Parker Guitars NiteFly M

For the Frenchies :

Payee quasi neuve sur ebay 865 USD, elle me revient avec le transport et les taxes 800 ? ! Ebay c'est bien ! Elle coute pas moins de 1500 euros en boutique.
Fabriquee aux USA,
22 frettes,
2 humbuckers
1 piezo
manche visse
mecaniques a vis
vibrato
2 switchs a 3 positions: 1 controle les humbuckers l'autre le piezo pour l'avoir seul, avec les humbuckers ou desactive.
3 potards : 1 pour le volume des humbuckers, 1 pour leur tonalite et un autre pour le volume du piezo.
Je met 9 parce que j'aurai bien aime une tonalite pour le piezo mais c'est vraiment pour pinailler...

J'aime beaucoup. Ma strat deluxe + est rangee pour longtemps.
Pour l'instant je suis sur un POD mais je peux comparer avec ma strato. Le piezo sonne pas mal du tout, je suis surpris ! Pour les rythmiques ou les solos en son clair c'est du bonheur. Avec le micro grave mixe on peux arriver a les sons de Gibson demi caisse genre ES335 sans se prendre le choux. Je mettrai 10 mais le micro aigu ne me plait pas beaucoup... le son est pas assez ouvert en solo et les rythmiques tres saturees bavent un peu, cela dit il va falloir que je me penche sur les reglages du pod un peu plus. Enfin, en mode simple bobinage (potard push/pull pour les splitter...super ca !) ils sont geniaux, le son est super expressif et bien creuse, mixes avec le piezo j'arrive a des sons clairs sublimes... mieux que ma strat et de loin ! En fait je dirai que le piezo donne du coffre aux magnetiques en son clair et c'est vraiment excellent.
Le sustain est terrible, cette guitare peut presque servir a tout jouer a part le gros heavy mais bon, les micros peuvent de changer, je vais y venir... et la j'aurai la guitare de reve.
Je met 9 mais avec d'autres micros je mettrai 11.

Ben la on voit la qualite partout sur cette guitare, je ne vois pas quoi dire d'autre que magnifique, divine, exceptionnelle... tout ca.
Le manche est le meilleur que j'ai jamais eu la chance de toucher, les frettes sont PARFAITES ! Le contact avec cet instrument est merveilleux. L'action des cordes est millimetrique, un confort de jeu sans pareil. Le vibrato est a lui tout seul une oeuvre d'art (tout comme le manche, il faut le savoir, alors je radote) dive bombing ou leger vibrato, c'est tres souple et facile a maitriser et surtout jamais il ne desaccorde la guitare d'un poil !!! Etonnante cette guitare. Ma strato fait pale figure au niveau de la finition, de la tenue de l'accord ou bien de l'action par defaut des cordes.

Trop tot pour le dire mais elle me semble tout a fait indestructible ! Tous les elements de cette guitare sont de tres grande qualite.

j'ai une carte de garantie mais je ne sais pas si c'est valable pour la France. Sinon Joli site internet ou on peut s'enregistrer en donnant le numero de serie, tout ca m'a l'air bien serieux.

Je joue depuis 14 ans du blues, reggae/dub, et des trucs plus personnels ou je cherche a sortir de ce qui se fait deja tout en restant - je l'espere - musical et expressif. J'ai juste une strat sinon parce qu'elle me suffisait pour jouer ce que j'avais en tete mais maintenant je me rends compte que c'est cette guitare qu'il me faut. Elle est tellement excellente dans sa polyvalence, je l'aime quoi ! J'en ai pourtant essaye des guitares cheres mais celle la les surpasse toutes pour moi... enfin j'avais beaucoup aime la MUSIC MAN Axis (modele Van Halen) mais j'echangerai pas contre ma Parker meme si les micros pourraient meilleurs. Je verrai avec un luthier plus tard si on peux adapter des Seymour duncan, sinon je mettrai des vitual paf et je serai tres heureux comme ca.

2002 nitefly-m made in usa same config to all reviews above

i play mstly jazz and blues and some classical rock (santana) this beauty fits them EXCELENT some are saying than the dimarzzio PU are crap in my opinion they are FANTASTIC sound great an whith the piezo make a very unique sound this guitar is the best i ever play in my life and i own several guitars (yamaha,gibson,fender,epiphone you name it i have it) but i will go to send ALL my others guitars to keep ONLY THE PARKER it sound superb

i buyed this used and it was allready set-up VERY low and that is the way i like it,its in MINT condition no flaws or dents excelent bridge and PU not noisy at all i play this thru a FENDER TWIN REVERB ist soun awsome

it looks very solid i think it was build like a tank very very well done hig quiality workmanship excelent tuners i think this guitar will live forever

no deal with them yat i dont need it

ill been playing for 10 years i own 15 diferent guitars and this one is THE BEST very confortable very versatile hig quiality of workmanship beatiful sound very ligth its a wonder i choose this btwn a prs and a yamaha sg 3000 i like this parker better for the sound the tone the features and quality of workmanship and for the price is the best deal you can find honestly if you can buy one DO IT you don be desapointed its great

only parker sound like a parker
this guitar is for real man not for childs

2004 Nitefly M. You know all the features already..read on...

The sound on this guitar is truly remarkable. You have to hear to really appreciate how articulate every single note that you play sounds. I have found sounds in my Mesa-Boogie Nomad 45 that I didn't even know could be had...
Every thing is so clear, but will dirty up if you like...Bridge pickup is not as hot as a FRED or JB but fits the guitar. I play mostly my own stuff so my own sound is most important. This guitar is perfect for that.. including the Piezo makes for even more options....just a little hotter bridge and maybe a Sustainer and this guitar would be perfect. No it is perfect already ..10

The perfect combination a Mesa Boogie and a Parker Nitefly..and both made in this Country....go figure..

When I got it I lowered the action, but I have to do that with every guitar I own. No complaints about how it came. I like as little relief as possible and action as low as I can get it..Only one string was out of tune when I took it out of the box and leaving the original strings on it didn't give me that 'dirty fingers' that you get when playing other new guitars.

The guitar itself is beautiful. I mean down right gorgeous. Blows away any guitar I have ever seen, custom or not. To be a production model it makes that much more incredible. Not a flaw to be found. Frets are incredible. Any vibrato you create with your left hand is that much easier with these perfectly smooth and crowned frets.

Well, when you first pick it up, you notice that it is lighter that any guitar I have ever played. It almost feels like a toy. First impression left me worried that it would be delicate. But the first day I had it, I was holding it by its 'external monkey grip' and tripped on my daughter's cat. Reflexes drove the guitar up and into the ceiling of my basement. I freaked...the first this I did was check the headstock...only a little white paint on it..the the turning..spot on..then the electronics..everything worked perfectly. The only damage was the hole in my ceiling.. I would never think any of my guitars would take a shot like that, even if I intended to do it.. gotta live the composite neck..

Everything else on the guitar is tight and the way it should be..

I haven't dealt with them yet...

I have been playing since the late seventies and have played and owned guitars at both ends of the price range. This guitar, by far, is the finest musical instrument that I have ever played, let alone owned. I was debating between this guitar, a PRS and a Les Paul. I am glad that I chose tis one. I will admit the articulation of the sound is something that you may want to hear first hand before you buy. Not to mention how strange the neck feels at first.. it feels hollow, but once you play you can really feel the resonating of the strings. I'll admit, my San Dimas Charvel and my Wolfgang are not going anywhere, and will never be sold, but the rest of my guitars are now for sale because this guitar is in a whole different catagory. Mr. Parker and his associates blows every other guitar manufacturer away...being a Manufacturing Engineer, I know they are really doing their job there in New England. I am already saving for my Nitefly Mojo. Maybe I will make a sign out of my old guitars...

"This parking spot is reserved for 'The Man'
"Mr. Ken Parker"

Made in America, Mahogany body and neck, amazing stainless steel frets, carbon reinforced neck, piezo bridge, slitable coils, schaller tuners for super fast string changes. The bridge can be made either to float floyd rose style, down only Fender style or sort of locked (just crank the claw connected with the springs all the way down). And I just can't say enough about the weight, feather light compared to my Strat and Les Paul.

The stock pick-ups are OK, not great but useable. The great thing about this guitar is that unlike the other Fly models you can stick any after market DiMarzio that is F-spaced into it. The stock pick-ups are DiMarzio's but are modeled after the Tone Zone and the Air Norton. The bridge (tone zone) has great tone, but not enough output, the neck (air norton) has too much output and not warm and fat enough of a tone.
So I swapped them out. I put a Virtual PAF in the neck and a real Tone Zone in the bridge. Now the way a Nitefly is spaced you have to put a bridge pick-up that is F-spaced into the neck so that the strings line up to the pole pieces. You also have to route a little channel in the pick-up cavity so that the wire coming out of the pick-up isn't in the way any will allow you to lower the pick-up enough to have the action nice and low with the pick-up smacking into the strings. If you aren't very experienced in wiring get someone else to do it because when you open that cavity in the back and see wires going every where it is a little overwhelming. Anyway, the new Virtual PAF sounds so fat and warm, great clarity, decent output, great great tone. The really cool part is that even when you split the coils, the Virtual PAF sounds great! I get this really great Strat-ish tone that is fat, warm and clear with some sparkle. The Virtual PAF is a 100 times better! The Tone Zone is great, adds some really great low end and output, great for all kinds of heavy metal and rock. The really cool thing is if you split the coils and go into the middle position, you get this really neat strat/tele thing that is totally cool for some bluesy country stuff.
The piezo is OK, not great but good. You can get some really decent acoustic tones. I like it, but I know that there are better piezo systems out there with pre-amps and the whole nine yards, but considering the price that I paid and all the other things that I got on this guitar I'll be happy with what I got.

When it first arrived the action was WAY TOO HIGH!!! I mean seriously, this is a Parker! It's got the one of a kind composite neck with stainless steel frets and stuff! So I lowerd that puppy down and now it plays like butter! The thing practically plays itself! No buzzing of any sort, just clean easy playing.
The rest of the guitar is just great the wiring was all neat and clean, the bridge and nut are all perfect. The wood grain is absolutely beautiful.

Well this is really hard to say since I just got it and have it finally set up just the way I like it. But I can say this, I have owned one in the past and it held up great! But for that kind of money I always take really good care of my equipment and don't let anything happen to it. Other than that I have my reservations, there's the natural inclination to assume that a guitar that is that thin and light it has to be fragile and you have to be gentle with it. So I'll just continue babying it and make it last longer.

This is really where Parker shines! Will over at the Parker facility is just amazing. I called him so many times I swear he was able to recognize my voice and know what I needed before I had even finished introducing myself. They were great, he even gave suggestions for other pick-ups, and even told me how to wire them!
I haven't dealt with the warranty or repair since it's still brand new.

I've been playing for about 10 years have been through a plethora of gear, but have settled on a ESP EC-300 ATS (Les Paul knock-off) loaded with a Seymour Dunca JB in the bridge and a 59 in the neck. I also have a Fender Jimmie Vaughan Strat with Fender Fat 50's in the neck and middle and a Seymour Duncan Hotrails in the bridge and now my trusty Parker Nitefly M. If anything was to happen to my Parker I would immediately purchase another one with the same exact pick-up set up. I love this guitar it plays like a dream and has tone for days! So versatile (with the right pick-ups) and just a joy to play. The only thing that I don't like about it is that switching the pick-ups was a little bit of a pain. Having to route a channel in the pick-up cavity was a new experience for me. Other than that it wasn't too bad. I compare this to other Parkers because I knew I wanted one but didn't know which. I tried the Deluxe, but that was even lighter and felt like a toy and didn't sound nearly as nice, plus I spoke to Parker and they said that swapping pick-ups was far more difficult. The other major deterent for the rest of the Parker line was the price. The Mojo is over $2K, and I just can't justify shelling that out. I got out for under a $1K, with the perfect pick-ups and I couldn't be happier.

You know the basic appointments from the reviews below.
Tuners: Sperzel (my fav)
Pickups: Dimarzio and Fishman (I like them)
Body: Single piece of Mahogany
Neck: Size is somewhere between an Ibanez Wizard II and a 60's Strat.
Bridge: Aluminum & Stainless steel with ball bearings for saddles.
Accessories: Nicest gig bag ever, stereo cable, adjustment tools

I give it a 9 because it isn't as pretty as over guitars, but it has a whole lot of tone and playability no other guitar has.

I love playing jazz and blues. It is not noisy at all, dead quiet even with the coil split. My two amps I use the most are a Tech21 Trademark 60 for small gigs and jazz and a Traynor Custom Valve 80 for big gigs and blues/rock music.

This guitar really does it all. It isn't quite as rich and full as my Carvin H2 which is a hollowbody, but gets darn close. For overdriven rock-type sounds, it is wonderful and smooth. The Fishman piezo isn't as acoustic as an acoustic guitar, but does a good job.

All in all, you will be hard pressed to find a guitar with more versitility than a Parker with a Mahogany body.

Flawless... in all honesty it was flawless when I recieved it second hand. I did nothing to it and was great to play. The fingerboard feels great, the bridge is shaped very well. The only two things I don't like about the design is the smaller frets and the neck joint.

Other than that... perfection.

I play it live all the time. It does very well and I am very glad to have this guitar. Since most of my gigs are solo and I don't use a bunch of tunings, I typically only bring this one guitar. The strap buttons are oversized and very solid.

In the Jazz combo group this is my backup. I use my Carvin H2 as the main guitar for Jazz. For anything else though, the Parker would be it.

Never delt with them. Nice website though, very informative and nice sound clips and video.

I have been playing for almost a decade. I don't own a bunch of stuff, just two electrics, two acoustics and two amps. I know what I like and I am very happy with what I have.

I love how ergonomic it is. It is without a doubt the most comfortable guitar I have played in the standing position. In the beginning I was an acoustic musician and I have always wanted to have a way to capture that sound without changing instruments. The Parker NiteFly goes one step farther with the "blended" system. The feel is wonderful, the response is very nice and the hardware is top notch.

If it were lost or stolen, I would buy another. I wish the neck/body joint was a little more seamless like the non-bolt models. You really can't compare it to anything else. A Parker is a Parker and it isn't a Strat, Les Paul, PRS or any other guitar. It has it's own voice and it is lovely for $700 used.

Just a note for my review below. It took a couple of phone calls but when I spoke to customer service about not getting my rebate check they didn't just give me the # for their accts. payable dept. they personally got involved and I had the check in three days. Thanks Parker!!P.S. Still love this guitar and it is still my favorite.

Everyone here has all ready listed the particulars but the body is a gorgeous piece of stained mahogany and the neck is a fiberglss wood combination with black sperzels and dual humbuckers with pull up tone knob to split the coils. It has a 3 position swithc and a piezo/both/magnetic only pickup selector.MADE IN USA (mostly by hand)

I love the sound. It is very crisp or acoustic or thick or a wide variety of cominations. By no means a "shreder or metal" guitar and you would be much better served by an Ibanez or a Jackson if that type of music is your style but for Neil Young to Tom Petty to Clapton to Knofler and a wide aray of jazz and Rock styles this ax RULES!

Top shelf! The Store I deal with makes sure everthing is 100% BEFOR it hits the rack. They use Deadario XL 9's at the factory. Everything lines up perfectly neck and body flawless. Black hardware and pickups look real sharp

Mahogany body and Composite neck should be very durable although satin finnishes tend to be easy to hurt I've got to ding it a couple points for finish durability from past experience with other brands.

These guys are great. Although I have been wating over $ months for a rebate check I was told was maild out over a month ago. The people in Customer service were very knowledgeable and apreciative.

I'm 45 and I just started again a few years ago after giving it up for 15 years. The store was very helpful and I tried out at least a dozen diferent Parkers, Ibanez, Shcters, ESPs,Gibsons and Fenders. This guitar just spoke volumes to me. It was the most versatile and easy playing guitar I've ever had and I've had alot. From Teles to SG's to Strats. I do have a Burns Steer Deluxe the is truly unique but that's a differen animal. The Nightfly M is a world class guitar, for the money you can't but a better USA made electric guitarwith even half the versatility you get from the Nightfly.Bravo Parker!!

Great features=carbon/glass fretboard,stainless steel frets,sperzel locking tuners,a tremelo that can be a hardtail/floating/down only,beautiful mahogany body, two humbuckers with single-coil sound in the 2 position,piezo bridge,bolt-on neck.

I play mostly satriani/vai inspired stuff as well as I can and this guitar does the trick. I've heard some do not like the pickups on Parkers but I personally like the sound better than my JB's-again this is a personal preference issue (what kind of music you play, your amp,ect.).The single coil sounds very good (inner two coils of the humbuckers)but I'm not a strat-kind of guy so I'm not the person to give the best opinion on strat-like tone.The piezo bridge gives you that slightly percussive tone you hear with acoustic/electrics and is definately a excellent alternative to the clean sound of the magnetic pickups. The top of the Parker line (fly deluxe,classic) do sound better in the piezo department but they have a built-in preamp wheras the nitefly does not.

Everything was setup nicely from the factory, I just lowered the action a hair. As you probably have heard the frets are the best you can get on a guitar;all super-smooth and uniform in dimension, not to mention stainless steel so they will last a very long time. I have kept the tremelo in the down-only mode so I cannot give a opinion on the floating aspect of the tremelo (too many problems with other guitars floating trems).

I've only had this guitar two months but I play it every day, no problems as of yet. Of course with the natural satin finish on the stained mahogany body you dont have to worry about paint chipping.

Havent had to deal with customer support.

Been playing about 15yrs.My gear=2 Ibanez s-series,1 7-string Ibanez,1 Fernandes dragonfly Pro, 1 Schecter Omen 6.Amp=Vox valvetronix ad60vt. This is without a doubt my favorite guitar. For the longest time I really never considered Parkers because I thought they looked too weird, but with their reputation for quality, the features on this guitar I had to try one, I'm glad I did. If you can get past the non-traditional body shape (it grows on you) this is a excellent guitar, now I'm thinking of either getting another or a fly classic/standard.

See other reviews for feature list

Comes with one of the nicest gig bags I've ever seen.

I'm using this guitar for avante-guard jazz/rock/surf through a 1969 fender showman head, and a 2-12 cabinet with vintage fender speakers (VERY sweet sounding.)

Ah, well, the stock pickups are a bit "puffy" for my taste, though truth be told, I'm not a humbucker connoisseur, but a single-coil type 'o guy. The coil-drop tones are nice, but obviously not really like a strat or a tele, though it would do well enough for most settings.

So, the first thing I did (after playing the stock pickups for a few days) was to replace the pickups with DiMarzio Virtual Vintage Bluesbuckers. Now it sounds like I want it too, thick, but with a nice top-end. I also use flat-wound 11's, which helps bring out the high-mids.

Why parker sets these things up with 9's is beyond me. Since I use 11's I need to get the nut recut, which is a pain. Also, if you're thinking about replacing the pickups, be ready to do a LOT of work, probably by a professional. First, the pickup holes will need to be routed down to accomadate the greater depth that most humbuckers have. Second, VERY carefully write down where ALL of the wires connect. I've never seen a wiring job like this before, so for speed of use, I've completely bypassed the piezo pickup.

Now, let it be said that if you want to play the guitar as is (stock pickup) and you like 9's, then this beast is well near perfect. I LOVE niteflys, and have a nitefly SA that is my main guitar.

Hmmm, well I asked for a wiring diagram so I could make alterations easier and was told that they do not get out that information, so they get a ding for that. On the other hand, I *was* given the phone number for the factory guy who might be able to give me the info over the phone, so that's quite nice.

This rating is how it compares with my nitefly SA, which is a 9.

Mahogany body with composite neck skin. 22 Stainless steel jumbo fret on a bolt on neck with a sculpted heel-neck joint. The body looks to be a single light weight piece of wood; i.e. not a "jig saw" 2-3 piece body. Finish looks to be a hand rubbed red-brown stain with a satin finish topcoat. Added to the mix are 2 DiMarzio humbuckers and a fishman piezo setup. The humbuckers work similiar to a typical Les Paul scheme through a 3 way toggle. The tone knob activites single coil tones ala PRS McCarty. A second 3 way toggle switch activates the piezo, Blend of magnetic and piezo and magnetic only. No special cables are needed for the blens through the new "smart" jack that allows both sounds to go to a single source. A stereo cable is provided to truly split the 2 signals to seperate amps. Lots of optional and tonal colors.

Heres my beef.....I paid good money for this guitar so I'm duty bound to give you my honest impression. I don't think the "custom wound" DiMarzio pickups are bringing out the peak potential of this instrument. Example: In straight ahead humbucker mode bridge position, the tone is a bit constipated with choked highs and an artificial sounding bottom end. Some amp settings have that "wah" in the middle position sound....annoying after a while. The neck is a bit better but still "missing" a bit of complexity and character. On the other hand, the DiMarzio pickups single coil tones are more impressive but that could be due to the pickup grabbing some of the unique attack and sound of the composite fingerboard. Otherwise, the piezo is a nice touch although you do need some outboard eq to dial in its full sonic potential.

I'm not slamming this instrument in any way cause the tones ARE good....just pointing out a few things a potential buyer may want to listen for during a demo. The pickups may be perfect for others but not for me. I'll give it a 6.5 and round up to 7.

This guitar is WELL built, designed, and has perhaps the best tremelo ever offered on any instrument in the history of the guitar. Tuning stability is a 10 out of a 10; I mean this guitar HOLDS tune after massive Floyd Rose like dive bombing attacks. The necks acurate frets make scale intonation even and acurate all over the neck....another leap forward. The application of the composite neck materials is especially impressive and feels especially good under the old fingers.

Well made and should last awhile considering the materials and stainless steel frets

Been playing 16 years and currently have a quite a few high end axes and amps. There is so much to like about this instrument that experimenting with some other pickups may really put this guitar over the top. I'm pretty sure a pair of 4 conductor Duncan's will do the trick...perhaps a JB, custom EVH, or Custom in the bridge and either a Jazz or '59 in the neck. I think a Fralin 9K would work well too. Time to get out the soldering iron.....I'm giving an 8 for the untapped potential.