Parker Guitars P-38

22 jumbo nickle silver frets
non locking tuners (hold very well)
very fast neck not too thin or too thick
body is swamp ash neck is maple with a rosewood fingerboard
wilkinson bridge
S/S/H parker alcino pickups
transparent blue finish (also comes in black, trans red, and blue)
5 way selector
3 pay selector for piezo/ piezo+magnetic? magnetic

i play a lot of classic rock great strat sounds for rythm and the bridge humbucker for leads amazing how you can combine the tones of the magnetic n piezo pickups i love it the only problem is that i find a little buzzing when i use the piezo pickup alone or combined with the magnetic ones

guitar was in perfect shape when i got it i bought it used for 400 from guitar center the action was perfect the finish is just beautiful

seems solid i havent had it for that long but it seems well built and like it will hold together

guitar center was very helpful i havent had to call parker yet but i have only heard good things and that they are very helpful

its just a great guitar i read the previous reveiws from this site and had to go play one i found the list of stores that carry parkers and went to a nearby guitar center i found a used one and bought it right away i love this guitar its set up perfect and i get great sounds on all the different settings

This is not just a cheap NightFly knockoff, but an interesting variation on the existing recipe.

The basic NightFly functions are all covered (Piezo/Strat sounds in stereo or mono blend, floating trem, fast but wider-than-average neck, compound-radius fingerboard, light weight, thin sculptured body, unusual shape).

HOWEVER, the new flavour comes from the use of conventional materials. Instead of a slick-but-unfamiliar composite neck with stainless "fret bars", you get a conventional maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard and regular frets. Wilkinson trem instead of the Parker bridge, Gotoh's instead of Sperzel's, etc.

On the downside, the new parts could be considered a step down from the regular Parker fare.

On the upside, they bring a comfortable, familiar feel to the instrument. And let's be frank: the "low-tech" materials used in the P-38 are still top-drawer. Fishman and Wilkinson are hardly names to sneeze at...

Anyway, here are the details: 22 frets. Swamp ash body, straight-grain maple neck and rosewood fingerboard.
Body finish is gloss polyester over transparent stain. Satin neck finish appears to be oil or an oil/urethane combo.

The body manages to combine a new and unusual shape with strat-like comfort, with one exception: When seated, some people find that the reverse "hook" on the upper bout digs into their ribs. I'm tall and don't slouch, so it wasn't a problem for me.

The bound fingerboard has a 10"-15" compound radius with high, narrow frets. It's 1/16" wider than a regular strat. The neck is somehow slim yet meaty, with a hard V profile. The fingerboard and fret edges are well-finished and feel very comfortable. The trussrod adjustment uses a large external wheel, as on all Parkers. Bonus.

Compared to the Parker composite neck, wood provides a little more resistance to bends and shakes. Whether this more "vintage" feel is good or bad depends on your taste...

Another taste issue: If I was having a guitar custom-made, there'd be no fingerboard inlays, just edge markers. This is how the Parker is outfitted. Younger players may miss the visual reference, but I don't...

The guitar comes with the rather nice Parker gig bag, a beautiful stainless whammy bar, etc. One downgrade from the American-made Parkers, is the cheap molded stereo patchcord.

Feature-wise, this is one of the most flexible instruments on the market, regardless of price.

I play worship music in church and as an itinerant Christian musician. For the most part, think adult contemporary pop and folk music, but with Christian lyrics.

Because I need a broad range of electric and acoustic sounds, I've been fooling around with piezo and hybrid piezo-magnetic guitars for a few years. Somewhere along the way, I discovered that my perfect amplified tone is a piezo-magnetic blend.

Although The true Parker Fly setup (neck-through humbucker/piezo) doesn't do it for me, the NightFly/P-38 setup is exactly what I was looking for all along. Every single detail is exactly what I would have designed, if I was a whole bunch more knowledgeable and intelligent.

So much flexibility. Use it for bar-band piezo-acoustic parts. Use it for Strat rhythm sounds via the single coils or humbucking lead parts. Use it for Piezo/magnetic blends in mono. Use it for huge acoustic/electric stereo blends.

I rank the various tones like this:

Strat sounds are reasonably noise free, and pretty authentic. There are two at my local dealer, and I would rate them as about the 3rd best strats in the store, independent of price. As another reviewer pointed out, you have to get beyond the American Standard level before Fenders start to make any sense in comparison.

The Piezo-acoustic sounds lack the short sustain and body resonance that give a good acoustic it's character. However, with a little EQ they sound more than adequate for most live work. Think more Takamine than Larrivee...

For me, the piezo-magnetic blends are where this instrument shines.

In mono, a hint of piezo puts a terrific "sheen" on the top end for telecaster-style twang parts. Going the other way, a bit of magnetic pickup can warm up the acoustic sound and even out the sustain.

Best by far, is stereo. Run the piezos out to a keyboard amp or a PA system with good monitors, and the magnetic pickups to a good tube guitar amp. Then stand back for for the biggest, multi-dimensional rhythm sound you've ever heard. WOW!!! For lead work, I don't like the sound of full-on distorted sounds mixed with acoustic. However, milder overdrive sounds blend quite nicely with the acoustic output.

To tell the truth, I'm not much of a lead player (bass players rule!). When it comes to the delicate shadings between JB's, Air Nortons, etc., I'm pretty clueless. The bridge pickup sounds like a humbucker to me, but beyond that, you'd better look to other reviewers.

The only thing I don't like about the sound, is that the volume jumps when you blend the Piezo and magnetic pickups in mono. Of course, some people might find that useful for a volume boost on solos...

Outstanding piece of work. Doesn't feel "Korean". Nice woods, tidy details, great finish.

In terms of consistency, my local dealer has two (a blue and a red) and they are very, very similar. They are much closer in sound, feel and finish than any pair of Fenders I have seen lately.

The Wilkinson trem, although very nice, doesn't quite have the terrific feel of the "real" Parkers I've tried.

The action was quite low and buzz-free. Neck-wise, none of the Fenders in my local shop felt anywhere near as fast and comfortable as the P-38. The compound radius fingerboard, extra neck width and meaty deep-V neck made string bends and vibrato a pleasure.

When choosing between Parkers, the wooden neck feels quite a bit different from the composite one on the NightFly. Which you prefer is a matter of taste.

The NightFly's composite neck has a round, Gibson-chubby shape that feels a bit out of place on a strat-like axe. However, the stainless-on-composite fingerboard gives a wonderfully slick feel. On the other hand, the wooden neck on the P-38 has a more vintage vibe and provides a pleasant resistance when you're digging into string bends.

With the straight string pull, graphite nut, etc., tuning stability is great. I suspect that the only reason for wanting Sperzels on this guitar, would be to speed up string changes.

The shape of these guitars is not the prettiest in the world, but it is SOOOO functional. They've grown on me to the point that I quite like the looks of them now.

I prefer the mother of toilet seat pickguard on the P-38 over the plain one on the Night Fly. The blue stain on the P-38 has a weird, green-and-blue, "denim" look to it, at least on the example I saw. I'm not much on red guitars, but the red transparent finish on these instruments is very attractive. Both transparent finishes look better than the painted ones, in my opinion. Parker picks very nice pieces of ash for the body, although he seems to save the best bits for the Nightfly.

Good hardware, nice wood. Two examples at the local dealer were as identical as mass-produced instruments every get, which speaks well for Parker's quality control.

However, only time will tell.

I have a light touch and change strings often, so I never break strings. After getting to know the instrument for a year or so, I would probably be willing to to go out with nothing more than a 9V battery and some extra strings for backup.

Moderately quick (2 days) and thoughtful response to my email questions.

I've been playing over 30 years (yikes). I'm really a Bassist who doubles on guitar. My father was in music retail, so I pretty much grew up around this stuff. I am also an amp and guitar technician.

I started out shopping for the perfect strat. I planned to put either a Baggs X-bridge or a Fishman Power Bridge in it, and create my own piezo-electric hybrid.

While trying to make up my mind between an unusually good G&L Fullerton and an American Deluxe Strat, I stumbled across a red Night Fly. Although I didn't particularly dig the angular body shape or the plasticky look of the neck, I was smitten the minute I plugged it in.

Unfortunately, all of these options far exceeded my budget. You can imagine my relief when I discovered that the P-38 gave me 90% of the Night Fly's utility for a little over 50% of the price...

My only wish is that I had checked around for a used Night Fly before buying the P-38. The day I went to pick it up, I found a used Night Fly for the same price.

It was a close call, but in the end I decided I preferred the used Night Fly over the more conventional feel of the P-38. Thankfully, the folks at Steve's in Ottawa are true gentlemen, and they let me off the hook. Great dealership, and highly recommended.

If my Night Fly was stolen or lost, I would not feel robbed if I had to replace it with a P-38. The only absolute certainty is that I don't ever want to be without a "strat-u-esque" Parker again. These things are absolutely the cat's pajamas.

I won't pretend that this is an unbiased review. This is the dream axe I've been trying to find for years. When an instrument feels as right as these puppies do to me, even the unusual looks start to grow on you...

Are they really THAT good, or do I just happen to think a lot like Ken Parker and his team?

You'll have to check them out for yourself...

This is a follow up. Although I raved about the P-38 a few days after I reviewed the guitar the low "E" string became unstable with the Fishman pickup due to neck problems. Both Parker and Guitar Center were very helpful and offered a replacement guitar once one came in. Also, I found a crack in the fretboard which was probably just cosmetic.

When the replacement came in it had worse problems in terms of setup, was significantly heavier and had a chunky neck. So there is inconsistancy in build, be aware of this. Because I needed a backup guitar immediately I chose to return the guitar and purchase something else.

My advice would be check the guitar out very carefully. If you live in an area that has extreme climate or humidity changes there's a chance you'll be adjusting the neck which is something I had not counted on. If I had time to wait for the factory to send me a nicely repaired guitar I would have done so. Still a nice guitar, kind of the king of out sourced guitars. If you don't need to use the Fishman pickup and can deal with some fret buzz the guitar is still a killer.

Korean-made. Dont let that phrase fool you. The clean tone on this is better than an american standard strat but just slightly under the american deluxe strat. but at half the price of the deluxe strat it is well worth it. It has 24 frets which are the standard jumbo frets, they are a little smoother though.

The Wilkinson vibrato unit (let me clarify that tremolo is a change in volume and vibrato is a change in pitch, so everyone has been mislead all these years} is very effective and sesitive to the touch. It returns to perfect tune every time but there is no locking nut like a floyd rose so you don' have to clamp anything. My only gripe is that the whammy bar is not secured in the guitar at all. I have been caught in the middle of a solo when I reach for the bar but its not there. It will fall out if you bend over to tweak your effects or just if it is tilted that way.
The tuners are very smooth and work well.

Like i said earlier, the clean tone on this is better than an american standard strat but just slightly under the american deluxe strat. but at half the price of the deluxe strat, it is well worth it. The acoustic pickup on this is pretty good, It has thundering bottom notes and the transparnet highs that you hear on the B and E strings of an acoustic. The only thing that I didn't like about this was that th bass notes are little too strong compared to the rest of the strings and that the piezo pickup volume is like twice that of the magnetic but if you turn it down a good ways it fixes that.
The Parker made humbucking bridge pickup is very effective, although some adjustments may be needed to get the bass/treble balance to your taste. The single coils are traditional sounding. A little noisy. hey will probably need adjustments too. The single coils really can't handle any type of distortion unless you want the obvious neck pickup solo tone of Hendrix, which can e a good thing. The only tone that this guitar can't get is the Slash neck humbucker smooth lead tone. But this guitar along with any thing else with a neck bucker will cover everything you'll ever need.
The humbucker doesn't sound good clean, just like any other bridge humbucker but with distortion it is equivelant to the best of 'em depending on your amp and your distorion quality.
The 2nd pickup (humbucker and middle PU} position makes a twangy sound but with a good amount of bass along with it, it doesn't get twangy/annoying but a full sound that can be used for rhythm or blues leads.
The third setting {middle PU alone} is an extremely clear tone that cuts through the mix very well, its almost like it has a little compression on it.
The fourth setting (neck and middle PU's} is my favorite by far. This is very similar to the intro on "Yellow Ledbetter" by Pearl Jam, especially if you have a good tube amp. This setting makes me cry. It's soo beautiful.
The 5th setting {neck PU only} is good for rhythm to make clear clean tones.

. The neck is pretty thin, it is EXTREMELY fast, it has a smooth coat of something on there that makes it the nicest neck I have ever felt. It is rosewood and has 24 jumbo frets. There are no dots on the actual fretboard but that did not affect me in the slightest way. It does however have the side dots. The action is very nice and needed no adjusments.

I have the transparent red finish and it is better than my friends Gibson LP Standard finish. The shape of the body is a bit uncomfortable in a sitting position but won't cause any trouble standing up. The entire guitar is about 6 pounds. The body is not like the more expensive Parker Fly's but it is a fuller, thicker body. It mainly just has the same shape looking at it from directly infront of it.

Ther is nothing wrong with the assembly of the guitar. Except for the fact that it doesn't have a neck humbucker I would use it w/o backup anyday.

They're great. They really love their products.

Before you buy this guitar, really ask yourself whether you think you willl use the acoustic PU very often or not. And if you like the Slash {Guns N' Roses} neck humbucker lead tone, well, its not there on this guitar. But just about everything else is. and it's all good.

This is P-38 is a 2000 model Koeran-made. Body is made of 3 pieces of ash in transparent blue, a bolt-on maple neck with rosewood fretboard, 22 jumbo frets and a white pearloid pickguard. It has custom wound Parker pickups H/S/S and a custom Wilkinson vibrato bridge, featuring Fishman piezo pickups.

It has a sturdy three-way toggle with the config.: piezo-piezo/magnetic-magnetic. THe other controls are a volume knob for the piezo, a five-way selector and volume and tone knobs for the magnetic pickups. The piezo pickup is active.

I gave features a 9 or 9.5 because the body isn't 1 solid piece of wood- which kinda bugs me. Also it has no fretboard markers which I'm not used to yet.

This guitar's sound I'm sure, can fit any music style. The piezo produces a great acoustic sound- it doesn't sound EXACTLY like an acoustic guitar, but it's damn close. Mixing the piezo and magnetic is very interesting and a great sound. This guitar also has stereo output capabilities that I haven't been able to try yet.

The single coils are pretty noisy though- maybe it's because I'm not used to single-coils (usually a bucker man). I intend to change them to a couple SD Duckbuckers. But I still gave sound a 10 because the versitility is unmatched. You can achieve any sound you'll ever need... and then some.

The fit is excellent. Good weight, amazing neck and terrific action. Elderly does a professional setup on all of their guitars before they leave the store- so I'm not sure whose responsible for the great fit. The finish is just... awesome. The trans. blue finish is more of a turquoise color... which I like.

The guitar hangs off the strap a little funny- hangs to the right a little to much. When reaching for the upper frets it's a little awkward- access to them is fine/great... just a little weird. But it is very comfortable to play for hours and hours- which I did when I got it home

I was a little worried about the body not being solid- wondering if my investment would last. But Parker and many others have assured that it's nothing to worry about. Because many parts of this guitar are so thin, I won't be swinging it around anytime soon- it's just a more delicate guitar. I would probably play a gig with only one other backup- just to be safe. The strap buttons are big and solid. And the way I'm gonna baby this thing, it should still be ship-shape when I'm buried with it.

It has a one year warranty. I haven't dealt with Parker before... Elderly is usually pretty good about maintenance.

I've been playing for about five years. I also have a modified Samick SG, a DeArmond M-75T, an Ibanez small body acoustic and a Washburn solid top. I'm very happy with my Parker P-38. I've always wanted a Parker and this P-38 makes it possible. Imported guitars never bothered me.. I'd just mod them till I get what I want for a lot cheaper than something that says "USA" on it. If it was stolen I'd get the exact same one again.

If you're interested, Elderly took a couple pics of my guitar for their site so check it out: http://www.elderly.com/new_instruments/items/P38-TB.htm

If your looking for a extremely versitile guitar, or if you want a USA Parker but don't funds, look no further than the P-38. Best $600 I ever spent.

Made 2000 in Korea. S/S/H/Piezo pickups. 9V battery included for preamp. Ash body, rosewood fretboard, I believe a maple neck. Non-locking tuners, Wilkinson tremolo. Flat neck, about average width. Normally includes a variety of tools. Mine also included a gig bag and a stereo cable, but did not come with the manual. Many of Parker's manuals are online, so I assume the P-38's will be at some point. Amazing variety of sounds. The only downsides are the lack of fretboard markers (only on the side) and the markings on the control knobs are black on black, so very hard to read. Mine is sunburst, other colors are available.

I play rock of many varieties. I think that this guitar would suit anything except metal, and could even handle that with some stompboxes. The neck pickup or the middle pickup by itself has some 60-cycle hum. The middle positions eliminate the hum. You can get a wide variety of Strat-type sounds from these pickups. The bridge humbucker is not a super high gain humbucker, more like a PAF-type. This suits my taste exactly. Most bridge humbuckers are too harsh for my taste. The piezo pickup by itself does a reasonably good acoustic sound - not perfect, but certainly good enough for live situations. The ability to flip a switch midsong and go from acoustic to electric type sounds is a huge plus. The piezo pickup picks up every nuance of your picking motion, so you can hear squeaks, the pick scraping across the string, etc. I like this, but others may not. To me the most interesting sounds are when you blend the piezo and magnetic pickups. This thickens the sound and gives you a sound similar to an acoustic and electric guitar at once - like a chorus but with two different sounds. I particularly like the humbucker combined with the piezo, and you can get a wide variety of sounds by varying the volumes of the respective pickups. Tremendous variety of sounds. I have no intention of changing the pickups. I'd give it higher than a 10 if I could.

This was set up very well. It came with 9s. I normally use 10s on my other guitars, but supposedly the piezo works better with lighter strings, so I may just leave this as is. I saw no problems with the finish or frets. and the sunburst finish is beautiful. I don't much like the shape of the Parkers, but the guitar has so much else going for it that I can easily overlook this. It is also a fairly light guitar, though not as light as some of the other Parkers.

It seems quite reliable. I treat my guitars well, so I don't expect any problems. I never use a guitar without a backup. Everything I've read online about the Parkers suggests that the reliability is not a problem.

The dealer I bought it from, www.riksmusic.com. was first rate. Good pricing, free shipping, and lightning quick responses to emails. They also threw in a gig bag and a stereo cable. I'd seen one lower price elsewhere, but I had a very good feeling about this dealer, and I highly recommend them. Warranty is one year, and you can register online at Parker's Web site. Parker's Web site is relatively new and not that comprehensive yet, but it has full manuals for many of their guitars (unfortunately not the P-38 yet).

I've been playing about a year and I own a dozen guitars, mostly Strat-style, but a few humbucker guitars and a couple of acoustics as well. This is my favorite guitar at this point. It is VERY easy to play - I actually feel it's made me a better player - easier to play barre chords, hammer-ons, etc. At a gig, I would use this and my Route 101 Solimar Custom (I would always have a backup). The Parker really gives you some unique capabilites with the ability to blend acoustic and electric tones, the ability to use acoustic tones with a whammy bar, etc. Excellent value for money.

The P-38 is made in Korea, I'm guessing in 2000. It has 22 frets, jumbo sized according to Parker, slightly bigger than my Carvin LS127. The body is made from ash with a very nice grain, I don't think it's a single piece body and the pick guard take up a lot of space. The neck is maple without the finish, lightly laquored if at all, with a rosewood fretboard and no inlays other than on the side. The neck is thin and narrow. The weight of the guitar is beautiful, light but with a study, quality feel. The kind of thing that you pick up and immediately know is well designed and created. The quality is quite unusual for a guitar in this price range.
There are three pickups, single neck, single middle, humbucking bridge and active Fishman piezo in the Wilkinsen bridge. There is a electronic pickup volume and tone control and a piezo volume control. There is also a 3 way toggle switch for piezo, combined electric and piezo and electric. The pickup selector is the classic Strat 5 position switch. The electric pickups are Alnico. I've noticed a slight hum on the single pickups, nothing that can't be defeated fairly easily but a slight annoyance. Unlike most Parkers the strings are through the body. I'm not sure what the tuners are but they appear to be solid, this is an area Parker cut on. There's no locking sperzels and the bridge, although good (I have a Wilkinson on my LS127 and prefer it to Floyd Rose tremolos) is not to par with the Fly and American made models. Accessories included truss and bridge wrenches and the tremolo bar. The P-38 does not come with a case although there is a very nice gig bag that is shaped to it, oddly the hard shell case is not.

I was fortunate to play the P-38 after hours at a Guitar Center. No one was making noise and I was able to check out the axe on several amps. I used a couple of Line 6, Johnson and Marshall amps always with one acoustic amp. There was some hum from the single coil pickups but not any more than say a stock Stratocaster, maybe even less so as I was fairly close to those amps. As someone used to all humbucker guitars of recent it annoys me a bit but at home in my setup (through a board using a Boss GT-3) a bit of gating got rid of the problem. The piezo pickup is bright and surprisingly acoustic sounding. It pays to use a seperate amp or output to get the most out of it as the sound is fantastic when mixed with the electric pickups. They're good, not great, but loud and clear. There is a uniform tone throughout the fretboard. On thing I really enjoy is how fast this neck is. When I bought the Carvin I though I found a very good guitar. I had been playing Gibsons and Fenders for years but the Carvin had a good feel to it. I pretty much knew I would buy it before I plugged it in, it just played well. And the same goes for the P-38, even more so, the neck is astonishing playable and the body, funky as it might seem has a great feel. The balance is wonderful and considering the $560 street price I'm a bit in shock at how nicely this guitar plays and how good it sounds. I have played many, many guitars and I can saw without reservation this is one of the most enjoyable designs I've used. Time will tell on it's sonic potential but so far it's impressive. One caveat, I process a lot of what I do so "tone" isn't as big a factor. Clarity and sound quality that doesn't vary from string to string or up the nect are far more important to me. I suspect I'll be playing the guitar a bit more than I used to, one very nice feature is being able to plug in headphones and get a summed clean electric and piezo sound without an amp.

The guitar was set up perfectly from the factory. Right out of the box it played well and I had no desire or reason to make adjustments. Again, I was very impressed by this. I don't expect this on a sub $1000 dollar guitar, hell, I don't expect this on plus $2000 guitars. Fit and finish issues are excellent. If there is a fault I haven't found it yet. There is a slight buzz on the action. It is more slight than any instrument I've used that had low action and thin gauge strings.

I haven't gigged with the P-38 yet but look forward to it. I didn't even intend on buying a guitar when I first saw the Parker. I just thought, oh, this looks different, and in this case different as in more traditional which the guitar is. There's no special laminates or finishing. As I played it I thought, this is how I wish a strat would play. When I went to purchase I spent a good deal of time playing a much more expensive Gibson Firebird reissue. I enjoyed the Gibson enough to seriously consider buying it and then noticed the P-38. I tried it and pretty much that was it. Again, it played so well I wouls have gutted the pickups if I didn't like them. Thankfully I do. This guitar oozes quality, not something I expect on inexpensive guitars. It's not close to a Fly but at the price range I can't think of a guitar that I'd want over this one. It has taken my Carvin's place as my primary guitar. I don't put much concern into price or (since first trying the Cavin that has been relegated my backup guitar) maker. I have played $300 Strats that sounded and played great but there were always problems even if the value was reasonable for the price. I've played no name second hand guitars that were astonishingly good sounding I've owned some true classics as well. But none had that intangible "thing" that literally made me say, this is what I have to own. Two guitars did that, the Carvin and more recently the Parker P-38. I used to gig without backups, I'm in a experimental improv band and also play bass and synths. I've popped strings at gigs and played whatever was left on the guitar until I wanted to get off it. One of the reasons I bought the P-38 was because I wanted a backup guitar although I was really in the store to buy some keyboard equipment. But when you play that guitar that has "it" you have to buy it. I don't collect guitars and most of the guitars I enjoy are collectors items that would cost me as much as a vehicle. I feel fortunate to have found something that fits my needs so well. It's not the best guitar in the world but it sure feels right.

I haven't had experience but have heard good things from Parker guitar owners. Hopefully the P-38 will get the same quality of service should I need it.

I believe that there are moments of our lives where we run into the right thing in the right situation. That happened when I purchased the P-38. I've been playing for 30 years and after going through 3 times in life when my gear was stolen somewhat jaded about spending incredible amounts of money on equipment. I keep stressing this because I think it's the secret of putting together a great setup, when you find something that plays right it's time to think about buying. You can always tweak the electronics, but if the build is good and the fit is well finished and the design fits your playing style then you're well on your way. You play a guitar, you don't play electronics and electronics are the easiest thing to be changed in the guitar's setup with most hardware being a close second. It's how the axe plays that matters and there is no price you can put on it. I like this guitar. Time will tell if I love it. I like my Carvin too, it has survived some intense gigs, terrible weather and some serious trem abuse on my part. So far the Parker plays similarly with the trem but has become my primary guitar simply because it is so playable and flexible soncially. I purchased this over a guitar three times the cost. Money was not an issue. It was between a very nice Gibson Firebird and 1970's Greenish Blue Stratocaster. Either would have been a great guitar but both were influenced by classics that were stolen in the past. They played well and sounded good. Then I saw the Parker and in five minutes I knew I'd buy it even if I spent the cost of the gutar to make it sound better. To my surprise it works great. I don't write much about guitars or ramble on about why they're good. But this guitar is special. It won't be right for everyone. Nothing is. But many of you will be on fixed budgets and you'll be looking at a Ibanez or the like. If you see the P-38 try it because it is a special guitar. Maybe I'm not critical enough. Maybe the P-38 is THAT GOOD.

Features are as follows:
What Year was it made? 2000
Where was it made? Korea
How many frets? 22
Controls? 5-way Magnetic pickup selector; Mag volume; Mag tone; 3-way Piezo/Magnetic pickup selector; Piezo volume
Pickup Configuration Hum/Sing/Sing with Piezo
Magnetic Pickup Parker Custom Wound Alnico Pickups
Piezo Fishman
Body & Neck Woods Body is ash ? Neck is Maple
Bridge-style Wilkinson ? style
Tuners Non-locking
Neck Scale 25 ?? with 12? radius; medium jumbo nickel silver fretwire with Rosewood fingerboard

I play in an on-again ? off-again band doing Red-hots, Collective soul, STP, Jane?s Addiction and other misc. bands. I need a guitar with a lot of sonic diversity. Although I was skeptical because it isn?t actually a ?Fly? (and that?s what I really want), my pocketbook will only allow the P-38 price tag. This guitar rocks, it?s that simple. The neck takes some getting used to and as I?ve only had the guitar for about a month, I?m still getting comfortable. My previous guitar was an Ibanez RG550 with a much flatter radius and an all maple neck. I run the guitar with the stereo ?Y? cable. I take the Mag?s and put that straight through to my Line 6 AX2 (which is also amazing ? talk about sonic diversity). I then run the piezos through a Countryman DI directly to the PA. Our sound guy puts just a touch of chorus and verb on it. I basically do my entire gig with this one guitar. I used to bring my Ibanez and an old Dean guitar for backup plus this beat-up Takamine for two acoustic numbers. Not anymore?..

The humbucker is nice and chunky for the heavier stuff we do. The neck single coil is nice and hot giving you the ability to cop that strat tone. When I run it clean either acoustic or electric, it?s so crystalline. The acoustic sounds I?m getting are way better then any acoustic sound I was getting previously. Then you can blend the two together, which totally fattens up my sound. It creates this whole new dimension to my playing. There?s this little string tree at the top of the headstock, however. I think it?s supposed to add tension to the ?E? and ?B? strings. When I play the guitar really clean, it occasionally sounds a little sitar-like. My other guitar player said I should go to heavier strings, which should correct that.

This guitar just came out so it wasn?t hanging in the store for very long so I don?t know how many people were banging away on it prior to my purchase. The action was a little high at the store but when I decided to buy it, they told me they could fix it to how I liked it, which is exactly what they did. The guitar comes with .009?s and the action is killer flat. The guitar hangs really balanced and even though it?s not a ?Fly?, it?s still lighter then my Ibanez. This guitar runs incredibly quiet and looks plays and looks like it?s more expensive cousin, the Nitefly

As I previously stated, I?ve only had the guitar for about a month but I can?t put the thing down. I?ve played it a lot and I?m really getting comfortable with each passing day. We?ve done three gigs with this guitar and I can?t say enough about it. I do miss the Locking tuners that are on the ?Fly? but since I don?t use the whammy enough for it to be a problem, it?s no big deal. When I do hit the bar, it comes back into tune without much of a problem. The strap buttons are solid and help make the guitar hang so perfectly. The Wilkinson bridge is very clean and functional and a nice addition to this Korean guitar. It is the only guitar I currently bring to my gigs and I don?t sweat not having a backup.

If someone stole this guitar, I?d be in big trouble cuz I?d have to break out my Ibanez, Dean and Takamine. It would take me a few weeks to save up, but I?d buy another one in a minute. The two things I?m really falling in love with are the weight and the versatility. I can get that really crunchy guitar sound for Creed or STP or sparklely, acoustic clean for Pearl Jam. The main reason I chose this guitar is my old roommate had a Fly. I had to have one but my parents don?t subsidize my existence as his parents do. So, since I can?t afford a Fly right now, I?ll take the next best thing. Don?t let the price fool you, it?s a real player.