Parker Guitars NiteFly M

Made in 2006 - bought it NOS (new old stock) from a music store online. If you're reading this you already know the specs, but I'll do it quick:

HH/P - Dimarzio special design - passive :: Piezo - active
Mahogany; natural oiled satin finish. Nice. Very nice.
Locking sperzels. Say no more.
Neck is a bit wide and medium thick. I think a bit thinner would be better, but this has the space age thing going on with the exo-skeleton carbon and gonzo-goo. Feels quite good.
Stainless steel frets, and they're done right. No need to touch these.

I've had it nearly a month at this point, and I haven't spent a lot of time with it. I was a little disappointed with the Dimarzio pups at first, as the best sound I could find was the one in the Parker video: neck pup in tapped in tandem with the piezo, split with the piezo going to a separate amp with chorus and delay. I kept at it, and wouldn't you know the Dimarzio pickups are growing on me. Once you find your way around the various combinations available to you, things start to open up and you find yourself getting lost in what this guitar can do. Rich, full, everything is here. I think a bit hotter pickups would tap better, but this guitar seems to be all about balance: balanced feel, balanced sound, balance, balance, balance. Dislikes? Price, but when you think about what you're buying, and the fact that it's made in the USA, you forget the money you spent. Picky stuff: the pickup poles are WAY off the strings at the bridge position, and this can't be rectified due to string spacing and a very tight pickup cavity routed for the triangle-eared Dimarzio thing. Two-grand guitars with "special design" pickups shouldn't have this problem. Period.

The store set it up to Parker specs, and they did a fine job. I dropped the action a smidge (down to .06+/- high and low) and was good to go. The necks on these don't move with the gonzo carbon goo thing going on. Not futzing with truss rods is a joy. Not tuning all the time is a joy. Not wiping fingerprints is a joy. This damn thing is a joy!

This one stays home. Period. I'm sure it would do fine on the Redneck Riveria, but I like it in my humble home studio just fine, thank you. My mim strats, tele and maybe a Dillion will suffice if I go-a-roving.

Haven't dealt with them yet. I'll update if I do. Warranty is one year.

I've played enough guitars to know quality, and this IS quality. You pay for it, though. But when you consider that an American strat is 1/3 less and that you're getting twice as much with the Nitefly, things don't seem so bad when the bill comes.
Sure, I'd replace it if I had the money.

I love the feel, and the sound is growing on me each time I plug it in. For a thin bodied guitar this thing is very resonate. Don't get me wrong. I love my strat and my tele, but this guitar is an entirely different animal, and it's a damn good vibe once you sink your hands in it.

Wish? Better pickups, but the stock set isn't as bad as you may think at first - give them time, they really aren't all that bad.

The features of this guitar look great on paper, so I bought it. Wish I hadn't. It's a very brittle and thin sounding guitar. I think that's because of the steel frets and the odd Parker bridge. Upon receipt, I found it needed some setup. But no matter what I do, I can't get the fret buzzing off the low E pretty much up and down the neck nor can I get the disastorous dead spots off the G string frets from about the 10 fret to the 18th fret. The DiMarzio pickups are a big diappointment. They sound shrill and it's difficult to raise and lower them on the body. The Fishman sounds okay and adds some variety, but I'd rather just use an amp or effect pedal with an acoustic simulator. These hardware features on another guitar are probably pretty good.

Brittle, thin, and shrill best sum it up. As said, the Fishman acoustic sounds okay. But the fact that it's hard to setup right and has fret buzz and dead spot issues makes it practically unplayable. The humbuckers can be split to single coil which is a feature I like on guitars. I think it sounds a little better in single coil mode than humbucker mode. The humbuckers actually sound a little buzzy, weak and artificial on some amps.

All the stories about perfect setup up out of the box sound suspicious to me. As said, mine is a big disappointment. It comes strong with 9's. I switched to 10's but still have problems with my high E (1st) string slipping off the fretboard. I have a somewhat heavy playing style, but I've never experienced the problem to this extent as on my Parker. The epoxy neck and fretboard finish are nice and feel good. I feel like the neck is too thick and it's made for very big hands. Uncomfortable. The raised and pointy "wing" at the top of the body is one of the biggest design flaws I've ever come across on a guitar. It makes it extremely uncomfortable to play this guitar sitting down and hunched a little. It's a little better standing with a strap, but I still don't like the look, location or interfence with the wing.

Nothing has broken on me, but the guitar just has this odd, fragile feel to it. I don't think it's just because it's light weight. It's hard to explain. I find the Sperzel tuners kind of fragile and inconvenient. I think I'd rather string it on normal posts and get a couple wounds. The body is easily scratched and dented. I hate the position of the tone and volume controls, they get in the way of hand dampening and hard strumming. When dampening, my pinky finger actually hits the bridge volume knob.

Some emails to Parker were replied to in a few days with very short responses. Some were ignored completely. The Parker forum seems to be run by prima donnas and the participants seem like a bunch of nerds and prima donnas. The Paker Nitefly manual is a joke. It's full of typos and even notes to themselves that they haven't taken the time to correct. Hand drawn graphics? C'mon, take some digitar photos! They never bothered to pay attention to my suggestions to improve and correct the manual.

I've played a lot of guitars and I was hoping this was the one. It obviously isn't. I expected much better from an American made guitar, with its features, and at the price I paid. But I'm going to sell it because it's a big disappointment. I'm just glad I got a good deal in the first place so maybe I won't lose too much. Parker has had big problems in the past and I see why first hand. I don't think they'll be around long term. This guitar is overpriced given its design flaws, playability/quality flaws, it's fragility and it's shrill and artificial sound. Won't make the same mistake twice. I'd rather play a Mexican Strat than this junker. Maybe I'll trade it for one.

2005
22 Frets
H/H, 3 way selector w/ coil tap
Dimarzio Custom Wound Parker Fly Humbuckers
Piezo Bridge
All Mahogany
Locking Tuners, Parker Trem, Graphite Nut
Wide, Thin Neck

Tons of sounds, always fun to play with settings. Trem is great, stays in tune very well, easy to restring. Body shape is awkward with the upper wing being pointy.

Good sounds out of it no matter what you do with it. Very full sound, never thin.
Setup through a Splawn Quick Rod/ Marshall 2x12. MXR Phase 90, Boss Chromatic Tuner, Dunlop Wah (given to me by a friend, says it was modified?, sounds good). I emailed Dimarzio to find out what the specs were on the pickups cause they cut better than the Tone Zone ones I had in other guitars, they said the Breed pickups were the closest but with more mids and presence.

Guitar was setup well from the factory but the action can be lowered to almost nothing, actually had to raise it a little. Trem was too taut so I took a spring out. Neck is so smooth with the stainless frets, almost too perfect, doesn't fight you at all to bend. Overall very playable from the factory.

Played this out about 10 times, couldn't give up my other guitars that have been with me for about 200 gigs to take this out much. Always in tune and the other guys in the band tell me how good it sounds. I don't break many strings but with the ease that you can change them on it is a plus. The only problem I have is that this guitar has more knobs and switches than my others, sometimes I had the piezo on when I didn't want. Oops.

Never had to deal with Parker but had the piezo pot replaced once when it stopped working for no reason. Place where I bought it took care of it quickly.

Playing for 8 years. Other guitars are a 2002 Hardtail Strat w/ Dimarzio's, 1999 Wolfgang stoptail, PRS Soapbar SE w/ Dimarzio's. If I had to replace this guitar I would like to get a Nitefly A that doesn't have the piezo cause I don't really use it that much and it broke on this one. I wish other companies made trems like this, I don't like double locking trems. Changing strings should not take the better part of the day for a couple guitars especially when they are changed weekly.

I bought this in 2002 from AMS. It has a carbon glass finish(?) Through out the whole guitar with Mahogany wood underneath. I don't know if they make this finish anymore but this is tough stuff. I have not gotten a ding yet and any other guitar would have. I have a Nitefly M standard Dimarzio pickups, 22 frets stainless steel, tremelo with stop screw (only will go down if set that way, great feature), graphite nut, and locking tuners. This baby stays in tune. No more locking tremelo nightmare. Three way switch with H/H and coil splitter allowing six p/u selections. Oh..piezo p/u and toggle switch for piezo/mag individual or combo.

To rate this category it is hard because the piezo's combined with the mag's is a whole new adventure. You could almost give it a 10, but I think I'll give it a 9 because the mag p/u's are sub-par. They were bright and thin. They now put Jb's and Jazz in them now but mine had some special design p/u no name by Dimarzio. So I put in a Dimarzio tone zone and Air Norton. This improved the sound dramatically and now I can give it a 10. You can pretty much play any style of music on this guitar very versatile. I'm using this with a Mesa Boogie Lonestar amp and split the piezo's to the PA. Usually guitarists come up to me and ask how I'm getting that tone it sounds so good. I also have a pedal board and I'm constantly changing various pedal's in and out.

I took a chance and ordered this thing without playing it based on a recommendation from a friend. He was right. This is the finest guitar I have ever played. The action was a little high so I set it down. I had a little trouble with one of the locking tuner's, but my friend was able to file the thread back into shape. The amazing thing about this guitar is the compound radius of the neck. At first I didn't notice it and like any other guitar there's a slight adjustment period to playing the neck. After playing this guitar for a couple months I went to play my Strat and almost could not manage the neck anymore. So I tried my Les Paul, same thing. Then I played my Parker again and really began to appreciate the compound neck. It is now the easiest guitar to play wherever I go, whatever I play. It intonates very well too. One of the best I've intonated. As for the finish with this carbon glass(?) over the whole guitar, I really like this too because I sweat on it and it clean's right up. No need for guitar polish or lemon oil. I think it would take a hammer to put a ding in this thing.

Like I said, it would take a hammer to put a ding in this finish. Everything work's fine after three to four years now. Best guitar I've ever had.

N/A

I've been playing for 35 years. I've played and owned just about everything. I'm not a tone purist since it is electric, if it were an acoustic guitar I suppose wood's and thing's would have made a difference. Anyhow, I would definately replace this if it were to be lost or stolen. Main reason I would do this is because the compound neck has me hooked and no other guitar feels right to me anymore. The only other guitar I might even consider, would be a PRS. I play some occasionally at the music store's that cost three grand or so and I still like this Parker better.
These features in combination make the guitar unique:

Carbon Glass finish all over,
stainless steel frets,
compound radius fretboard,
H/H with coil splitters,
tremelo with Parker design and stop screw,
locking tuner's,
graphite nut,
piezo p/u,
and very light weight.

Overall no other guitar matches this. This baby is a 10.

OK

Nice

Factory setup not my taste ... kinda high action

Soft wood can mark easily ... saddle pup on low E stopped working after a couple months ... probably can't get another as THEY DO NOT COMMUNICATE WITH YOU!!

No response from Parker to email sent by the store where I bought/teach at, or my email.
Just requested springs for different gauge strings, replacement saddle screws ... have not heard anything at all from them.

Great guitars, have had 2 now ....
No support at all - UR on your own.

Everything I need and more EXCEPT 24 frets- why 22 when the more expensive flys have 24? For that it gets a 9.

Competent in all areas- the stock magnetic pickups are fine as are the piezos- I find the best clean sounds are achieved by mixing the neck humbucker, either straight or split with the piezo for a rich, detailed tone. The bridge H/B is perfectly adequate for both heavy rhythm and clear leads, also good smooth leads from the neck pickup, esp. for sweeping and tapping.

Everything is pristine and feels great- only had one problem, which I'll put under the next category.

I've had this guitar about a year, I switched to guitar in my band about 6 months ago, gigged it 8-10 times since without a problem, got a couple of dents from stupid accidents but that's my fault, I'd rather have it dented than covered in paint :) The problem I've had seems bizarrely to be unique to my guitar- the ball bearings fall out of the saddles. Noone else here or anywhere on the web has reported this but it's happened twice while I've been changing strings. I don't kick it and shake it about, honest! 1st time I couldn't find the bearing and ordered a new saddle for about #13. It happened again last week, I found the bearing and glued it back to the circuit board with epoxy resin, applied using a paperclip. The bearing does not transmit charge, only vibrations so it works fine- strange but true. so, -2!

Didin't deal with parker, I think I got the saddle from sound control, who were very helpful.

I've been playing about 7 years.
Other gear:
Gordon Smith G-60
cheap Chinese 7 string
Mesa/Boogie DC5 head
Orange 4x12 slant cab (travis sig. hehe)
fender 10 watt practice amp.

If it were stolen, I would definitely buy it again for #650- but for #1150 new I might look elsewhere (eg. Ibanez RG3120 prestige)

It should be mentioned that it is a beautiful object- it's shape is quirky but in a completely natural and pleasing way.

The only things I dislike are the 22 rather than 24 fret neck, and the mysterious saddle breakages, but neither is a major annoyance. It is by far the best guitar that I have owned, and it is also distinctive and different (unlike the aforementioned nice yet ubiquitous Ibanez RG). I've grown to love this guitar, warts and all and will never sell it- so for me it's a ten.

Mine is a 2005 made in USA, a hunk of beautiful solid Mahogany. This wood sings even acoustically. The usual features for this model; carbon/glass fretboard,stainless steel frets,sperzel locking tuners, hardtail/floating/down only tremelo, mahogany body, two DiMarzio humbuckers with single-coil sound in the 2 position, piezo bridge, bolt-on neck, oiled finish, black very thin neck. Gig bag.

Some say the Parkers have too much high end due to the steel frets and Piezo, but I think it's not excessive and if you want more low use the tone controls or EQ. I love the sound of the pickups and piezo mixed. I don't have that on any of my other guitars so it was a welcomed feature. Very quite PU's, with more spark than my Les Paul. Nice full sound and with the Piezo, so many mixing possibilities! Great variety.

Set up perfect from the factory, every thing adjusted just fine for my tastes. No flaws that I have noticed.

Fragile looking and feeling guitar. Perfect for studio but I would not take it out live alone. The weight is very light for live playing however. They say the steel frets last a long time and that's a good thing.

NA

Here's the thing to watch. I would not advise buying one without playing it first. The neck is short and very thin and it takes getting used to. It's not for everyone. The body is thin as well and that thin-ness digs into my right arm when playing. It's fine for my short studio work but I would find it unbearable if I had to stand there playing this one guitar for several hours live. The sounds to me were what sold me on this model. I have other guitars for other sounds. Several Gibsons, Hamer, and Strats. The sounds are my fav feature, the wood look is a good second, the size and shape is my least fav feature. I wish it had a cut or bend in the body where ones arm drapes over when playing. If stolen I might get another, I might not. It would depend on what else is available with a Piezo at the time. There is nothing else like this Parker in guitarland and either you will probably love it or hate it. Right now I love it and there is a place for it in my collection, but on the other hand, I would probably end up hating it if it was my only guitar. I am told there is a ten month waiting period if you order one from Parker so if you see one you like, don't wait too long, you might lose it to someone else.

Year? - Dunno. 22 frets, Solid Mahogany. Di Marzio Humbuckers and Piezo bridge. Sperzel locking tuners. Carbon fiber glass covered neck and fretboard. Stainless steel frets. 3-way Humbucker selector switch, humbuckers/piezo A/B/Y switch. Humbucker volume, piezo volume and humbucker coil splitter. Stereo 1/4 in out. Whammy bar, truss rod adjuster, 2 hex keys for adjusting action/pickup height. Nice gig bag.

You can make this guitar sound like anything. I run the magnetic output through a Boss GT6 and the acoustic output through a Boss AD8. Those go to a Roland KC550 or direct to a PA. The outputs work well with these effects. The AD8 seems especially easy to overdrive (with terrible results). The Parker won't do that. I have three guitars that have magnetic/piezo combos - a Carvin AE-185 (my favorite) the Parker (a very close second) and an '94 Amer. Strat with a Fishman Powerbridge. I love 'em all - a lot, but the Parker beats the Strat - More versatile.

The is the easiest guitar to play that I have ever owned, borrowed or snuck a quick lick on. I can't remember how it came setup. It is so stinking easy to set the action on this guitar. Nothing comes remotely close, in my experiance. I've tried the action all kinds of ways just to see how I liked it. If I didn't like it, I just set it back. It takes about 2 minutes to do a proper job. 20 seconds if you're in a hurry.

The Sperzels really help this guitar stay in tune even with the most insane bending.

Fit and finish were among the best in this price range.

I have gigged the living fire out of this puppy without the slightest problem. It's been knocked off of its stand by the lead vocalist, bumped into by who knows how many patrons who were "in their cups". Carted hither and yon in everything from a minivan to the back of my pickup truck (I bought a hardcase for it very early in our life together. Don't try this with a gig bag).

As with all my guitars I replaced the strap buttons with Dunlop straplaocks immediately on purchase - so I can't comment there.

I don't gig wihout a backup if I can help it. I've never needed one with this guitar. It has, however, had to bail out both the Carvin and the Strat when they went temporarily south.

I have never had any occasion to use it. Between the manual and the included tools, I've been able to do all the very minor things that need doing to this guitar.

I've been playing for 34 years. I have a Carvin AE-185, Parker NiteFly M, '94 Amer. Strat, Ovation CS2000, Ovation 1778LX, Godin A12, and a 32-yr old Japanese Washburn dreadnought. Boss GT6 and AD8 effects. Marshall AS100D and a Roland KC550 amp.

If this were lost or stolen I would get it or another Parker as fast as I could. In contrast I am about to sell the Strat. The Strat is a lovely guitar and I like it more than a little, but with the Carvin and the Parker it's superfluous. The Carvin beats the Parker on looks (beautiful quilted maple top) and versatility (separate tone controls for the magnetics and the piezo, separate coil splitters for each humbucker, separate outputs for the magnetic and the piezo, phase switch, etc.). The Carvin is lighter (I must own the two lightest models of electric guitar made. My shoulder loves me.) The Parker is easier to play, is very versatile in its own right and has proven to be rock solid dependable.

I have owned the Parker for about 5 years and still love it.

Made in USA (i dont know wich year).
Made of Mahagony
22 frets.
Controls are:
pots :1 volume for mag pu.-s 1 tone (for the mag pu.-s) and 1 volume for the piezo;
switches: 1 3 way selector for the pu-s and 1 selector for the piezo/mag pu.-s.
HH pickup config (Custom DiMarzio) w. passive electronics and active Piezo system
Custom Parker Trem (wich is the best trem i've ever seen).
Sperzel locking Tuners.
So. This guitar has everything i need. I give it a 10.

So the sound is very great! And fits for many different things. I play many thing. From some modern Metal to Pink Floyd, manythings. Personally i don't like the DiMarzio sound, but that customs are really great. I tested it on a Mesa Quad preamp w. a MosValve and a 4x12 Celestion box. The bridge pickup can be extremley brutal if you want it! The neck pickup is good, but not too characteristic. I think its very good for Jazz. And the best part is: forget about noise.
So about the Piezos...
Its quiet good and clear on the higher strings, but esp on the low E and the A string, it doesn't sounds like an accoustic. And the piezos sound a little "plastic", but i think that can be said about most of the piezos...

So the mags are 10, the piezo are 6 wich means the overall score is: 8

I buyed it used, so i don't no.

Not too old guitar but i think this is a very reliable instrument. The fret are from stainless steel (with along most of the hardware).

Never needed (and if i would need the support, they are too distant from here :D)

Except the not-so-perfect piezos its the perfect instrument for me. Sounds great, has anything i need. What else can i say?
I certainly try to buy another if it were lost, but this is a real rarity here.
One warning to you! If you buy this baby everyone will be joking with its head, so be prepared!!! :DDD

Built Summer of 2004, USA. 22 frets, solid mahagony body, oiled finish, no paint. Very cool control layout for both the humbuckers and the piezos. I think the Dimarzios sound very good through my Fender Blues Deluxe. The neck is mahagony with carbon fiber. The Sperzel tuners work by clamping the string in place. It's simple and fast to change a string and the guitar holds a tuning really well. The string spacing is great. So many necks are set up so that the high E falls off the edge, but the Parker does not have that problem. The guitar came with a very nice hardshell case, and tools to adjust the neck and pickups.

I play a variety, classic rock, blues, pop. That's the best thing about the Parker, it's ability to cover a lot of sounds. I think the acoustic, through the right sound system, is great.

The setup and action were exactly the way I like it. I didn't change a thing. The finish and quality of all the components of the guitar was outstanding.

It feels solid and I believe it would hold up well playing out. I never go out with a single guitar, no matter what it is. I'd be a little cautious because of the oiled finish on the body, but I haven't had enough experience with this type of finish to know how tough it is.

Very friendly support. I wasn't shuffled through an automated system, and the tech who answered took care of all the questions I had.

I've been playing for over 30 years and own several other guitars, Gibson, Fender, Rickenbacker, Ovation. This is definitely the best setup, easiest playing guitar I've ever had. Very unique, original design. Love the neck, love the sounds. Nice construction and finishing. All I could ask for. I'd definitely get another.