shine and is a real pleasant color. I would gig without a backup anyday. I've never broken a string on it, the light weight of the guitar keeps it from pulling on the strap too much and the strap pins are rock solid and the strap has never fallen off.

I called the company before. I asked a few questions and they are very dependible. The sent me all the info I requested and gave me options on my pickup problem. They were very open to advice and were nice people.

I love this guitar, its different, has an awesome design, looks great on stage and sounds awesome. I wish the seymour duncan pickups came standard, then more people would know how great Parkers are and would want to buy them. Anyone who was turned off by a Parker, you should try to find one with the pickup mod. Go to www.edroman.com to see his two store locations. There's one in Las Vegas, Nevada and the other is in New Fairfield, Connecticut. Im not a rep from either of those companys which it may seem, haha, I'm just a really satisfied customer. I consider Parker, out of everything I've played, the best. Its original which is important and it is just so much better than everything else I've played. I've played 6 grand les pauls, really old and expensive fenders, jacksons, explorers (which I personally like, even though I dislike gibson because they've gotten cheap and slacked off on the quality of their products) PRS guitars which are all machine made unless your buying a 20 thousand dollar custom shop model (PRS has also slacked off and produce products that aren;t has high quality as they were years ago). Don't think this review is to put off gibson or PRS, if I thought their guitars were great, I'd say so. A good match with this guitar, is a Mesa/Boogie. It really brings out the tone of the guitar, since its not digital, but all tube. Parker makes a great guitar, try one.

The guitar is a 1995 model. It has a fixed bridge (they don`t do fixed bridge in stock models anymore). Check for other features in other reviews.

This is the main reason I am writing this review. I have installed the new PHWP1 and PHWP2 pickups from Dimarzio. These new pickups are stock on post-1999 Parker guitars. The difference is huge. The old pickups are the reason these guitars are less popular then they could be. They sound thin and fizzy and give an unpleasent breakup if the amp is on the edge of breakup. The new pickups are a 100% improvement. I can now push my Rivera BM60 a bit over the edge and control everything from the guitar, while before - forget it. The old pickups sounded totaly harsh and thin if you rolled back the volume. I cant say how the guitar compares to other high end guitars out there, since I have not tried any. But I have to say I have finally stopped purchasing expensive stomp boxes and browsing for used amps on ebay since I installed the new pickups. I am happy with the tone now. With the new pickups the Parker may not be your cup of tea exactly sound-wise, but it is musical and sounds good. With the old pickups the rating is 5 (because of the piezzos, magnetics rate 3) but with the new ones I guess it deserves a fair 9.

Everything is superb exept for the cracks at the neck-body joint. I hear this happens to many Parker guitars. But it doesn`t worry me since the neck is as steady as a rock.

The guitar was built in 1995 and it looks like new. There is virtually no fretwear. Although it looks fragile it is very compact. I believe it will last a long time.

They are slow on e-mails but if you get them on the phone they are friendly and helpfull.

After changing the pickups this guitar is definitelly a keeper. They did cost quite a sum because of the customs, shipping and taxes. But for me they were well worth it, since i believe this is a fantastic guitar - it just lacked the sound. Once you get used to the locking tuners, frets that don`t wear out and detune the guitar, steady tuning and great playability it is hard to play anything else.

This is your basic 24 fret Fly Deluxe with vibrato, two humbuckers, three way switch, piezo pickups, etc. etc. Mine is a 1997 - kind of a teal blue which isn't my favorite color. Since I bought it used, the stereo cable was missing, but it was worth getting another. I love the locking tuners (first guitar I've ever had with locking tuners) - the thing is always in tune. I use the vibrato on the down only setting - never takes the guitar out of tune.

The guitar certainly is versatile, but I agree with others that the sound of the humbuckers is a little harsh. I prefer a mellower tone which the Parker doesn't give. I play a lot of blues and classic rock. I just got rid of a Vox AC-15 in favor of a 1967 Fender Princeton Reverb and the Parker was better suited to the Vox (if you can believe that). Running it through a Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive set to clean helps out a bit - makes the sound fuller and sweeter. I've found that the middle setting sounds crappy, but the bridge pickup is nice and clear. I do like being able to mix in acoustic sounds and splitting the signal to between an amp and a PA sounds great. I get plenty of sustain out of this thing.

I bought this thing used, but the action was perfect and the condition of the guitar was immaculate. The first couple of times I played, I kept hitting the master volume which was very disruptive, but I got used to where all the knobs and thingamabobs were. I lowered the pickups a bit. The intonation was way off, but this guitar is a breeze to adjust. A couple of small adjustments and everything was perfect. The two best things about this guitar is the weight and the neck. I don't know why so many guitar makers insist on making guitars that top out at nine pounds. I'm not very big and playing all night with a heavy guitar sucks. I just played a wedding with the Parker - six hours of playing and I was ready for more. This thing tops out at a mere 5 pounds. And the neck is like glass - thin as all get out. It's NICE. One comfy guitar. Why be miserable?

In the year I've been playing it, nothing has gone wrong. Even the batteries last a while. I always take a backup, but I've never needed one.

Never needed any repairs, so I've never contacted the company.

I've been playing for 30 years, but I've only gotten serious (and electric) in the last three years. I also have a Japanese tele with Tex Spec pickups, a Japanese strat (that I use exclusively for slide), an Ibanez Artstar, a Martin acoustic electric and a National resonator. It's hard to say which one I like the best because they all have their own sound. If the Parker were lost or stolen, buying another would depend on whether there was anything lightweight on the market that could match the quality of the Parker.

The features have already been more than adequately covered by previous reviewers. What many of them overlook however is the fact that, when the pickup selector is in the middle position, it actually throws the pickups out of phase AND coil-taps both of them. While this is great in that it allows you to get a good single-coil sound a lot like a strat with the mid and neck pickups on, it DOES produce a noticeable loss in signal strength in this position. It's not much of a problem to make up for this by rolling the volume up a bit (you ARE playing with it at about 50%-70%, right? That seems to be the sweet spot for these guitars), it woudl be nice if there were some sort of compensation built into the circuitry of the guitar. Also, it would be nice if each pickup could be switched to single-coil mode independently, rather than only being available as single coils simultaneously. This is not to say that I am not happy with this feature - I love it. It is just that, having heard it, I want to be able to play in single coil mode through the bridge pickup and get more of a strat tone. So, for all of the amazing features, I have to deduct one point. If this guitar had independent coil tapping for each pickup AND gain compensation for the coil tap (adjustable with a mini potentiometer inside, like the one for the piezo pickup) I woudl be very tempted to call it perfect. As it is, one can always just pick up a Nitefly for a more strat-like tone, if it is that big an issue.

See above. It is a great sounding guitar once you learn not to crank it to 10 and leave it there, but I would love to be able to play in single-coil mode through one pickup at a time.

The piezo pickups are stunning as described above. I have gotten a fantastic sound by setting the piezo tone about halfway, the humbuckers' tone all the way down to 0, and mixing them about 70% piezo/30% neck humbucker.

Also noteworthy is the fact that there is a slightly dead note on the 13th fret of the G string. Not a bigg deal - "dead" on this guitar means that you only get 2 or 3 seconds of clean sustain instead of the usual absurd amounts. I had Ken Parker look at it and he said that it is just a minor flaw with the wood, and not much can be done short of hanging weights on the headstock to change the resonant characteristics of the guitar slightly and, hopefully, make the offending harmonic interference move to frequencies BETWEEN the notes of the western scale, so that it would only be a problem when BENDING from that particular fret. I didn't think it was a big enough problem to bother with that. I have never heard of it happening with any other Parker guitar, and since the bad note on my guitar still sounds better than the good notes on most guitars I have played, I don't think it is much of an issue.

ACtion is amazing. I can't imagine being satisfied with any other guitar after having played one of these. There is nothing else like the fretbard and neck on a Parker. I got my guitar from the factory about 6 years ago, and the finish is kind of fragile. According to Ken, they had a lot of trouble getting the environmentally safe finishing materials to behave consistently, and ended up reformulating them a year or so after I bought mine, so it is no longer a problem. Even on mine, the only major cosmetic problem (besides the odd chip, which is my own fault) is that after about three years of playing, a small groove appeared at the seam between the neck and the body. When I first saw it I was afraid that the neck was defective and would be falling off any second, but when I showed it to Ken he assured me that it was because of the unreliable older finishing materials, and thus far that appears to be right - there has been absolutely no trouble with the neck.

One other thing worth noting is that, when in fixed bridge mode, the strings feel nearly one gauge heavier than they actually are. This is supposedly because of the stiffness of the composite shell on the back of the neck, which keeps it from flexing as much as a normal guitar. Anyway, if you like your strings to feel loose, you may have to go down a gauge. Also, the string spacing is a bit wider than many guitars. I like that, but others may not.

Anyway, the feel of the fretboard more than compensates for any other minor cosmetic issues that the guitar may have. In fact, it has ruined me for other guitars.

This thing is bult like a rock, even though it doesn;'t feel like it. Two years ago, at a basement show, I left it leaning against a wall in the corner, in nothing but the standard gig bag that came with it. About halfway through their set, the singer in the band that went on before us jumped off of the drum set and landed face down on top of my guitar. I still cannot believe that it did not snap in half - being propped up by the base of the body and the end of the headstock, and then having a 6'6" drunk man jump on top of it should break ANY guitar. Amazingly, the Parker was not damaged at all, and has played fine ever since.

The only problem I ahve ever had is that recently one end of the first fret seems to have come unglued slightly. It has not moved or raised at all, but every once in a while the high E string will get caught under it, which makes me worry that it will eventually fall off if I do not have it reparied. Since the frets are completely nonstandard, if one were to ever fall off it would probably be a nightmare trying to get it repaired locally. Fortunately the factory is not too far away from me, but that is not the case for most people. Hopefully the new, less expensive line of Parker guitars will encourage more people to try them and Parker will become as popular as it deserves - there is really no reason why these guitars should be any less well known than the Strat or the Les Paul, other than their realative newness.

I have never gone through regular customer support channels, since my family knows Ken Parker, so I have talked to him directly the few times I have needed to. He has always been helpful.

I have been playing guitar for about 12 years now, and have been playing a Parker for nearly six. Nothing else I have ever played comes close, not even a $5000 Paul Reed Smith I tried a couple of years ago. It looked beautiful and sounded great, but compared to a Fly Deluxe it played like a $400 Squier with factory strings. Oddly enough, the only guitar I have played that is comparably playable is the Jerry Jones electric sitar (which is Ironic, since Ken Parker apparently HATES electric sitars). Since getting this guitar, I have never felt a need to buy another high-endsix string, though I still plan to buy a good 12 string someday and occasionally pick up a noname pawnshop guitar if it has an unusual tone. This is the one I play live, practice on, write on, and record 90% of my music on. EVeryone should own one.

most features i'm aware of
locking trem option is nice
stays in tune very well
VERY VERY easy to play

the guitar has many sounds
and they sound very good through acoustic/electric stereo !
very quiet guitar
the fret board is soooo sweet
sooooo easy to play !!! man, effortless !!!!
by far the easiest guitar in the world to play
doesn't have a character sound like the strat
or the FAT les paul sound
but, good enough
i can get a somewhat strat tone with the piezos and distorsion

the best action you could ever want
man, this guitar is sweet
'so easy to play
how can i describe it
when you sit down and play and watch your fingers go up and down the fret board, its like soooooo smooth
just absolute top quality !!!

still running.................
yeah, must be careful with the guitars
if a string breaks do not use the wammy bar
you'll chip the paint behind the bridge
BEWARE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
this is instrument that needs extra care
but, how sweet

don't know

did talk to a PARKER rep at guitar center
told him about the paint chipping
i actually didn't know what caused it
but had seen many at guitar stores with chip paint
he thought that when the string breaks and a wammy bar is used, that its possible to chip the paint

had many guitars
i must say for playability, nothing is better than this guitar
the sound on the guitar is pretty good
just lacks character
but, in stereo mode, its a whole new experience
but, i still love strat sounds. to bad they're difficult to play compared to parkers. I don't know about U, but i like easy playen guitars. these days,, with all the effect tools, you can almost any sound u want. dats wut i think

Mine is a '98 Italian Plum with tremolo. I give really high marks for the features. (Yeah, I've owned Gibson LP, USA Strat, high-end Ibanez's, etc.) This is my favorite guitar I've ever owned (with my Carvin DC-400 running a close 2nd). The BEST feature of this guitar is the slick composite fretboard combined with those incredible stainless steel frets. My style requires lots of string bending, and there is NOTHING like bending strings on this baby...the fretboard is so "slippery" (in a good way)...many compare it to a feeling of glass. The vibrato system is incredible; blows away a Wilk or a Floyd (no string cutting, and no locking nuts). But I PROMISE you, the tuning does not drift no matter how aggressive you get with it. I also love the feature that gives you the choice of floating, dive-only, or locked (fixed) bridge. The piezo system in fantastic (as everyone else on here says). I've read other complaints about the magnetic pickups, but mine are great. If anything, maybe the bridge pickup is overly hot, but thanks to a very USEFUL tone pot, you can tame it/darken it to sound great. I think most who hate the pickups are probably the guys who just leave the volume and the tone pots cranked to "10" all the time. The Parker is so hot-rodded, you can't always leave it like this, unless you are solely wanting ear-bleed harmonic squeels (which it does quite nicely). Another tremendously good feature is the total lack of a neck heel. My Carvins are also "heel-less" (being neck-thru), but this is different. The neck and body seem to be "one unit", and this is really great when playing in the upper register. It's so light-weight and thin (which alarmed me the first time I strapped it over my shoulder). It felt almost like a toy guitar. But when I plugged it in, brother....and hit that first "A Chord"...I felt the unbridled POWER of this machine. There are a zillion other "little things" that are so precisely put together on my Parker Fly...they just all contribute to perfection (imho). I have never played a guitar that just felt so technically perfect, and I can't really put my finger on why...I think it's the sum of all those "little things", and when each of them is perfect, you can instantly tell you are playing a guitar that is special. My only only complaint in the features section is what many have complained about...the layout of the controls. I, too find myself recording solos which start to lack "punch", and find that I've bumped the master volume. I think Mr. Parker designed it this way to do volume swells with the pinky (which is very easy and effective on this guitar), but still I wish the Master Vol. was out of the way. I can use a volume pedal for swells. The other "baddie" is the pickup selector switch in the worst possible place....where you can't get to it on the fly, and where it's easy to disrupt your tone & volume pots while playing live. These inconvenient control placements knock 1 point off of the "Features" category (but remember, these are minor aggravations, and the incredibility of this instrument makes these very small issues indeed).

I'm running through a POD for recording, and live I use a Peavey Classic 50 tube head through a 4x10 cab. Primarily, I record with the Parker, and I can get it to sound pretty good. When I first got it, I was used to cranking everything to "10" (tone & vol), as that's pretty much how I play other guitars. I was disappointed in the sound of it...it was very brittle and overly-hot (was great for metal and harmonics, but seemed too antiseptic in sound). Well, I started experimenting with the tone & vol pots, and have found that you can get whatever you want from this guitar. Although I was disappointed in the super-hot pickups at first, I quickly became fond of them. They really have a lot of mojo under the hood, and I'm able to play super artificial harmonics effortlessly (which is lots of fun). Pulling back the volume and toying with the tone pot (which is a very useful and colorful tone pot, by the way) allows me to weaken the pickups so that I can get that woody tone that defines the character of the guitar. But (and the best for last....) the thing that blew me away more than anything about the sound of my Parker Fly is the unbelievable sustain. I'm a sustain nut anyway, but this thing just sings forever and ever. The sustain blows away all of my neck-thru guitars, and I mean it blows them away big time! It seems so weird to play a guitar that is so lightweight, and have is sustain for days. I was always told that sustain was a product of a big heavy body with rock-solid, heavy hardware. ha! This little 3 pound guitar makes those ball 'n chain heavy Les Pauls blush in the sustain department! OK, enough on this...just remember that a Parker Fly is a sensitive and versatile guitar, and it needs to be adjusted tone-wise to get what you want. If you turn everything up to 10 all the time, you will be disappointed...if you utilize the great electronics that Ken Parker has installed, you will be in tone heaven. When I listen back to some of my recordings, it's sheer ear candy (not my playing, but the Parker's vast array of tones). Oh...and the Piezo gets a "10" too! Won't go there...not enough time.

I bought mine used, so can't comment on factory setup. Mine was perfect when I got it...set up for .009's (which is what I use). Whomever had it before me had is set up identical to the way I set up my guitars, so I changed nothing, except raised the strings a tiny tad to facilitate nice clean string bending. The finish was good, tiny pick scratches that all guitars will get if you play 'em. One small ding at the back of the headstock...seems that the guitar is covered with some kind of a "skin". So the ding sort of "breaks" the skin so-to-speak. The paint or 'skin' didn't chip off, but resembles a flake of paint that chipped off and was glued back on. That's not what happened...but that's what it looks like when you ding the exoskeleton of a Parker. No biggie. The rest is great...pretty purple color (Italian Plum)....looks black in my room, but transforms into ethereal purple under the lights! Only complaint about the "fit" is that the horn on the upper bout digs into your chest when you play while sitting down, and that starts to hurt. But put on a strap, stand up, and you are playing an ergonomic wonder! Once again, I must address how precise and wonderful the fretboard and frets are! There truly is no guitar that feels so precise in your hands. I can honestly say that I am able to play certain fast passages on this guitar that I always botch-up when I play them on any other guitar. Hard to describe why....just sooooo precise! This coupled with the unbelievable tremolo system causes me to give this high marks. (I would take off a point for the inconvenient control placement, but I already allowed for this in the first category). I'll give a 10 for this category.

Well, when I first got this guitar, I thought it was a wimpy, wussie thing. Mainly because it's so light, and thin...frail-looking. But I was wrong...it's ROCK SOLID. The technology that Ken Parker utilizes makes this possible. I think that the exoskeleton "skin" will look unsightly if you are careless and bang it up. But I do not think that this guitar will fail me as far as reliability. The hardware is great stuff (Sperzel tuners, and that amazing piezo/vibrato bridge). The tremolo arm is octagonal, not round, which makes it fit like an allen-wrench into the bridge orifice. Very cool...and very Strong too! I see no problems in this department except the battery going out, and having to get a screwdriver to change it. No big deal! Everything else seems rock-solid!

N/A...bought it used. Never contacted the company.

I've been playing guitar for about 25 years, and have owned many high-end guitars. Most of my recordings are in the vain of Joe Satriani's style...instrumental rock guitar. I run through a Line6 POD, and Alesis Quadraverb, and an Alesis 3630 Compressor. I usually record "direct to disk" (seldom mic my amp). I've had this Parker for about 6 months now, and it is the first guitar I reach for every time I play/practice. If it were stolen, I would simply HAVE to have another one. I'm thinking of getting a Parker Fly Classic to compliment this one. The things I love about it are the incredible sustain, the glassy smoothness of the frebobard & frets (just can't say enough about that), and the tremendously good vibrato system. The light weight, the heel-less neck joint, and of course the incredibly convenient Sperzels. What I don't like about it are the inconvenient control placements, and the way the upper horn digs into my chest when I play seated. Other than that, this guitar is brilliant. Of all the guitars I've ever owned or played, this is my favorite (despite the above mentioned annoyances). Parker Fly guitars are not cheap, but there really is nothing else like them (at least nothing I've ever played).

Read any of these reviews and you can see an extensive list of the features of this guitar, so I'll just list a couple of my favorite. The shape and weight, it's so comfortable and so light, you hardly know it's there until you hit a note and boom off you go. The trem is really the best I have ever touched, and I've played them all. The only thing I would like to compare it to is a Steinberger trem, for God's sake they sell them for $700, just for the trem, they might be really good! The Piezo sounds great, but has too much high end. This is inherent in all Piezo's but easliy fixed on the Parker in two ways. One the small gain control inside the control cavity makes a large difference on output and you can just roll the tone back and out it comes. It really does sound better than most cheap and medium priced acoustics, but lacks the body and resonance on a good high end acoustic. All in all, this guitar can do just about everything you could ask it to do and it does it extremely well. The only complaint that I have is that you need a screwdriver to get the battery out, although a coin might pass, it would have been nicer to have a latch or clip type batter compartment.

Parker's guitars all sound different and the only different thing about the Fly's is the type of wood they used. I recently visited the factory with a friend and they really do put equal work and quality into each guitar they make. This is interesting, cause the overall design of the guitar is so solid that just this one element is all they need to change to get the guitar to sound different. I have two Parkers this and a Supreme and they sound very different. My deluxe is a little brighter actually, which is strange cause most people associate maple (the supreme) to be bright, which it is, but maple is also probably the most balanced wood so it makes a smoother tone as well. I can tend to actually get a little heavier sounds with my deluxe. But depending on my amp setup and pickup/tone configuration, just about every sound I need is there.

I have seen some complaintes here, and it boggles me. I have played probably over 50 of these guitars and never came accross one that had anything wrong with it. Mine was perfect from the factory and it was made in 95. And still looks near mint. I would not be surprised if many of you who have had problems bought these off the rack at a local store, and that is where the problem is, doubtful (although I don't say impossible) that the problem was from Parker. This is by far the fastest and smoothest fretboard you have ever played too. It feels like playing on glass. Seriously, it is extremely easy and fast to play.

These are lightweight and for that reason I think they should be treated with care. Although most people seem to suggest that they can take abuse. But I say, why should you abuse your guitar. If you are a musician then you care about music and without your guitar you have no music so take care of it. The one amazing point with this instrument is tuning. These guitars are incredible tuning wise. Currently I have my deluxe tuned down to C and I didn't even bother to adjust the setup. It feels and plays almost identitcal to E and whats better is, it virtually never and I mean never goes out of tune. Really an amazing feat. And since it has sperzels tuning and restringing is a breeze. One of the coolest features is the stop in the bridge so if you have it set right and you say are playing with it as a floating trem and you break a string, no sweat, push the bridge selector down and boom all of your strings are still in tune, perfect!

The guys at Parker have been nothing but helpful to me, and they will work to fix your problem. They are still a relatively small company so that might come into play sometime. I have not had one complaint about my guitar, but they seem to really stand behind their work.

Overall...these are the best guitars made today. They are almost completely hand made and stand up in every category to whatever you can throw at them. I have never seen one PRS, Gibson, Fender, etc etc that could stand up to them. I have 12 guitars and these are my favorite to play. There are some things I like about other guitars more for instance I love the feel of the neck on my Ibanez Jem 10th Anniversary but the neck on the parker is equally a great neck just different. These guitars kill, if I had to have one guitar to play everything this would be it. Not to mention, I personally think they are the coolest looking guitars made, with a close second being Gus Guitars (a very cool and outlandish English company, check them out too). All in all terrific!

Features galore. humbuckers and a piezio. One of the best trmeolos i have ever used. Very light and comfortable with stainless steel frets.

Sound is pretty good. I thought it was the best I had heard for rock till I got my Wolfgang archtop. Big complaint here, when you combine the front and rear hums together, it falls on its face. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SOUND. I called parker about it and they sent me to dimarzio and they told me to buy new demarzio pickups. Hmmmmmmm.

Action was pretty good. Did have to do some set up on it. But the finish. OH MY GOD. Worst paint job in the business. My guitar has stress cracks all over it. If it hits anything, BOOM, instant chip. I called Parker about the cracks. For what I paid for this guitar this should not happen. They told me if I would ship it to them they would take a look at it and call me back with a price. PRICE MY ASS. For what these things are new, you need to fix this for free. This is a flaw on their part, not mine. The stress cracks are inherent to the guitar. Everyone I know who has one has cracks in the finish. This is not acceptable, period. All the knobs are in the wrong place. I constantly hit the master volume while strumming and the damn selector switch for the pickups is under every thing else. So if you need to switch pickups on the fly forget about. Worst design on a guitar i have ever seen.

Has been a good unit. I can rely on this unit eventhough it looks like I drag it to every gig behind the truck. Finish just sucks.

SUCKS. Yeah they will help you for a premium price.

I give it a six. It does play well and it is dependable with a good sound. Finish and service killed this score.

This guitar is full of features. From blending peizo and magnetic pickup sounds to having a fixed/strat style vibrato/or full floating bridge. A carbon fibre fretboard with stainless steel frets, etc. etc.

One of the few problems with this guitar is that the humbuckers are pretty lame. They are made by DiMarzio but I'm sure that DiMarzio has some better model pickups than what shipped with this guitar. Pretty plain sounding humbuckers but the piezo system sounds incredible - when you blend the two types of pickups you can get a very thick humbucking sound with the tone rolled almost all the way off and yet maintain some clarity by mixing in a bit of the acoustic pickups. Very versatile with regards to the types of tones you can get but they really should have put in some magnetic pickups that could stand up a little more on their own.

Incredible. This guitar does not go out of tune. The intonation barely ever needs adjustment. I'll put design elements in this catagory: The volume knob is not situated well - it's not uncommon to bump it while you're playing and either disappear entirely or come screaming to the front. I don't know how to describe the other design flaw - if you play really hard on the top 4 strings (say with your eyes closed and you're leaning way back) and then go to do a leadline on the first string you say &^^$(*#! where did the first string go? Well, guess what, it didn't break but it's trapped and stuck under the edge of the neck pickup and you have to pull it out and miss the first bar of your solo.

It is reliable - it will withstand live playing. The hardware is top notch (except the pickups). The finish is incredible, like hard candy. NEVER play without a backup unless you want to get fired alot. Don't have to use the backup for any reason other than broken strings.

Never had to use them. When you do want to get it set up take it to a licensed parker dealer. Don't take it to your regular guy becasue it's not a regular guitar.

I've been playing for more than 10 years and have owned strats, les pauls, and various other guitars - while each type of guitar has it's own personality, application and feel, this one feels the best overall. I think if you get used to driving a Ferrari you have trouble going back to a volkswagon - while volkswagons are good they just can't do the same things. If it were stolen I would replace it immediately without hesitation. It plays great and is reliable, I might replace the pickups and bitch some more about the volume knob but it's plusses far outweigh the minuses.

Ive got a late ninetys dark green parker the paint in awsome , its got the tremalo. Made from bass wood i belive and carbon glass . its got sperzel locking tuners and a gig bag.

The sound in my opnion i the best thing ive had a few guitars a couple PRS's some strats annd les paul and a Moore. I think that over all this is the most versital guitar ive ever played... its best decribed by Ed Roman he says the reason people dont like these is the dont know how to use them i belive thats the truth ... if you get a sales man whos not a guitar center dumass he may know how to tweek it and get it to sound great ..it has a rich palot of sounds that can be accessed and used.

By far when Ken Parker was creating this guitar he thought about people like me who want a accurate guitar ....becasue of the carbon fiber and the stainless steal frets its like playing on glass its allmost hard to play a nickel sliver fret after you go to the parker.

This is a problem have not had but ive read some things like mine fell apart but the guys i know who have one have had no problems ay all..

NA

If i got it stolen i whould beat the person who stole it with a heavier guitar and the get a new parker

1994 fly deluxe; gray finish. otherwise, you probably know everything else about this model RE its features...

the big selling point of course: the endless varieties of tones. a great pair of humbuckers (dimarzios) and the most state-of-the-art piezo anywhere. i've used at gigs as an electric, and at other gigs where i need an acoustic plugged-in/piezo tone. versatile, with a V.

totally clean; no problems. of course, it looks amazing.

seems plenty solid. the gig bag is very heavy duty, so it is well protected. at first appearance, because of its amazingly thin and light body, it might seem to be fragile, but so far, it shows no signs of being wimpy. use it mostly for gigs with a jazz/fusion band.

only had one contact--to verify instrument's model and age (bought it used), and they responded promptly.

the first time i saw a fly, i thought it looked flat-out weird. i happened to see pat martino performing on one several years back, and as a result, decided that they might be good instruments after all! anyway, the first time i picked one up, it fit me like a glove--an unreal comfort and ease of playability, coupled with the eye-catching design and the rainbow of tones, make this (along with a carvin fatboy) the best new electric design in years. i was very lucky to get it for the price i paid, and that was a bonus.

all the usual

great sound covers all bases

well made, finish is easily damaged

Absolute crap. It is fundamentally flawed. All my frets started to come off. The idea of gluing frets doesnt work. They replaced them but I had to cover the enormous shipping costs both ways. This has to be one of the biggest dissapointments of my life

see above

Tuners are great. It's very lightweight and well balanced. Great if your playing a long gig. Piezo system makes it very versatile. Fretwork is top notch but not well marked for finding your way around. The battery enclosure is poor design and having to have a battery is understandable but a nuisance. My battery connector has broken and one of the threaded the anchors broke loose from the body. Pain.

The electric pickups are not warm or versatile. My opinion is they sound like crap compared to any other solid body I've played. Maybe OK, if you like to play Pop styles. Doesn't seem to matter if I'm using effects such as Digitech RP6, GT3, or TS9 or going straight into my Mesa Boogie. The piezo system is what makes it. I wish I could have this on my other guitars. Give the Piezo a 10 and the magnetic pickups a 2 maybe.

Action is pretty good, the overall build is high quality. Hardware used is top notch (except for magnetic pickups). My Parker is the Italian Plum dark purple color and finished quite nicely.

Besides having to replace the battery on occasion, the overall guitar has been solid.

I've been playing many different guitars for over 25 years and bought it because I fell in love with the Piezo system. I did not particularly like the body design, too George Jetson for my taste. After playing it for a year and trying to find a way to make the magnetic pickups sound decent, I've decided to move on. I think if they would have used some decent humbuckers, I may been more favorable. The overall quality is pretty good and the sounds it does make for being so light is good. The lightweight body design is innovated and futuristic. Nice on this old man's back. I think I'll stick with the classics. The piezo system is cool, but not enough to make it my everyday favorite.

If you are reading this review, you already know the features of the Parker Fly. Dual humbuckers, piezo, composite fretboard, stainless steel frets. I bought my guitar used, approx 4 yrs old, from a professional musician. I am also a working musician ... this guitar has a lot of road miles on it, but you'd never know it to look at the frets. Not an ounce of wear on them!!!

I play everything from Patsy Cline to Ricky Martin, and everything in between. I need versatility, and this guitar has it. I run two wireless units from the stereo output, sending the electric p/u to a Peavey TubeFex processor, then into the board, and sending the piezo p/u straight to the board. Not a lot of processing (I can't afford all the gear!!) I have absolutley no complaint about the sound quality. You get exactly what you'd expect from the humbuckers. The piezo p/u requires a bit of eq'ing to add some bass, and cut the treble a bit, but that could simply be a function of my board and speaker set up. It is a small problem, easily fixed.

This guitar was bought used. I took it to my favourite luthier, who happens to be a Parker dealer, and he RAVED about it!!! He simply replaced the strings, adjusted the bridge, checked the electronics and gave it back to me ... after keeping it for two days so HE could have fun playing it for a while!!! This guitar NEVER goes out of tune, keeps perfect intonation. I never use the whammy, so I keep the bridge locked down.

The colour is Antique Gold ... really classy looking. My only beef with this guitar is that the master volume knob is in the wrong place ... I keep hitting it, and losing volume. I am constantly checking the knob, to make sure it is properly set. A bit distracting at times.

This guitar has seen a lot of gigging, and although I NEVER play without a back up, I have never needed it. The fret board appears new, there is so little wear on it. The knobs are all solid, the hardware is in tip top shape. The finish looks good, but then I make sure to wipe it down after every session.

no opinion ... not needed.

If this guitar gets stolen, first I will track down the miserable SOB who took it, and gut him with a spoon, then go out and buy myself a new one to play while I spend my days in prison!!! The fast action, and light weight of this guitar make it a dream to play. The tonal capabilities add another dimension. I looked at the Godin LGX, and although I already own a Godin SD (and love it ... can't beat it for the price), I decided the Parker was the way to go, despite its higher price. Undoubtedly, my favourite feature is the weight of this guitar. I play a lot of shows, and used to get a sore neck and back .. no more!!!

I believe mine was made in 97. It's Italian Plum colour, Two Dimarzio Humbuckers, Piezo pickup in Trem bridge. Piezo is active and controlled by dual pot which is both volume and tone. The humbuckers have a separate volume and tone control. There is also a master volume control. A small switch near the jack socket switches between stereo or mono out. The battery replacement could be a bit fiddley during live gig but not too dificult. Georgeous neck and fingerboard. The whole guitar oozes quality and attention to detail.

I play in a church music group where we play music of all sorts of styles. I play through a sansamp GT2 into a Zoom acoustic pedal and then straight into a p.a system. The piezo acoustic sound although a bit different from a 'real' acoustic is still excellent. It produces very crisp bass notes and sounds very musical. The humbuckers I generally use through the sansamp set to an overdriven 'californian' or 'tweed' tone which sounds very good but not any better than any other rock guitar. I would say the bridge pickup could do with a bit more beef. Apparantly Dimarzio do various pickup options for Parker guitars. With both humbuckers on together it is actually wired for single coil and sounds a bit like a strat. Combine this with the piezo and you get a sound that is unlike any other guitar very musical. I would say that it is impossible to get a bad sound from this guitar. For my style of music, I would say this is the perfect guitar to have.

The action is very low but you can't get it ultra low without a bit of buz (at least on mine anyway. The nut has a slight gap under the base side (maybe they all do). The tuning pegs are very very stable and the whole thing stays in tune excellently. Very high quality finish.

This guitar is made for live playing. The first time I played seriously was during a worship time in a church. It felt like I'd had it for years, very friendly. Although it is very light it seems solid enough. I do use it without a backup, no problem. Make sure the strap fits tightly onto the strap buttons though.

Only contacted Parker by e-mail and got a very prompt reply.

I've been playing guitar for 20 years and had all sorts of guitars. I've played in various bands playing all kinds of music (except Jazz). This Parker Fly is the best guitar I've ever owned and I would definitely have another one. It's just too versatile to be ignored and too comfortable too put own. The neck actually helps you play better, so fast.

Tons of features. I would have put coil tapping/phase/series in addition to the three way selector. The tremolo design is incredible. my tremolo arm is loose but the plans/schema are GENIOUS. Hats off to the tension adjust knob and the springless spring - fucking brilliant.

Not the best...not the worst. The piezo is great for acoustic...7.5. The electric guitar blows...2.5. The humbuckers suck. The E string pole peices respond weaker and different to the other pole pieces. I would change them IF I COULD. You can't adjust the height very well. Have a buzz on the high E caused by a twisting neck. Mine might be the worst one ever. The fingerboard sounds very cold. I mostly play my own instruments though...built by me and they are far superior in tone (w/ gibson, lace and duncan pickups).

This is definitely a players guitar. My neck is twisting cause of the diagonal truss rod. I have played really good ones though and they are 10's...but beware. I am not a fan of the composite fingerboard. The fretwork is awesome. Finish is strong. The knobs are in all the wrong places...I bump the master all the time. the top cutaway (if you call it that) digs into my chest. The fact that it is light is a huge plus considering my bad back. That is actually why I got it. I am currently working on a couple guitars that are superlight and are going to take its place.

It is pretty tough. See above about the neck twisting. also the tremolo arm is loose. I haven't looked too far into this but it is annoying. battery life can haunt you if on a gig.

super nice and responsive.

I'm not really sure...I have played others that are great but mine sucks. If you get a good one w/ no problems...fantastic. I am going to send mine back.

yeah, well i don't even know where to start. you see this parker, you set it on your lap and put your fingers on the fretboard ... something strange happens. i swear, it plays itself. THERE IS NO THOUGHT PROCESS IN PLAYING A PARKER FLY DELUXE!!! it's the most amazing thing i've ever touched. if you just started playing like 2 weeks ago, you'll be able to play Eruption on this thing without a problem (possible exaggeration). you get what i mean. oh yeah, and they look incredible also ... i see no flaws in it at all

uh huh. go buy one if you have the money, cause you won't regret it EVER. unfortulately, i don't have the money ... care to send some so i can purchase one? helados@aol.com to email me if you have any questions at all. thanks everyone. *go buy a parker*

Hella features is tight on this mutha hoe. Scraight up tight wit all dem nobs. 4 uh dem an 2 switches (not as good as my phat 16 switches).
7 pickup configerations wit all possible tonal goods. Zarkie cheats people out of money. He ain't tight, my brutha son. Parker gots it wit me got the majik blue color. Dat one is scraight droppin you, man. Its all hella tight.

Sounds like Zarkie Jarkie Joe crying as I peed on his daughters butt. Au foe! The sound is smooth and solid through my Marshall amp. That amp has got hella goad. Gode front panel, goad knobs, goad back speakers. Sit dats tight. It also sounds good through a vacuum cleaner on the east stairs of Zarkies after they got melted by green egg smoke.

Everyting was scraight good. I got mine used for 11 hunneds, and its all good. Them uther gitars Ise got ain't all that compared to my blue Parker. Them fretboards are tight like East Thursday unda Natural Bridge in Saint Louis Mo. Nofe side.,/?@#$^%*(_+*! The Custom Parker bidge is like my 3 goad teeth: Performs Great. All them strings in tune at all time, my brutha son. Girl, I look good. Shoo. Zarkie in Saint Louis ain't tight, doe. He gone ripped my brutha off. But he got Green egg smoked for it. Equal trade. And as they say in my Nofe Ghetto, "Equal trade, Equal rights, my Equalibrium hodes!"

Dat fretboard is tight and sturdy as Zarkie's Daughter's Butt wich I just peed on. I depend on it au hell.


TRUE

"neva delt, neva felt"



TRUE

No mo to say. Goes and gets yo's self ones uh dees mutha hoes! Greatest guitar ever available. TRUE. Zarkie Jarkie Joe likes his little boys almost buzzing. Like his strings. Dateg has a very tight sound wit them new drums them has been emplaying into their contraversial LEGAL TERRORRISM style of music. They are hittin big with their 26th album in their trilogy. Their latest style is scraight relating to the anguishing pains of this fella in my crib named Mr. Go. He's got terrorrism in his head but the broccoli ain't knockin at his door, it ya catch my sayin. TRUE. He be who I quote here . For Real. Zarkie will recieve the greatest amount of Legal Terrorrism as anyone.

DATEG will conquer all cribs and ghettos.

This is a 24 stainlss steel fret(oh so smooth) guitar with 2 DiMarzio humbuckers and the Parker tremolo bridge. Sperzel locking tuners with a thin neck with a very usable radius. Mine came with a hard case because the store had an extra and the guitar was on clearence. Italian Plum color, basswood neck and I believe tha body is poplar, but I am not sure. This thing also has the piezo elements for the acoustic sound. Controls are layed out a little cramped. Master volume, magnetic volume, tone, piezo volume and tone. The pickup selectors are a little difficult to get at when you have to switch quickly, but as with anything you get used to it and move on.

I play contmporary christian worship for our church worship team. Stuff like Third Day, Delirious, Matt Redman, etc... Th reason I bought this guitar was for the versatility. I use this with a Digitech RP 2000 and a Morley PWA (wah). Extremely quiet in all settings. The only noise I have ever heard is from the RP 2000's phaser setting, and it was the RP 2000's fault. I run the piezo line to a separate channel because the piezos are run through a preamp in the guitar, and the Digitech is a preamp. The 2 together do not work. 2 preamps make for a very sharp sound. If I had an acoustic preamp that theory would change, but it sounds better in a separate channel. The acoustic sound is a little unforgiving to not fretting a chord 100% properly. It will buzz when you don't nail that chord, but if you add some chorus and such it takes away some of that. I like the acoustic sound, kind of different but truly usable if you set it correctly. The dimarzios are great. Neck is very blusey, bridge has definite attack. Middle position splits the buckers into singles. This sound is VERY stratishly clean. Good change of pace. All setting are very distinct, no problem telling if you have chnaged settings.

Set up was good. The composite fiber wrap makes the truss rod just a strings guage change adjustment. I changed the strings from .009 to .010. The difference in the deeper tone is great. The guitar is made perfectly. No blemishes. Hardware is solid. This guitar will last a long time. Don't let the light weight fool you. Carbon composite materials have the strength of metals but let the wood sing out. This thing is built so well that when you strike a chord the whole guitar vibrates as if it is breathing. It is life-like in its responsiveness.

Tough as nails. Like I said, composites have the strength of metal, but are thin and lightweight. Tuners(locking) and other hardware are superior. Strap buttons are solid, but I will be changing to strap locks because I play often and straplocks are just a good idea. I HAVE gigged without a backup for almost a year now. This guitar is even easy on strings. Granted I use .010's and I change them every 2 weeks, but I still have NEVER broken a string yet. Finish is good, doesn't seem as thick as others, but seems more resistant to scratching.

Don't remember how long the warranty lasts. Every time I have ever e-mailed them they have responded the same day. I e-mailed a TON. Before I spent $1500 I was going to make sure I knew everything about this guitar. I was alwys received with courtesy.

I have been playing since I was 14 but I stopped for about 6 years before I was asked to play in church(I am 26). I also own a Washburn JB100 Jennifer Batten signature model and a Seagul S6. This is the best guitar I have ever felt. VERY balanced and lightweight and the most versatile guitar I could find that excited me. If it were lost or stolen I would have to wait forever to get another because of the price, but I would make sure I got one. Just easy to play. I have seen other guitars priced as much or more and they are not equal value. This is by far the best made guitar I have seen and held. Ernie Ball is another great company but the neck radius didn't feel right and Fender and Gibson are NOT worth the prices they charge. You can get copies and change the pickups and hardware and have the same product while saving $$$. There is only 1 Parker. Get one!!

Many many reviews below list the features. There isn't any guitar out there that does more than a Parker. Mine is finished in Antique Gold. <p>A lot of people say these look weird, but this guitar is the favorite of my girlfriend and my brother, and I was awfully fond of it as well. In this case, one person's weird is my beautiful.

This note definition on this guitar is incredible. You can turn the gain way up and still hear every note in a chord. The versatility is amazing. You can get everything from a very creditable acoustic sound to a nice Rick jangle to AC/DC crunch to...you dream it, and you can probably find a good approximation on this guitar.<p>As a side note, some very good guitar player friends and I went into a music shop and did an A/B test between a Fly Deluxe and a PRS Custom 24 through a Marshall JCM 2000, and the Fly just had a deeper, and to our ears, all around better tone than the PRS. I'm not saying that these guitars were representative of every Parker and every PRS, but I think that if other people did this, they might be surprised.

I purchased this guitar used, but it is absolutely flawless. There isn't even a pick scratch on it. Other people seem to have had some problems with the action, but in my experience, music seems to go straight from my brain to the amp bypassing my fingers entirely. It's a strange feeling.
<p>This guitar is built every bit as well as the PRSes and McInturff's I've had. I'm very picky, but I have nothing but praise for the build quality.

The one problem I've seen with these guitars is that the paint seems to come off the guitars in chips. Otherwise, I don't see anyone wearing through the paint, not in one lifetime at least. As for gigging, since I'm not, I'll defer to the other reviewers.

I don't know as I haven't had to deal with them. I saw that one of the early reviewers mentioned Parker not having a strong web presence. Well, that certainly has changed. Check it out: <a href:"http://www.parkerguitars.com">http://www.parkerguitars.com</a>

I've been playing for about 16 years now. Among other instruments, I own or have owned a PRS Custom 22, a PRS Standard 22, a McInturff Polaris Pro, a McInturff Monarch, an Epi Les Paul, and a lot of other stuff. This Fly rates with the best of them in tone and is a step above any of them in terms of playability. It truly is an amazing guitar. I suspect it's not for everyone, but if you're planning to fork out in excess of $1000 for a guitar, do yourself a favor and try one of these out.

The Parker tremolo-system. Piezo pickup. Two Dimarzio humbuckers witch sounds very well. One 3-way selector for the humbuckers, and another 3-way selector for no piezo, piezo and humbucker or just the piezo pickup. The selectors are placed very uncomfortable (behind the volume and tone knobs.) Mine guitar is black. Active electronics with one battery.

The guitar sounds vary good to me. I am basicly a shred-player with really fast picking, string-skipping etc. I play alot John Petrucci and Steve Vai, and the guitar sounds very well. I also play some jazz and it sounds good, but i use 010-046 and that is too thin for a real good jazzguitar sound.

I bought my guitar rom a friend of my father, and think the set-up was just great, but i do not know how it was when it came from the factory.

I have played live a tons of times and the guitar is great. I do not have a backup with me, and that is no point either when you play Parker. I have had some problems with the input, so I had to buy a new from the states. It was pretty expensive.

I had to change the input because it became very nisy. It took for around a week to get the input from the states. I live in Norway, and that is a long trip.

I am fifteen years old an have been playing for about 3-4 years. I really loves this guitar. I also have a french-made Lag guitar wich is also very nice, and a Fender Lonestar Strat. I am not a big Fender fan, but i like the sound of the Texas-special singlecoils. My amp is a Carvin 100-Watt tube amp. The Parker works really great on this amp, and after a gig people comes to me and says that i have a really godd sound in my guitar.Now I am trying to get enoughf mony to buy a Triaxis rack with Simul Class 2:90 and a Rack fx. I also have a Nady Wireless.