Parker Guitars NiteFly

I've had my Nitefly for about a year now, and all I can say is that it's been immaculate! Mine is the 2000 model, with s/s/h DiMarzio pickups and active Fishman piezo bridge. The body is swamp ash and the neck is basswood with carbon-glass fnish and composite fretboard. The finish is Dusty Black, in a very un-stratlike strat-style. The nut is a uniquely-shaped GraphTech nut, 25.5" scale and jumbo stainless steel frets, epoxy bonded to the fretboard. Mine did come with the stereo cable, although I usually use the guitar summed in mono. It also came with the obligitory wrenches and a soft case.

I've always found Parkers to be rich sounding and warm. I've used it in every kind of music, from industrial to rock to blues, and it's fit in perfectly. I've used it with a Line6 POD, as well as a BOSS GT-3 processor, and have always found that it shines in any setting. The only quibble I have is occasionally hitting the trem arm or bridge with the peizo's on, and it comes through as an audible thump, although this is a common problem with peizo bridges and not because of the Parker it self. While I prefer DiMarzio pickups if I have to go passive, I much prefer EMG's and I think they would better suit the more futuristic design of Parkers. The single coils were slightly noisy by themselves, and using the noiseless Virtual Vintage pickups may have been a better choice as well, but this is not the fault of the guitar or Parker, so I won't whack any points off for it.

Unlike many of the people here, my Nitefly was set up perfectly and I only tried one! I'd always used 10's for strings, but have gone down to 9's since I've not had any problem with string breakage, with the exception of one D'Addario, which was wound wrong. The guitar is meant for 9's and it plays perfectly with them. The paint job was perfect, with no dings or scratches and the fretwork was great, due to the bonding procedure. I've taken the guitar apart a couple times to clean it, and the routing and sheilding are very well done. Unlike many of the other posts, my nut was cut perfectly and stays in tune under the most rabid conditions, helped along by the Sperzel tuners. I have installed Dunlop straplocks and they work fine, although I recommend using the screws that came with the Parker's original strap buttons, because the longer screws will go right through the upper straphorn.

I've used my Nitefly live many times, and it's always come through without a scratch. I've even whacked with the ceiling fan on accident and it didn't dent it one bit. The only time I DID dent it was when I backed up into a hardwood table and hit the edge really hard with the corner of the table. While there was a dent, the paint did not flake off or shatter. While I'm not sure what the topcoat is, I do know they use PPG Automotive paints for the finish, which are costly and VERY good car paints. Parker also names their colors by the actual paint name, and give the contacts for PPG in case someone needs to get touchup paint. The paint was well-applied and even, but not too thick or too thin. I've tripped over my guitar, accidentally dropped it, fell down a flight of stairs with it, and exposed it to tons of fog and sweat, and it just keeps on ticking. I've never brought another guitar to a gig since I've owned the Parker. The ONLY thing I would perhaps like to see improved is the use of Schaller locking tuners instead, and perhaps a little bit more protection around the individual peizo pickup wires under the bridge. While Sperzel's are nice and reliable, the locking wheel's post is small and might be bent if it was hit while unlocked all the way. The Schallers seem a bit more, well, heaftier, although I don't think the Schallers come in the groovy brushed metal finishes.

I've only ever dealt with customer support, and that was just to get the factory setup specs, which I like to keep around. They got back to me within four days, but I'd sent them an email only two days after their website had gone up, so I'll forgive them. They were very nice and happily sent me everything I wanted to know, as well as apologiseing profusly for being late with a response. Very nice indeed! The only thing about support I have a bitch about is the warranty. I don't mind too much that it's only a year, although longer would be much nicer. But I don't like shipping instruments. I trust Parker, but I don't trust UPS to not damage it even more. But, there are actually many places that are authorised Parker repair places, a little-known fact not shown on their website. I know this because I used to work for Guitar Center and we had a list of them in the Denver area. The only thing the factory absolutly must do is fret replacement, authorised repairmen don't have the equipment for this. Overall the support is wonderful, but I have to knock points off for the warranty plan.

I'd wanted a Parker for quite a while, and was not (and have not been) disappointed by it! It is definitly a wonderful value, although I wish some of the other models were a bit cheaper. But I'd much rather have this than a PRS or Gibson or Fender any day! The design is innovative and different, but not overly weird like Rich's or some Jacksons. I can't think of anything that I hate about this guitar, and I commend Ken Parker for doing such an outstanding design job and construction. I would buy another one in a heartbeat, and actually will purchase a MIDIFly sometime in the future. Not everyone will like this guitar, but it's definitly something you need to play first, before you make your final decision. But I doubt anyone would be disappointed...

1999 (approximate) model.22 fret, S/S/H pickup configuration. Piezo pickup., Nice sunburst finish. Sperzel Tuners. Vibrato

I am using this guitar through a Marshall JTM 30 amp, extension cabinet, and a Crowther hotcake to add some zip for leads.

This guitar is capable of some excellent sounds. This guitar sounds very nice unamplified. The single coils possess good strat sounds. The humbucker is decent sounding as well, and is not too loud in comparison to the single coils.

As good as the guitar sounds while playing alone at low volumes, I found it challenging to get good sounds while gigging with the band I'm in. The guitar is somewhat thin sounding, and lacking in meatiness, and this became accentuated while playing at live volumes.

First off the guitar was supplied to me strung with 009 guage strings.
Swapping these with 10's signifigantly improved the sound. Also raising the height of the pickups helped make the sound cut better.
At this point the guitar was manifesting a very good tone on sustained notes, but was still too thin sounding for my tastes.Keep in mind that I'm looking for a hot, agressive rock sound. At this point I swapped out the stock pickups for Joe Bardens. These provided more note definition on distorted settings and had a midrange sizzle which made the guitar much more useful for playing live.

It should be noted that the piezio pickups sound great. They must be played through a full range amp(ie keyboard amp, acoustic guitar amp or P.A.)to sound authentic. The acoustic sound is very convincing. Also combining the acoustic sound with the electric sound can give a huge sound with its wide range of textures.

The action fit and finish of these guitars is amazing. The action is a little bit higher than it could be (which suits me fine). The finish is beatiful and flawless. The feel of the guitar is what sold me on it. The neck is fast and plays consistent all over. The frets are so smooth and feel 'like playing on ball bearings', great for bending.

These guitars have a marvelous aesthetic appeal. Also, get this - the non locking vibrato stays in tune.

. I once had crapped out and distorted piezo sounds which turned out to be a dead battery. I've gigged with this for 6 months and have not had nor expect to have any problems

na

At times I have found this guitar extremely inspiring. Other times I have found the sound a little lacking.

Overall however, this is an excellent instrument. It does seem to be more suited to cleaner sounds where the suble sophistication of this piece can shine.

2000 Parker Nitefly made in the USA. 22 Frets, 5-way magnetic pickup selector (S/S/H), Mangetic tone and voluem controls, piezo electric pickup, piezo volume control, stereo-mono selector with active mixing circuit, stero cable included, three way Magnetic/Piezo Selector switch. The body is swamp ash with a transparent blue finish, the Frets are hardened stainless steel, the finger board is some carbon graphite type material, neck is bolt-on, the tuners are locking Sperzel, the bridge has a tremolo bar. A gig bag was included with the guitar.

I play alot of rock, blues and I am finding my way into jazz. This guitar offers me everything I need to experiment in what ever style of music I'm interested in. Before this guitar I had a Slammer by Hammer for about 4 years. There is absolutely no comparison to that guitar. The Nitefly rivals any guitar I've played in the sound department.

I have not noticed any flaws on this guitar. The carbon-graphite finger board is very slick, and the hardend stainless steel frets will last forever. The thing that really impressed me is the guitar was in tune where ever you went on the fret board. We will see how this holds out. I won't dare mess with the factory set-up for a while.

Everything seems like it will hold together on this guitar. I read other reviews before buying this guitar and no one mentioned any problems. The support people at Parker say to stay away from string and fret protection oils because some of them contain elements that will help break down the glue that holds the finger board on. If I have any problems I will let you know.

Everytime I've emailed parker they have gotten back to me within one or two days. I have had alot of useful help from them.

I have been playing for almost 5 years now. My first and only other electric guitar was a Slammer by Hammer. I paid $220 for that guitar new...Let's just say I got what I paid for. I chose the Parker Nitefly because no one ever had anything bad to say about it and it fit me like a glove. The only problem I have with it is the whammy bar slides out of its slot. It doesn't screw in so there isn't too much holding it there. Everything else blew me away....An excellent guitar, I don't know why more people don't buy them.

pls read below about the controls etc.

Amazing looks - I loved it so much, and E X T R E M E L Y comfortable to play!!

I used it for three days - one recording session. Well, I really liked it. Very comfortable to play, great intonation, great tuners, vast array of sounds available. However, singles don't achieve Strat glassiness, though are 90% close, but they're a bit dull, and humbucker is good, very good. What I like in this guitar - is it's playability (supa dupa) and that it is capable of all the standard classic sounds.
my only gripe is that
a) I haven't tried the piezo sectionand
b) I like Teles more for SINGLE tone and Les Pauls for HUMBUCKERS
If Paul / Tele is 9, then this is 7.5-8

super

n/a

Well, this is probably the best attempt ever to create an all-about guitar, great for recording and live work. Great looks!! I loved this feature especially. it's worse then a good US Strat or Paul, but far better then Ibanezes, Kramers, Hamers, ESPs, Jacksons, even some PRSes... the latter are overpriced and poppy
uh

This is a '97 model with the H/S/S config. I bought it used, and they didn't have the Y cable, which was sort of a bummer. As usual, its got the piezo pickup, the carbon/glass neck and the sperzels (those are my favorite features at least). The bridge is one of Parker's babies, but they definately did a great job with it. The finish on mine is the sunburst, which looks great.

I can't imagine using a different guitar! My band plays electronic rock, so I'm out to get some fat rhythmic sounds. The humbucker is an great rhythm pickup (good for metal/hard rock, not much bottom end though), and the singles are great for clean sounds and leads. What I've usually done is roll back the tone knob about 3/4 of the way and play both singles for my lead tone. It gives me back a real smooth sound. Also, I mounted a GK2A on this and run a Roland GR-30 with it, and that just makes this guitar look even cooler! Well I think at least. generally, I'll blend a synth guitar sound with my regular rig to get my sound (electronic rock). Insofar, there hasn't been any problems with any styles of music I've encountered yet.

I really dig the finish. I've had to play this thing outdoors a few times and it really takes the sun well. The action was great on mine, and the intonation never gives me trouble (I've had to throw it in a trailer in the gig bag a few times). The bridge has oxidized a little, but its nothing big..in fact you can't notice it unless you really look close.

I must admit, I beat the hell out of this thing. I'd like to think that I take great care of it, and that it gets all the care it deserves, but it doesn't (hey when you're on the road, there isn't a whole lot you can do!). However, this guitar must have been made to handle this! The neck is so sturdy its unreal. I've played out with 7 other guitars prior to this, and since then, I only take this (and a jackson kelly as a backup).

Parker is awesome! Their website is really cool (http://www.parkerguitars.com). I'm a little biased because they had me in one of their ads, but hey, all the better!

I've used this guitar for about a year and half, and it totally rocks. My rig is relatively small because A. I don't feel like toting big 4x12 cabs and B. I look for a synth-like tone, which is best done DI. I run a chain of effects on the Parker side, and just the GR-30 on the GK side. My favorite part of this guitar is the bridge. You can whammy away and it just comes right back! Prior to this guitar, I've had ones with Floyd Rose bridges, which are okay, but nothing compared to the parker bridge. Not having to unlock the nut to tune is wonderful. I'd reccoment this to anyone who wants a unique looking guitar with a wide range of tones and flexibility.

Parker Nitefly guitar. USA made s/s/s pickup configuration. Has the usual Parker gadgets (Piezos, DiMarzio magnetics, and button to mix the pickups to a mono signal. The guitar I am reviewing has a mahogany body (I think) in a beautiful vintage sunburst finish. Guitar came with gig bag and various wrenches for adjustments. Locking tuners come standard and certainly are a nice touch. Guitar also comes with a gig bag that is well padded yet still compact. Overall good features. There was no instruction manual with the guitar and I think the guitar probably needs a brief one for the knobology and care of the guitar (especially the fretboard since I don't know what it is made of). Other than that I can't really think of anything else Parker could do other than give a hardshell case (especially for the money) but I am still very pleased with what I got with the guitar.

I play funk-rock-metal and this guitar delivers in each genre. The s/s/s configuration is very stratty but with out the noise and sometimes harsh tendencies of a start. Clean, the guitar sounds very lush and resonant with a very deep woody tone (this is surprising since only the body is made of wood). Selecting the neck pickup and rolling back the tone knob gives you a decent jazz tone with good resonance and bass response. The piezos are a very nice touch and they only augment the woody tone that the magnetics will give you. A very convincing acoustic tone. Well, as close as you can get with a solid body. With the magnetics on and with distortion cranked on my all tube Crate Vintage club 50 into a fender tonemaster cab, The parker sounds excellent. Highs come through very well and are easily discernable with my band playing in the background (especially important for a good funk sound). The guitar has a lot of high frequency presence. I turn the tone knob to about halfway to get a bright but not harsh sound. Now, if you are trying to get a "metal meltdown" sound I don't think this guitar will work for you. I have found that the low end is definately not like a Les Paul/PRS. There is some low end but once again this is a very stratty guitar. I have found that switching to the mid-bridge pickup position can help tremendously especially because on this guitar your sound won't turn to mush. This has helped me get a convincing metal sound without losing too much high end.
Overall the sound of the Parker is perfect for my style and I think you may be okay to use it for anything other than real hardcore metal (due to lack of low end cruch).
If you like a vintage strat tone you will most likely like the parker also. I actually prefer it over a strat now.

Setup was very good. The action was right where I thought it should be. Finish was very good to, but I thought the sunburst could have been a little deeper (I am very picky though). The neck is the most playable I have ever seen. Very accessible at the higher frets and the fretboard is amazing. The frets and fretboard are a work of art in and of themselves. One year of playing daily and NO VISIBLE FRET WEAR! Very comfortable fretboard with almost a "springy" feel to it. I did have a slight problem with the low E getting pulled off the fret board at times during hectic playing, but the heavier string guage has seemed to have fixed that. There were no construction flaws that I noticed. However, The knobs on the guitar are very cheap looking, one of my looking tuners sticks occasionally and the nut looks a little cheap but I have never had any problems with it so I guess it can be ugly as long as it does its job!

I don't even bring a backup as I have had no problems the whole year I have owned this guitar. But I have a backup s/s/s nitefly just in case ;). Live playing is a joy since the guitar is so light and playable. However, it is light but has quite a solid feel to it.

Never dealt with 'em.

I've been playing 12 years total. I really hate to get all misty eyed on you but this (actually these...I have two now) guitar is the best I've ever played. Extremely versatile, comfortable and sounds great. The corrections and flaws are minor and easily overshadowed by the guitars tone and feel. If it were stolen I would definately buy another s/s/s (if I can even find one...I think they quit making them in this config) and then take one of my old guitars out of the closet, find the thief and club him to death!

Most of the features of this model have been covered in previous reviews so I'll try to make this brief. Mine's a 1999 model (NFV8). The NFV8 differs from older Nitefly's, in that it has a stereo/mono switch which enables you to use a mono cable to access both the magnetic and piezo pickups. Very handy feature! The pickup config is S/S/H/Piezo. The pickups are Dimarzio's with a strat style 5-way selector. Volume control for magnetic/piezo and a tone control for the magnetic pickups only. There's also a switch for selecting the Piezo, the magnetic pickups or a combination of both. Locking Sperzel tuners, bolt-on neck and spring trem. The body is a non-traditional strat style, not for the conventional. The tremelo looks like something out of an H.R. Geiger painting. Absolutely a beautiful guitar! Came with gigbag, stereo cable. Made in the USA! There's not much more I could ask for as far as features. It would be nice if there was an EQ for the piezo.

There are an amazing range of tones you can get with this thing. Strat style(via the single coils), acoustic(via the piezo), or Gibson(the humbucker). You can also get some neat sounds with the piezo/magnetic combo. I use this with a Carvin SX100. Sounds great through this amp, especially the piezo's. See the other reviews for an opinion of how it may sound through a tube amp. The big downside for me is the thinness of the sound. It just doesn't have allot of chunk, even with the humbucker. All the same it's a great sounding guitar but a few points are taken off for the tinny tone.

I'm sorry to report that mine was very poorly set up. The action is way too high for my tastes. Other than that, everything else was perfect. Flawless finish(mine's kind of a black/sparkle) and fretwork. I wish I had this guitar when I used to play long sets, It's the lightest guitar I've ever played and has a very comfortable scale length and feel. The fretboard is amazing!! It feels like glass. All the controls seem to be top notch so far. In the end a point is taken off for the poor setup.

I can't testify for this section since I don't play live anymore. David Bowie's guitarist Reeves Gabrels says that his Parker has taken a hell of beating and is still going strong. My guess is that this is a very road-worthy guitar.

No direct dealings with the company. It would be nice if their Website was more comprehensive.

I've been playing for 20+ years and own a variety of other instruments. I have to say that my Nitefly fits in nicely. It's kind of a "jack of all trades" guitar, where it has almost any tonal option you'd need. Overall it has a Strat-ish quality to it. In fact, when recording I often have a hard time choosing whether to use my Strat or the Nitefly. I think the design is beautiful for it's modern look and uniqueness. The cons of this guitar are the some of the tinny tones it has and the poor factory setup. I also don't like the whammy bar design either(not the bridge mind you, which is my favorite part of the guitar!). Although it would be nice if I could afford a Parker with a set neck, this guitar was an awesome value for the price! If you're looking for a non traditional body style, as well as flexibility, this is the guitar for you.

I aquired a '97 Nitefly, blue with s/s/h pickup combination. Again, I won't list the other benifits of this guitar. The pickups are fantastic, and the piezo has opened new worlds. The body style is so eyecatching! and it comfortable to play standing or sitting.

This guitar has a fantastic sound. I play through a Peavy Classic 50, and am able to produce clean acoustic to smooth dirty distortion, this guitar sounds great through anything. One minus, as with a real acoustic you get the fret squeek, bearable, but annoying.

This guitar is silk. I am able to move my fingers faster over this fretboard than anything else. I bought the guitar used, and the guy previous to me for some god-awful reason set the action too high, I had to adjust it. The guitar can be a pain if you want to switch from 9s or 10s, you can't play fatter strings. But 9s smoke on this thing. My guitar is translucent blue and is so beautiful and flawless.

This is a solid guitar, and that's all there is to it.

I have only been playing for two years, but my playing style as well as guitar experience has rocketed. I've played seemingly hundreds of guitar and not one can compare in feel, versitality, look, and price. The Nitefly can handle raging metal to jazz, blues, and classical styles. THIS IS THE ONLY GUITAR YOU'LL EVER NEED! If mine were stolen, after I'd shot the theif repeatedly for TOUCHING it, i'd buy two more....If only it was a woman.

This is a recent vinage sunburst Nitefly with the s/s/h pickup configuration and a piezo under the bridge. Singl volume and tone controls for the magnetic pickups, a volume control for the piezo, a three way toggle (all mag/mag and piezo/piezo only) and a button to turn the piezo on and off. The pickups are muddy, lifeless DiMarzios I guess; the body is the radical strat mutation that all Parkers are; Sperzels, composite neck, you know the basics. It came to me used with a gig bag, a whammy bar, a honkin' truss rod wrench, and a stereo guitar cable.

I've used this with a Mesa Mark II and III and a Rivera Jake. I use amp distortion exclusively with the Mesas and goose the Riv with a Fulldrive II. The effects loop contains an Arion tuner and DOD chorus, volume and delay pedals. I play a variety of music with several live bands, from old time service club music to modern high energy rock. This is a quiet guitar. Very muddy; I have to recalibrate my amp settings to plug in this instrument. It seems underpowered as well; I really have to push the Mesas to get the sort of singing sustain I use in most of my leads.

High action, adequate pickup adjustment. The action is considerably stiffer than that of my Fender Powerhouse strat. There are no flaws to speak of that I see. Visually it's a very intriguing instrument, as much a work of art as it is a working instrument.

It's a sturdy instrument. I'd gig without a backup if I had to, but I'd probably bring one of my others as a reality check. I haven't installed straplocks yet because I don't know if the body is thick enough to accomodate the longer Dunlop screws. The finish is great.

No contact. I can't seem to get their manual to download, but this may be because of my Bronze Age computer. No warranty.

Been playing for nearly 30 years; my curreny gear includes a pair of PRSs and a Fender Roadhouse strat, along with a Peavey Reactor for knocking around. If this were stolen I'd probably buy something else. I'm not very impressed, although some of the piezo/magnetic combinations are interesting. It's too dark, without much natural sustain. Maybe a set of Duncan would liven it up... Or a metal sustain block under the bridge. My '87 Standard pounds this guitar into shards. Still, it's a different set of textures and with the right setup it can howl in a restrained, finessed way. With the boosts on and the gain at 9 in my Rivera and the Fulltone on it will roar. But I like to keep my distortion as natural as possible, and this is a flavor I don't use often.

(English is not my first language, as you will notice very soon.) I live in Spain (Europe)
S/S/H Dimarzio + piezo. This is a genuine Black Beauty. I don't want to repeat the features, you can see the other posts. I also have a 1996 Gibson Les Paul Classic Preemium Plus, so when a friend of mine brought to me a Gibson SG from USA unexpectedly two months ago, I made a trade for the Nitefly, plus $500 in a shop. The Nitefly is a very expensive item in Spain ($1200-$1500), so I think it was a good deal for me.
Unfortunely, the Parker came without owner's manual, and I don't know some things about it. Anyway, I think the features and setup of this guitar are splendid.

I play blues and rock. I use a JCM 2000 TSL combo Marshall amp, and a Roland GP100 for the effects. The combination with the marshall amp is perfect if you want play Blues with the crunch channel (I must equalize and turn some tone controls of that wonderfull amp). The sound of the single coils is a little bit noisy, but less than a Stratocaster's one. I also have a Fender Strat Plus, and the Parker is quite up to the standard of the Fender. The sound of the Dimarzio humbucker in combination with a good all-tube amp. The piezo is good enough for me. Very bright sound. O.k., it's not an acoustic, but it's not a problem if you're not an only-acoustic musician (or if you're not Eric Johnson).

All O.K. This Nitefly is a great, versatile, light and different guitar. Very easy and playable. My Les Paul and Strat are in it's cases since I got the Nitefly. I've played many guitars in the last 25 years (Gibson, Fender, Ibanez, Robin), and the Parker Nitefly is the only indispensable one. The Nitefly replace all of them. If you want to get the genuine Gibson sound, use a Gibson; if you are looking for the Fender sound, get a Fender. But the Nitefly is a better instrument, with best action, not vintage, but best/more playable

two mounths at home

Not needed. Purchased from Guitarshop, Barcelona, Spain. Joan is a gorgeus guy

The only thing I can say here is that the Les Paul and the strat ar not indispensable. I have a great showroom Les Paul Classic PP (GREAT sound and awesome maple flamed top). I have also a nice Fender Strat Plus. The best I can say is that the Nitefly wins in any comparison with the tradicional standards