Parker Guitars P-38

I purchased my guitar from EBAY but I was lucky to get everything but a humidifier for my axe.

4 different pickup sounds on the electric side... I love the variations on this guitar more so that I do on the Fly Deluxe that I own. Rhythm, leads, Strat-like sounds... I love it. The acoustic sound is more of what I like, not too thin sounding. I also play a big box Takamine F-250 and my p-38 runs close to that sound.

all checked out well and it is still in mint condition...

She is my #1 guitar... I have a Parker Fly Deluxe to back it up with... but she's been 90% faithful...short of a busted string.

I had to have my piezo pickup fixed once but that's about it. I had different noise levels coming from each string when strum.

I have owned my p-38 since 1999 and was stoked when I purchased it. It came to me because at the time I couldn't afford the 'real deal' so I opted to get the p-38 as a close second. One year later and several gigs under my belt with the p-38, I was able to purchase the Parker Fly Deluxe. The REAL Parker!!! I must say, either my ear is deceiving me or I'm just plan deaf but, I love the warm textures that the pickups in my p-38 give me more so than I do my Fly. I noticed that most of the photos taken while I'm performing are always with my p-38. I own a custom shop 72 Fender Stat, Charvelle Jackson, and a Zion, all of which I play from time to time and love to have sitting in my guitar rack on stage... but it is my p-38 that I play 90% of the time. And it's only 90% because occasionally I break a string! I'm no Stevie Ray or John Mayer in my playing ability, but I am one gigging machine who plays on average 4-6 nights a week, every week. I give my p-38 a 10 out of 10.

P-38, 2000, tobacco sunburst, a korean nightfly copy produced by cort. Swamp ash body, s/s/h alnico pups. Piezo fishman / wilkinson bridge. 5 way blade. 3 way toggle for pups / mix / piezos. Very light body. Comfortable player in any position.

Not going to waste time on my preferences other than gear. I've been playing since the 60s. I use quite a few vintage Marshalls, 69 small box, 72 major, 1959, 2204, 9005 etc. as well as various other amps, fenders etc, racks and quite a few pedals. I have about 15 - 20 electrics, old gibsons (lp and 61 sg), fender strats, prs and other various brands. The p-38 is the bottom of the line parker now out of production. I find myself reaching for this instrument more than any others. I opted not to swap the pups. I'm not sure if they are all like mine but it is the best sounding strat I have. The cheap stock alnico singles can get you srv and ej very close. The bridge pup is hot enough to push an amp well without getting into the mud territory. But it's darker in humbucker than a 59 or jb. I can get an ej solo tone very well with the stock pups.. the marshalls kind of help that too.. Parker during production would sell the pups for $22 single / $44 for humbucker. I should have picked up a few sets when I could, they no longer support this model.

All around you get use this guitar in about any situation. Mixing in the fishman can be nice with some fingerstyle, I don't use that much. The trem and arm length and postion is perfect for me, only outdone by my prs. I let it float as with all my trems, vintage fenders etc. I have the trem tension so I can easily get those jeff beck trills. Tuning is very very stable, I don't use the string tree. The graphite nut helps.

Here's where it lacks.. When purchased there was quite a bit of fret buzz. Frets were thin and very high for me. I leveled the neck three times before I got it perfect. When I do a leveling I'm cautious how much to take off so I could have done it the first or second. After that the neck is one of my best players for action. I do all my setups, I can't remember how the pups and trem were at stock settings. All pots scratched after first year. Jack failed within a year causing a crackling everytime you move a cable. Blade switch was noisy. So a trip to stewmac.com was necessary. They have a replacement for the 9 pin jack that is a direct replacement. So basically all pots, except for piezo pot which is fine, blade and jack needed replacement. I altered the wiring scheme so that when in the middle / third position the neck and humbucker single coil are active, not the middle. This gives you a very nice tele tone on this guitar. Stock pups will remain in this one.

I'm an older guy now so I'm not as hard on my guitars like in the 70s... After the upgrades and setup. I'd use it anywhere, anytime. I'm actually thinking of purchasing another for a backup. Some have reporded piezos failing, I haven't run into that. Battery lasts at least a year for me.

They were helpful when I contacted back in 2000. But for this model now, they will not support. I'm curious if Cort would supply parts for this now.

Great guitar for the money, just be prepared to do some neck work and upgrading most the guts.

I don't own this guitar any longer having traded it in about three weeks ago This guitar was made under licence in Korea to a Parker design, based on the Fly model. The bridge, complete with Fishman pick-ups has a Parker designed vibrato unit. The tuning stability seemed reasonable but I'm not a great user of vibrato. Tuners are again Parker designed/parts bin but are accurate and smooth. A good feature. The body finished in black paint, I think was bass wood. It was certainly nothing esoteric. This model has a wooden neck (maple I would guess) with a rosewood fretboard, not the fibre set up as on the high end Parker Models. It is fitted with 22 jumbo frets and has a reasonable width suitable for someone more used to playing acoustic guitars. The guitar came with a gig bag (not Parker) stereo lead but was lacking the tools. It was purchased secondhand so this was not a surprise. The pick up configuration S/S/H plus fishman piezos on the bridge is controled by a 5 way switch for the S/S/H with the option of mixing the Fishmans in or out or on their own with a fairly meaty toggle switch. There is one tone control (does not effect the Fishmans) and seperate volumes for the piezo or other pick ups. The pick ups are Parker, design alnicos for the singles, I've no idea about the humbucker. The S/S/H were not active but do not work if the 9V battery powering the Fishmans runs down. The finish was reasonably good and the body was light but still had good sustain. I think the shape either floats you boat or not there does not seem a middleway with a guitar like this.

I play various styles from rock/pop through to folk and jazz. I was looking for a guitar that could cover lots of different styles and had multiple voices and tones. Over the years I had the guitar it was used with a small Crate practice amp, a Vox Valvetronic ADT 50, a behringer ACK 1000 acoustic amp, driven diect into PA systems via orchid eleronics DI box and DI'd into home studio equipment. Using the stereo facility it would run into two amps, one (or PA) for the piezos the other for electic guitar tones. The main effects used were zoom 504 (acoustic) and 505 (electric), korg Pandora, on-bord amp effects and some cheap behringer pedals. I found the single coils to be noisy even at relatively medium volumes and susceptable to ineterferance. The humbucker was, as you would expect, quieter but seem to be lacking in bite and crunch. The Fishamns were fine but could have benefiteed from some on board facility to shape the sound. The guitar was at it's best when the piezos were mixed into the sound as unless this was done it seemed to be a bit "gutless". I did wonder if over the years the pick ups had become less efficent as over the time I owned the guitar it seemed to lose punch and tone. There was a great variety in the sonds it could offer with the mixture of pick ups the problem was that none of the tones were 100% convincing. it was a good workmanlike instrument and was good for experimentation and demos but it seemed unable to cut through in a lve situation. I liked the flexibility and but not the overall tone or power.

The original set up, I bought it second hand, was ok. I did get a set of tools from Stewart Macdonald and lowered the action slightly. The main problem over the years was that the neck was not stable. I also felt that the screening inside the body was poor. I would say that the fit and finish was acceptable for a licenced product. The frets were well finished and the tuners were very good. The paintwork was thin and scratched easily irrespective of the care lavished on the guitar.

This was the killer with this guitar and led to me ultimately getting rid of it. As I said above the neck was not stable and ultimately it required attention from a guitar tech. I know enough to know I don't know enough. There were several problems, as I have said above, the pick-ups seemed to lose output. I don't ever reall keeping it near a magnetic field and can think of no reason for this, but over the 4 years I had it but it lost it's bite. The next problem was setting the intonation, which became necessary as the neck moved. The fishmans are connected by a very thin wire (about as wide as a hair) and any adjustment can break this connection. Due to the movement in the neck the inevitable happened, fortunately for me when it was in the workshop, and the wire was reconnected, a very delicate operation. I was quoted ??75.00 (UK) for replacements should they need break beyond repair in the future and the advice given was that it would be best not to adjust the bridge in the future. I have to say I don't tinker with my guitars all the time (well hardly at all) but I was concerned it would only get worse so having had a set-up done on it I let it go. I would suspect it had a good few years in it but I was not happy with it any longer. In addition as I have said above the finish was thin and scratched easily, I don't mind my guitars having playing marks but this was looking poor given the very limited gigging it had done. I would have to say it was not a guitar I would have depended on in a gigging situation.

As I have said above yes it was repaired. Harmony Music of Dorcester in the UK, who sold it to me second hand, went above and beyond the call of duty to keep it going for me, particularly as i owned it for over four years. They said that Korg, the UK distributer had provided support but ultimately the cost of parts could have been more than the instrument was woth. So I would say good local support and I've not tested the national UK distributor. The overall rating is for Hrmony Music, Trinity Street, Dorchester, UK. I can't rate Korg.

I have been playing for 34 years. I own a custom made acoustic (based on a Martin 000M) made by David Oddy of Exeter Devon UK, a Blade Durango T Classic, a 1970 Janaese Copy of a Jazz Bass, a Crafter Mandolin, a Peavey Briarwood 12 String, a troubodour travel guitar, Behringer ACX 1000, a small PA rig (18 channel), Korg D3200 digital studio with various outboard kit and I also use my sons Indie Les Paul and R shape guitars and his Vox amp. I've got various pedals etc.

I was pleased to get the Parker in the first place this was the first semi-serious electric guitar I had purchased, these were ??599.00 new, and Hrmony Music did me a good deal on a second hand model. The problem was with ownership as over the years it became more of a liability than an asset. There is nothing I could have asked before I bought it that would have made much difference, these were relatively new to the market so there was not much history to rely on for the product. Had it been lost after about the first year I would proably replaced it with something else. I loved the tone and versitility when i first got it but in the end lost faith as it went flabby and became unreliable. The best feature was the Fishman bridge, which sadly became the ultimate weak spot which led to me letting it go. It was versitile but flakey and unless someone was prepared to upgrade the pick ups and run the risk of breaking the Fishmans I would not really recommend the guitar as anything you spend on it would be better invested in getting something that is already up and together. If you come accross one second hand which has up graded pick ups and the fisman is working well, if the price is right consider it, if it is standard you may find you can get more for your money on something else.

My first submission for this guitar didn't make it, don't know why. So here is my second submission.

Even these Korean made Parker guitars are made quite well and play great. They have one humbucker, 2 single coils and a piezo that you can blend with the electric pickups. I wasn't fond of the tuners or the pickups (Parker pickups), so I changed the out (read more below). When I bought this guitar, it was brand new from a friend who just collects guitars and never plays them (best kind of friend to have if you are a musician). This particular model works well due to the fact that you have many pickup combinations and the piezos. I also have a Parker Fly which is much lighter and is already pimped out, but I prefer the P-38 over it any day. I never play the Fly.

When I bought this, I got it cheap since there was such a screwed up ground thing happening. There was so much hum in certain positions. I took it to a tech and found out that the piezo pot was dead. Also, while the pickups were not too bad, I didn't fully like the sound. On all my guitars, I always change what I can. I've been pro for 25 years and need gear to work for me. I play many diverse kinds of music (fusion, straight ahaed jazz, rock, top 40, country, blah, blah, blah) and need a guitar that kind of fits each style. I started out by changing the pickups. In the neck position, I put in a Seymour Duncan JB Jr. for a thick, almost jazzy sound. Granted, it's not a hollowbody, but I've managed to use this on big band dates and actually got a decent tone. I put a Duckbucker in the middle (I play a lot of funk and country) and a full size JB in the bridge. This gives me great lead tones and some very clean, clear beautiful tones with the neck and bridge pickups combined with the middle. It's funky, clean, thick in the bridge and cuts through the mix every time. I ended up calling Parker (for a while, they sold parts at Stewart-McDonald while they were changing ownership) and talked with a tech about ordering a new piezo pot. Man, it cost 90 bucks!! For a pot!! That's quite a bit, but that's business. I also took a tip from one of the other reviewers and installed some Planet Waves tuners. These things work like a charm. Low maintenance and they stay in tune perfectly.

I currently play through a Fender DeVille (the 2X12), a Crybaby wah, a Loooper A/B box (one side to tuner, other to effects), a Barber Tone Press, Barber LTD, Boss SD-1 with Indyguitarist Fullclone mod that I did myself, Barber Direct Drive, Boss CE-2 chorus and a Digitech Digidelay. I also loop a Digitech Digiverb through the effects loop of the DeVille. I use a myriad of effects and change them all the time, but currently this is my setup. I string it together with George L's and power it all with a Dunlop DC Brick. My sound is FLAWLESS. I should eat this tone. It's working well with all kinds of music and settings and even through different amps. I doesn't have ice pick highs or muddy lows, no noise and has beautiful Nigel Tufnel like sustain. Perfect!!! Sounds better than my Strat and Tele and much more versatile. Sounds great through an acoustic amp as well. What more could I ask for?

When I bought this, like I said, it was noisy. But it played really well. I liked the high frets (much higher than my Fenders) but the sound was jacked. With a little bit of imagination and cash flow of course, this thing went from crap to phenomenal. I did the pickup work myself so that's good. There are really no problems with the action, fit or finish. It's made well, feels great and plays great.

One thing that I forgot to mention, the placement of the the strap button on the horn is bogus. But, considering the shape of the guitar, it might be the only option. I've heard about people attaching the strap button to the neck plate. Good idea, haven't done it. I actually got some locking tuners (which I don't really like, it makes the guitar feel a little bit different to me). If you plan on using a normal strat and not taking precautions, prepared to have it drop on your foot (it's happened to me twice already). There are also things that will slide between the strap and the button to lock it on, I suggest this more than the straplocks since the straplock screws are longer and require you to really grind them into the guitar. Not advisable. That said, when I dropped the guitar, it actually didn't do any damage other than making me walk like a gimp for about 2 days. Good finish on the guitar as well. No complaints. I use this without a backup and have no problems. A soldered wire joint can detach, but that's with any guitar.

I've only had to deal with the one call for the pot and the guy that I talked to was friendly, curteous and very helpful. Based on the one experience, I give them a thumbs up. There is no warranty on this guitar anymore, but I don't sweat that.

I've been pro for 25 years and have made my living from touring the world. I've had gear break down and come and go. Some of it I miss, some I was glad to get rid of. I have many different amps, some direct recording preamps, about 60 different pedals and all sorts of other crap. I need gear that is consistent, works, sounds good and can be the perfect sound for the gig at that particular time. Playing such diverse music can be a drag since you have to change your setup every time. This guitar eliminates that. If this were lost or stolen, the thief had better hope that he moves to the moon or something because I would definitely beat his ass blind. This guitar is the last guitar that I'll probably ever buy, unless I buy another P-38 (I've been checking out eBay for them). They are still pretty cheap, that's a good thing so far. It sounds great, plays great and looks outstanding. I definitely scored on this one. It's more versatile than my other guitars and I don't think that I'd change a thing. If you buy this guitar and play it stock, you will have some dissapointments, but with some personal touches, this guitar is way ahead of even the high end Parker guitars.

P-38 no Pickgaurd, redish brown, korea, 22 fretts. Got it from Shreve audio with a free shirt yeah for 385.oo clams. I like the guitar it has some problems like the trem arm design not sure if I agree with it, like I said no pickgaurd makes me wonder is this a p40 body with a p38 neck?
Anyone know? I like the fishnet stockings / sounds sweet! I play it in stereo our a RP7 into a Fender twin and a 57 Magnatone double v 280a and for the clean I send it to a PA or Dean Markley 112a. I get a damn good sound out of this thing its light my back thanks me, the fingerboard is okay, I like my Vaccaros and Aluminum neck Kramers better I think I am hooked on the ebonal boardmy back hates them, studio only sitting down thank you. Taking the Parker to New Orleans to do some recording hope to get on the plane with the damn thing hate to check it in with the gig bag an all! I am sure the Fly is better and more money right! I bet they hold their value and maybe even rise a little, Parker seems to be putting out some cool new stuff I heard someone eles is making them??? OH yeah the stereo cable with it sucked have to buy a better one, broke 2 string at once that was a 1st and it killed and chance of finishing a song without anyone noticing.... what else? Action can be set low or it buzzes real bad, it looks like the bridge could have been better maybe the install was bad to start with? overall I like the guitar fishhead, hum, single, single is good. I can't get sustain like I want thou out of it so that is a problem, its not noisy but you better have a 9v ready cause it gets pissed if you don't and it affects the whole damn guitar. Well I give everything a 5 and was expecting a 9 or a 10.
Strats, Teles, Les Pauls they just keep kicking that A$$!

Yall have seen them all in previous post

I was rather pleased with the sound for the very short time I kept it, I enjoyed being able to flip to the piezo pickups, I was playing through my stereo system so that really helped the acustic type sound. Over all I liked the sound better than the Import Charvell that I have been messing with.

Now this is where things really went south for me. Of course I was like a little kid on Christmas ripping open the package, I was pleased that the guitar looked better than it did in photos. It was nice and light, the neck felt pretty good, but something just didnt seem right about the whole set up as began to look. The first thing I noticed was that the nut was not straight, was a few mils lower on the bass side, I so happy to just have a Parker, been wanting one for 10 years, I think well I can just move the saddles back to make intonation right. I plug it up start tuning it up play for a while with the different sound combinations which I liked but then I look at e pickups and the high side are all screwed down like half a inch lower than the other side, Im kind of curious why this is,im thinking maybe it has some thing to with the piezo pickups. So I start messing with it, I put the tremelo arm in, as I look at the bridge I notice it is no where near level, Im thinging maybe shipping messed it up,its just loose, but it is all tight, the bass side has been raised up so it is about half and inch higher than the other side. Of couse the first thing i think is, the strings can not be level like this, I look at the strings, they look level to the finger board. Impossiable Im thinging, so I start to look at the neck joint and I can see that I is not level, there are no loose screws or gaps, it was just not cut right from the start. Of course my heart just sank, its like a bent frame on your new car. I start thinking how could this thing even leave the factory,someone had to sit there and move the pickups and bridge to get the strings level, I guess they just tell them level the strings with the finger board anyway you can. I think these are made by Cort, mine was in a cort box, it was $349 from shreve audio, they were great, so it must have been a B stock, of more like F stock. I called them the next day and set up to return it, Im just getting a refund, because Im affraid the rest of them may have similar problems. So all in all I more than unhappy with the way it was built, believe me I wanted to be happy with this guitar, been telling everyone it was coming and how cool it was, couldnt wait to go to my brothers house, he has 9 guitars and show him, of course the first thing he would have said was "what the heck is wrong with this thing" so I will be looking for something else to purchase, been looking at rickenbacker 650s, or maybe a Schecter, dont know yet, im still pretty bummed.

didnt have long enough

Im very amature guitarist been messing around for 10 years off and on, but im affraid someone that had started playing last week could tell this poor guitar was in bad shape.
So im going to give it the hunk of junk rating I cant believe someone could actually be building and setting up this guitar and not see how out of whack it was. Believe me it makes me very sad, I wanted to be the coolest kid on the block, well im 43 so it would have to be rather old block,hhehehe

I've had mine for two years. It has been may main axe on & off during that time. I always replace stock tuners with locking Sperzels. It is NOW very reliable (see below) and beautiful to see, hear & play. The piezo sound, especially when blended with the magnetic pickups, is awesome.

I play in a light/heavy cover band, and also do lots of private/corporate stuff. The magnetic stock pickups are a bit tinny, it can be eq'ed out, or I am thinking of replacing them. It is the most versatile guitar I have ever had (I now have a 59 Strat re-issue, 72 Gibson SG, Washburn H35, 2001 Tele, 80's Ibanez rg-something, Danelectro,, and have had many others pass through my world). This one takes the cake, sound-palette-wise.

Love the finish (Blue-ish woodgrain), love the action (perfect from factory. Love the sound, love the neck, i'll stop gushing.

The piezo under the B string was non-functional from the factory (Drag) -- got it soldered locally for under $10. No prob.

I take care of my stuff, but I buy guitars to PLAY, not shove under the bed forever. It takes what I give it, & probably would take more. I have used it on many gigs with no backup, it has been very reliable. This is the only guitar I ever bought through the mail, instead of at a local store (no local dealer here, and I wanted one of these. Other than the B string, it was perfect out of the box.

I had to deal with Parker. Here's the scoop:

It was supposed to buck hum in three of the five switch positions: neck/middle; bridge/middle; and bridge. It only did so, however, in the neck/middle and bridge positions. Of course, I do 90% of my playing in the bridge/middle position (sdame as a 5-position Strat), so the fact that this hummed was bad, especially when their literature said it wouldn't. Sooo...I called Parker, and actually talked to a tech (twice). I had to send it to them, which REALLY WAS A DRAG, but that is the only way to get it fixed correctly (and free).
While they had it, the tech actually called me to ask me something (don't remember what). Whoa. He was very cool. Turn around time was 4 weeks-not bad IMHO.
When it came back, it was perfect, and they even threw on a pearl-inlay sweet-looking pickguard for free (cool).
So, my dealing with them was great, they went above and beyond the call of duty to correct the hum problem, and get me happy.
Obviously, it would have been better if I never had to deal with them, but they handled it nicely, and that's why I'm writing this.
Yay Parker.

I own too much gear to list here. -- lots.
I would definitely get another one of these if it left my possession.
It is in my top two or three guitars all time.

There are a lot of very usefull reviews in english I've consider buying this guitar, so I think it could be more usefull write in italian to fill the lack of reviews in my language.
Chitarra del 2003 costruita in Korea nei laboratori della Cort su rigide (davvero!) specifiche Parker.Solid body, corpo in frassino dalla particolare forma Parker (piatta tipo Nitefly, non ergonomica e scavata come le Fly), manico in acero, tastiera in palissandro senza intarsi, molto duro e compatto(sembra ebano). Hardware cromato, ponte trmolo wilkinson tipo vintage,ma dal bel design moderno che tiene ottimamente l'accordatura (anche se non permette escursioni enormi). Meccaniche semplici, ma efficaci. CONFIG. PICK-UPS: H-S-S passivi, Parker custom wound, 1 vol, 1 tono, 1 selettore a slitta 5 vie tipo Fender. Pick-up PIEZO Fishman: trasduttori per ogni corda installati nelle sellette del ponte. Preamp.a batteria 9v con controllo trimmer(guadagno), selettore a tre vie per miscelare il suono dei pick up magnetici e del piezo, oppure per selezionare solo i magnetici, o solo il piezo.
Uscita cavo stereo ad Y in dotazione, in modo da pilotare il segnale in due diversi ampli dedicati (ovviamente l'ideale e 1Valvolare per i magnetici e Mixer per il piezo.Usando invece un cavo mono i segnali vengono inviati insieme ed escono dallo stesso ampli.
Il manico ha scala Fender 25,1/2 ed un po' largo e piuttosto piatto, la tastiera e anch'essa piatta e senza intarsi frontali, ma presenta solo i segnatasti laterali. I tasti sono mid-jumbo.Il truss rod e di quelli con testa scoperta a rondella posta a fine tastiera tra questa e il pick up al manico. La verniciatura e nera lucida non molto spessa (in controluce si notano le venature del legno). Accessori inclusi: pratica borsa morbida imbottita con scritta Parker sul tascone e cavo stereo jack ad Y, brugole per sellette ponte e per truss rod.

Innanzi tutto il legno e il timbro da "spenta". La chitarra ha un'eccezionale resa sonora anche unplugged, chiara, pulita e acustica, probabilmente dovuta al legno utilizzato; questo infatti,e notevole per la risposta sulle alte frequenze, anzi in quelle che lo yankee definirebbe "presence", e buona sui bassi, mentre i medi scarseggiano.Il suono riprende ottimamente il timbro Strato 50/60, coi single che rendono suoni cristallini perfetti per le ritmiche (funk, pop). Le timbriche da me predilette sono pos.3 (centrale solo)e 4 (centrale+bobina interna dell'humbucker): molto funky, ma anche corposi, adatti alle ritmiche ma anche ad assolo nasali. Il single al manico a mio gusto e un po' chiaro (credo sia uguale al centrale,ma li sta bene, li e paradossalmente piu corposo,perche piu nasale), a me piacerebbe qualcosa di un po' piu medioso e cicciotto per assoli blues e jazz. L'humbucker,in quanto tale, si distingue dai single, ma senza esagerare, mantenendo le caratteristiche di brillantezza, ed e capace di catturare dolci armoniche in distorsione.
Per quanto riguarda il piezo chiariamo una cosa: l'acustica e un'altra cosa. Qui e comunque utile nell'emulazione di una acustica elettrificata (tipo ovation), e se inviato ad un mixer ed equalizzato fa molto comodo in situazioni live tipo cover dove hai mille differenti suoni da ricreare al volo. Se usato in mono puo essere comunque interessante sia su un ampli valvolare, in quanto in un switch si puo passare ad un suono elettrico ricco di acuti e bassi definiti. Ma in una chitarra di per se con queste caratteristiche timbriche non si distingue troppo dai single (ergo:presto provero a montare un mini-humbucker al manico, tanto il suono pulito si emula bene col piezo nell'ampli valvolare).
Per quanto riguarda rumorosita di fondo direi che e piuttosto silenziosa e le posizioni 2 e 4 dei magneti sono hum cancelling.
In complesso la Parker p-38 e uno strumento versatile ed affidabile, che si adatta agevolmente nella terra di mezzo delle timbriche chitarristiche e dei generi musicali, escludendone l'utilizzo nei settori estremi (jazz main stream-metal) e prediligendo la definizione timbrica, e i suoni puliti o crunch, cosi come, pur non disdegnando l'assolo, credo che si faccia apprezzare maggiormente per chiarezza e definizione nelle ritmiche complesse (funk).
Do un 7 a questa categoria perche cambiero i pick up al manico e al ponte. Al manico voglio preovare un mini humbucker che credo possa aumentarne la duttilita e ingrossarne il suono per assolo rock-blues e jazz, al ponte mettero un Dimarzio Fred che gia possiedo e che mi soddisfa molto per ricchezza di medi e potenza non eccessiva.
In una chitarra estremamente brillante il mio ragionamento tende a colmare la mancanza di medie in queste situazioni strategiche, senza pero perdere,credo, quella definizione tanto apprezzabile

La messa a punto dello strumento (arrivatomi dagli USA via corriere) era davvero ottima, ho alzato un po' i pick-up, si, ma e un fatto di gusti. Piuttosto mi soffermerei su manico e tastiera che hanno un'action morbidissima e comoda, il manico piatto,dopo poco rodaggio, facilita per davvero scorribande tecnicistiche (che,a dire il vero, non sarebbero il mio forte), i tasti midjumbo (non grandissimi) facilitano parecchio l'impostazione degli accordi e l'esecuzione di bending. Il feeling e molto buono e corpo/manico vibrano forte sulla pancia il che mi piace assai.
DIFETTI: avendo preso la mia su un sito americano (Elderly) ad un prezzo stracciato ($435,00 piu spese di spedizione e tasse di importazione), dal momento che in Italia di listino viene Eur 1.150 ed anche nei siti Usa non si trova a meno di $600, ero in ansia perche immaginavo ci fosse sotto la fregatura. All'arrivo del pacco ho scrutato attentamente lo strumento rinvenendovi: un nodo superficiale in cima al manico, verniciatura sottile e delicata tanto che in controluce si vedono le venature del legno, una quasi impercettibile scheggiatura sul lato della tastiera. I difetti ci sono e vanno annotati ma devo ammettere che sono ininfluenti: il manico scorre e vibra a meraviglia, il corpo, forse anche per quella verniciatura sottile e non ovattante vibra anch'esso magnificamente e la tastiera la liscia che e un piacere, densa e dura che pare ebano.

La chitarra e resistente e straordinariamente leggera. Questa e una delle sue doti migliori, puoi stare ore in piedi con lei al collo senza affaticarti. In realta sono andato ad aprire il coperchio delle molle del tremolo ed il battipenna: ho scoperto che nella zona centrale, dove dovrebbero alloggiare i pick-ups, il corpo e interamente forato, non c'e la nicchia scavata tipo Strato, ma c'e un bel buco quadrato passante. Ecco perche,oltre al profilo sottile,la chitarra e cosi leggera. Eppure il corpo vibra che e un piacere! Bah, meglio cosi!
L'hardware e ok, ma la verniciatura opaca del ponte si e un po' consumata sul retro delle sellette dove, per impostazione, poggio il polso della mano destra. In realta ora non si nota piu la differenza di colore perche si e tutto uniformato. I potenziometri vanno un po' stretti, ma attenzione perche l'elettronica e delicata!
Problema: anche il suono dei magneti passa atraverso il
pre-miscelatore che non ne corrompe il suono, ma in caso di pila scarica lo strumento e completamente muto. Occorre sempre una pila di riserva

Non ho mai avuta la sfortuna di incorre in riparazioni altre situazioni che necessitassero di contattare il produttore, ma comunque lo strumento e coperto da garanzia credo annuale

Suono da 15 anni: ho cominciato a 10 e ne ho 25.
E' una buona chitarra, ottima se rapportata al prezzo. Potrei ricomprarla come potrei provare altro nella spasmodica ricerca del mito della "chitarra totale",ma credo che riuscireiad avvicinare tale leggenda solo facendomene costruire una artigianale come dico io !
Non esitate a chiedere altre informazioni, saro lieto di scambiare opinioni.

The feature I enjoy the most is the Piezo pickup and the abilty to blend it with the magnetic pickups.

The ultra light-weight body provides good comfort for extended hours of playing.

I compared the Parker to the RMC pickup system found in Brian Moore Guitars and found the Parker to sound more acoustic.

I also compared the Parker to a Godin Multiac acoustic/electric and found the Parker to be more versatile since it gives you the ability to blend the magnetic pickups.

In my opinion the piezo pickup should be played through an acoustic guitar amp or stereo PA system. The magnetic pickups run through your electric guitar amp. This setup allows the magnetic and piezo signal to be separate but yet blends perfectly to create an unbelievable wall of sound. (this is easily achieved using the srereo Y-cable provided with the Parker guitar.)

The wine-red transparent paint finish and body are beautiful.

I have a slight bow in the pick-guard and my battery cover fits exremely tight... probably do to contraction from the dry weather here in Nevada.

I had to re-set the intonation on the low "E" string and tweak the buzz out of the "G" string.

Great low action for terrific playability.

I've owned this guitar only a few weeks but it seems like the guitar and hardware will hold up for a very long time.

There really isn't any support at this time since PARKER HAS BEEN PURCHASED BY ANOTHER COMPANY. When I called PARKER I was told that they won't be up and running for several months.

Unlike EVERYONE who's playing a Strat or Les Paul through a Marshall, The Parker gives you your own unique sound.

This is a great guitar for the money. Highly recommended for those looking to stop feedback and still get a great acoustic tone from a solid body guitar.

If you want the ultimate acoustic tone... play stereo through a good PA and use a Boss AD-5 acoustic processor to add body, warmth, chorus and reverb.

I bought mine when Guitar Center was blowing these out @ approx. $550 with gig bag in 2001. Sun burst with pearloid pickguard. You can read others review for pickup features.

Mostly I liked the sound. Piezo sound great for acoustic rendition though to use live, I had to buy a longer V cable to use. Disorted, it sometimes got mushy but was able to get good sounds most of the time. When the battery voltage got low, sounds would get "brownish" then die into a clicking sound.

Frets a little too high for my preference, especially for sliding. I did quite a bit adjusting the action when I first received to clear initial buzzing. Filed down nut, put strap locks on. Adjusted truss rod to get neck where I wanted it, which was at the end of it's turns.

Looking at that hockey puck neck makes me afraid to drop or bang it against anything though nothing happened while I had the guitar playing live. Using dive bar or breaking a string puts this thing out of commission tuning-wise. Mine also chewed up batteries and this requires a screwdriver to replace (roughly once a month - don't forget to unplug it when finished playing!), not the easiest battery replacement. Whammy handle just doesn't like to stay in place, I would have to look on the floor sometimes to find it popped out while I played live.

never called.

Playing over twenty years - I have Gibson J180EC, ES333, Tele. I bought P-38 based on glowing magazine review, Parker website, and trying out at Guitar center and making that spontaneous purchase.
I couldn't get used to the upper wing digging into my chest when I played it sitting down. Battery replacement was a drag, breaking strings puts this out of commission. Great range of sound possibilities though and the neck felt great otherwise. I ended up trading it away after 5 months. It just didn't work for me.

The Parker P-38 is the most versitile guitar I own, I have several, my last count was having owned over 150 guitars that have passed through my hands in the last 15 years. And this Parker is like them all in one.

It has the usually slelctor for piezo, single coil, double coil or a mixture of both. With its tone and volume contorls you can pretty much deliver all the sounds of the most poular makes.

Well again were do I start, it takes time, if you go to the Parker web site there is a demonstration video for one of teh P-38 models and if you apply it too your own model you can produce a wide sound.

It has the best rythum guitar clean sound ever.

I use a variety of amps and effects, but even on the cheapest amp and no effects it is still great.

I brought this second hand, luckily my guitar shop is also a first class guitar set up genius.

It is low and even using just your left hand a musical passgage is easily played.

The tunnings pegs are marvelous, easily moving a little to add that perfect tunning.

It came wiht a perfect whammy bay, even the delicate of touchs is enough to create the usual deep depression of a normal guitar.

I use it on stage occasionally, I usual take about 20 of my guitars with my to a gig. A guitar for each song, even though I don't need to its all part of show business, to entertain people.

It always stays in tune and never ever needs more than a little tweak to be corrected.

The guitar seams tough enough to survive a entrie gig.

Strap buttons, a strap will rip before these things give up.

Never had to call them.

If money is tight this guitar will cover all the guitars you could ever need. Every sound you will ever need. All in one little package.

I love the look of the guitar, it looks like no other on the planet and is always easy on the eye and a comfort to paly sitting or standing.

I only hate one thing about it the headstock, it never looks strong enough it is that thin put hey one fault is not bad.

I brought this for a relativly chaep price for a Parker second hand guitar. I was not disapponited.

I bought a 1997 P-38 used in November 2003. It had stock Parker pickups, which I understand are Korean-made. The body is ash, the fingerboard is rosewood, neck is maple. The standard P-38 specs are on the Parker web site for the genuinely curious. I bought if for its playabilitym light weight and of course the added piezo pickups. The neck is wide and flat, similar to an Ibanez and much more playable to me than a fat, round Gibson neck or a narrow, cramped Fender.
The finish is a tobacco sunburst type around a white pickguard.
The Wilkinson tremolo/piezo bridge had almost no tuning problems even before I installed locking tuners. The tiny (1.5mm) Allen screw that keeps or reduced tension on the tremolo bar is a nice innovation. I've had Floyd Rose bridges whose tremolo sockets got stripped within a couple of years just from ordinary playing, which can never happen with this bridge.
The body is perfectly balanced, and as with any Parker it vibrates against your ribcage much more than other guitars.

The stock bridge humbucker was very powerful and good sounding. The stock single coils had a very low output and were really only suitable for clean-toned rhythm playing. I fixed all that by putting a Duncan JB in the bridge, which has a screaming output and beautiful tone, a Duncan Little '59 in the bridge, giving it the classic Les Paul tones, and a Duncan Hot Strat Stack in the middle. The change in the bridge pickup made surprisingly little difference, but changing out the neck and middle pickups gives the guitar worlds of versatility. The middle noiseless single-coil is the biggest change (I used a bridge model for the higher output to match the two high-output humbuckers). You couldn't get a more versatile guitar short of a Line 6 Variax. I play everything from clean-toned jazz to classic rock to heavy metal with it and couldn't be happier with the sound. Having spent a total of around $700 on the guitar (after also installing Planet Waves locking tuners) I am well satisfied.

I've read P-38 reviews, usually by people who haven't been playing long and apparently didn't play the guitar before buying it, which expressed dissatisfaction with quality control. My experience was very different. Nothing about this guitar is poorly made - except that one of the pickguard mounting screws does not line up with the hole drilled for it. This has no effect on the guitar's playability or appearance, however. My only other complaint is that, even with locking tuners, the 3rd string consistently goes out of tune if I use the tremolo much. The neck is a bolt-on, but the neck's base is cut away towards where a player's hand reaches for the high frets so that it does not interfere. Contrast that with even a high-end Gibson or Fender neck that seems designed to prevent you from using anything higher than the 17th fret.

I haven't taken the guitar out to play live yet but I can't foresee any problems with it. The finish had lasted six years before I ever got hold of it and I can't imagine any problems. I would definitely use this guitar in a gig without a backup - the Planet Waves tuners make changing a broken string a 30-second job at most.

I haven't had to deal with customer support so have no opinion.

I've been playing for 23 years now; I've owned a number of electric guitars and play this through a Digitech effects processor and (usually) an old Fender M-80 combo.
If my Parker were stolen or lost I'd probably try to either find an affordable used Fly (and then change the pickups) or make all the same modifications to another used P-series.
The ability to choose and/or blend a piezo signal adds a dimension to this guitar that I'd never want to do without again. Players who've only had standard electrics can't imagine the way that Piezo pickups can expand a player's palette of tones.
I'd recommend replacing the two single-coil pickups, which were just too low-output to be of much use.
I don't think there is a fair comparison to Parkers outside of Godin/Seagull, the only other hybrid magnetic/piezo guitars I know of, or maybe a Line 6 Variax (which is probably my next guitar). Every guitar I've played that I liked the feel of as much, cost at least $1,200 and wasn't as versatile.

For the exact specs, I recommend you just visit www.parkerguitars.com. Mine is the black P-38 with the faux mother-of-pearl scratchplate - very pretty, and makes the guitar look much more expensive ;-). Light as well; I could not imagine lugging around my Les Paul for an entire gig but this guitar does not bother me at all. It came with a nice gigbag, although not the Parker one... Oh, yeah: the tip of the selector switch has a tendency to come loose very rapidly (read on for details). A little bit of Loc-Tite did the trick.

I play everything from funk, pop, rock metal and jazz, and this guitar handles all styles nicely... Well, OK, it's probably less suited for metal, but this is - on the whole - a great all-round guitar. The piezo is especially nice, but I am thinking about replacing the standard pickups with EMGs.

The action and pickups were set up just fine, although I can not tell whether this was done in the store or by the factory. Not a single flaw in the finish... all but one minor gripe: when I got home with the guitar, I noticed that the small o-ring which locks the bar in place was missing entirely, and the pickup selector switch tip as well. I got a replacement guitar immediately, but this one's tip also came loose very quickly... For the lowdown, scroll down to "Customer Support". Rating 8 -1 for the switch tip.

It will sure stand up to live playing, although I bought it mainly for studio use. While it's a light instrument, it feels - reassuringly - "heavy" and solid enough. I would NOT trust the front srap button with a regular strap (this has to do more with the location than with the strap button itself), so I put on a DiMarzio cliplock. No problem.

I have not dealt with Parker themselves yet, although I would like to share my great experience with the Soho Soundhouse people (and Rainer Hauser in particular). Initially, I was looking for a P-40. Did not see any of them at Soho so walked on over to Rose Morris on Denmark Street. I was the only customer, yet had to wait about a quarter of an hour until the two metalheads behind the counter decided which one of them would help me. They had some P-40s, but none in black (my favorite colour) and they would not be re-stocking them "because they were too cheap". Needless to say they lost a sale. Off to Soho again, where I tried a P-38 anyhow and received stellar service. No pushing, take you time trying... Now comes I got this guitar on a discount because it had been used as a "demo" instrument (but hardly played). When I arrived at my hotel, I noticed that the o-ring assembly for the bar was missing. I went back to the store, where I got a new-in-box replacement at no extra cost with lots of apologies ^-^. Stellar service !

I have been playing for 15 years but have never really suffered from the dreaded Gear Acquisition Syndrome: I have always preferred better gear to more. That means that I don't have 15 rock guitars, but ONE good Jazzer, one good rocker and so on... and although this guitar is the least expensive of them all, it stands its ground. I also believe that it has enormous value-for-money. I'd buy another one without hesitation.

Made in Korea by Cort as told to me a Parker Customer Service Rep.
Far better craftsmanship than expected.

I own several Strats, some very high end and this has more of a classic Strat tone than many Fenders. Several reviewers complain about the pickups, but I imagine they are actually playing through poor amps. These pickups are excellent.

Action was higher than expected even after my own super tweeking session. A fret dressing by a skilled luthier would correct this, but should be needed on a new guitar. Shame on you Cort. I know you are capable of better work! Fit and finish are very good though.

Great live guitar. Very lightweight, cheap and no big deal if you beat the living crap out of it. After four long sets, my back and shoulder gets tired from my Les Pauls, but that's not the case with the P-38. It's as comfortable as my trusty SG and Ibanez JEM. Seems rugged enough. Well balanced.

Parker support is the best I've experienced. I've had a few parker FLy Deluxes and Niteflys. On several occaisions they've sent me free parts. Nuts, bridge saddles, etc. Great company.

I've been playing more than 25 years. Owned everything at one time or another. I have about 20 guitars right now and this has it's place amongst them. I've owned several high end Parkers and actually prefer the P-38 due to its traditional build materials. No glass epoxy resin necks, no stainless steel frets, just plain old wood and nickle. Feels like a well played Strat and sounds better than most. A great guitar for the price. Good job Parker!

Everybody has listed the features, so I won't kick a dead horse. Needless to say, a lot of features for the money. Too bad most of them suck.

I really, really wanted to like this guitar. It was to be my new main ax....

Here's where I ran in to trouble. Sound is a personal thing - one person's stratavarious is another person's shite. Personally, I thought it sounded marginal at best. The standard pickups are worse than guitars I own that I paid $200 for, and they came with pickups I new were going to be crap. For $600, I expected something more workable. The huge volume dropoff between the bridge humbucker and single-coils is horrid. I've never played a guitar with worse pickup balance. And the sound was uniformly bad from all of the pickups. Definitely the worst sounding pickups that I've heard in some time. Perhaps ever.

The piezo as well was marginal. I have a Kramer Condor with a piezo (pretty much a solid body acoustic - nice ax) and it sounds night and day better than the parker. The parker sounds like an electric guitar going through a really bad acoustic simulator. I tried it both on a Roland electric guitar amp and a Carvin acoustic amp, and it sucked on both. And I mean sucked.

Ug. Just, ug. Although it sounded like shite, one could drop some new electronics in if the instrument was solid and well built. But the sound wasn't the only thing that sucked on it.

The action was very high, yet there was still a good bit of fret buzz (I think it came with 9's). Not cool. I'm used to setting up my own guitars, and I expect to do so, but I usually like them a little closer to true than what I got. Having to file down frets on a new instrument isn't my idea of a good time. I've bought $200 Ibanez and Kramer guitars with much better fretwork and action, out of the box. I don't think I've ever seen such a bad setup. And believe me, I've seen some bad setups.

The finish itself had some cracks. Several of the screws for the pickguard weren't in straight. The pot stems weren't straight, making the volume and tone controls do a neat little dance when turned. And that would be the super-ultra-cheapo rubber unmarked controls. Again, ug. The tuners were OK, but with a wilkinson tremolo (the only redeeming feature on the guitar), you really need locking tuners or a locking nut (preferably the former).

Ug.

I'm sending it back. It isn't even worthy of the two-handed Townsend-esque stage slam.

I never tried to call them. I wouldn't have known where to start. Plus, they might have threatened to darken my music room with a new one....

I really, really wanted to like this guitar. I was checking UPS tracking every few hours to see where it was. I ducked out of work early to go play with it when it arrived at my house. It was to replace my five other guitars (at least for jamming), free up a lot of space, and generally make me grin a lot when I played it.

What an utter disappointment. Maybe Parker's American-made stuff is better, but this thing was complete shite, from one end to the other. A lot of people seem to like the thing (of course, everybody seems to like everything here :), so maybe mine was a unique turd, but my experience with it was uniformly bad.

This is an update to a review I submitted earlier, right after I got the guitar. I have had it since December 21. It is now March 2. I was playing this morning and I realized that something is wrong with the input jack! When I plug in the guitar, there is no sound! I have to fiddle with the plug to make the guitar produce any sound. I am having trouble with my amp, this is making it worse!

This is a follow up review, I have had mine for a little more than a year now.

Features are good, look up my other review.

I like my P-38's sounds. I like the humbucker, which for a cheap no name pickup is great. I have just recently started to appreciate the single coils. I might replace the single coils, but I don't use them that much and they sound fine.

Piezo is okay, it is the same as the one Carvin uses. I almost never use it though, but it does give you more available sounds.

This guitar is more like a Strat than anything else.

Oh, and I now use a Carvin MTS combo with it. Sounds good through that, and sounds good through most mid level amps. I don't have any Marshalls or MesaBoogies to test it out on:). I have also tried it through a Line 6 Spider and it sounded great.

I am actually giving it probably an 8.5, but rounding it up, I'll give it a 9. I am comparing this to other guitar around the price range. I don't have experience with high end guitars, as my friends and other bands I know are just teens. On the whole it sounds great.

I got it from Guitar Center right out of the box, because another one in sunburst had marks on it.

I am only giving it a 7 because I had to get the frets filed down, but it was covered by warranty and the local guy did it.

The finish is nice, my sunburst looks very nice, and so far is pretty durable. Neck is great, frets are of normal Korean quality it seems, not the best, but good for the money.

My volume knob crapped out on me, and I would have had to send it out to them for the repair, so I just got my local guy to replace it with a new pot.

The finish is good, some wear already, but I play a lot, and have fooled around with it, adjusting strings, vibrato springs, etc.

The only thing that worries me are the Fishman pickups. They are discolored from my sweat now, but I don't notice any change in tone.

The volume tone controls are far better tham Epiphone stuff, but my volume knob has failed.

I have dealt with the company on some warranty work and they were pretty good. They replied back with an email after I bitched at them for the fret work. The guy that did it isn't that great, not Parker's fault.

The only thing I don't like is you have to ship it to them for warranty work. But many companies are doing this now.

I have been playing for a little more than 2 years. I am in a band, and I have only done 2 gigs so far. It has held up pretty good, and I am pretty satisfied with it.

This is a great guitar for anyone, especially with a pretty decent price.

You have to try them out though, and a few of them of each. They are all going to be a little scuffed up sitting in places like GC.

If it were lost or stolen, I would probably buy one of these, or maybe a higher end Parker or P-Series. I compared it to Epiphones, PRS Santana SE,and lower end Fenders. I like it the best, and it looks cool and different. Great playability, sounds good, and even though the quality isn't up there like higher end Parkers, Fenders, Gibsons, etc. it is a nice guitar.

This guitar has some pretty good features on it. Piezo pickups, stereo/mono. This is the first time I have had a guitar with a wilkinson bridge. I like it.

I was expecting a pleathroe of sounds out of this one. The only pickup I use is the bridge humbucker. It sounds good but not what I expected. I use it with a Vox Cambridge 30 Reverb. Classic rock sounds can be gotten out of it because of the amp. I am yet to try it with another (high-gain) amp.
For Being a lighter guitar, it resonates well and sounds full.

After I bought it, took it home, and started to play it. I found that the fretboard has many chips on it. There are scratches- look to be from it being played by a player wearing a belt- on the back.
Also, there is unbelieveable string buzz on every string at every position. With the magnetic pickups, it cannot be heard; but through the piezo pickups it can be heard. Otherwise, the guitar came in good shape. It came with the nicest gig bag I have ever seen.

I have only had this for a few weeks. It seems that it would hold up well. I am not terriblly abusive of my guitars. I can be rough on them sometimes but not often.

I cannot give a rating in this category, for I have never dealt with this company.

This is a pretty good guitar. It obviously doesn't have the American made craftsmanship, but that is why you are paying under $1000. If I could go back, I probably would've bought something else, but I am not THAT disapointed with my decision.
If you want a Parker, go for it. Just make sure you inspect it before you buy it.

korean
22 meduim jumbo frets
solid ash body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard
non-locking tuners
Wikinson vibrato bridge
s/s/h magnetics
fishman piezos in bridge
all active pickups (runs off of internal 9 volt battery)
pearloid pickgaurd
5-way and 3-way selectors
3 knobsmagnetic volume, magnetic tone, and piezo volume

what more do u ask for on an entry level guitar?!!??!!?

i mainly play punk rock, but i also do classic rock and jus plain classical (i learned to play on a nylon string acoustic).
i run the guitar straight into a crate gfx-15 amp and it sounds great!
the effects dont sound too hot through the singles (or the humbucker, for that matter) because the pickups arent really that great, but for a punk rocker who mainly goes with distortion, they're fine.
there are audible differences between the selector switch settings, but not as much as you would expect out of "custom" pickups.
the piezos sound moderate through my transistor amp, but when i tried it thru a PA, its sounded just like an acoustic!
overall, the sound does pretty good, but when compared to what parker can do on their flys, or even the higher p series that i tried out in stores, it sort of falls behind.

my finish is supposed to be sunburst, but it is more of a tobacco sunburst and it is flawless. the cutouts in the pickguard are perfect (it is square around the humbuckers) and the neck is bolted on without gaps. the fretwork is also excellent.

the setup had a bit to be desired though. i had to play with the truss rod because of a lot of fret buzz, but that was ok. however, the piezos needed major adjustments. the guitar came with the piezos not quite parallel with the bridge, causing feedback when amplified. easy to adjust, but the a string keeps moving out of alignment. this doesnt affect the magnetics, but the moment you select piezos, you will get feedback.

This guitar seems quite durable as long as its reasonably well-taken care of. the finish looks and feels solid and the hardware is much of the same.

however, i had to replace the strap buttons with strap locks because my strap was at risk from coming off (due to the wierd placement of the top button on the back of the guitar)

the only thing i would be really worried about would be the battery life for the active preamp mixer. the manual says 150 hours and the website says 200 hours, so i'm not so confident in how long that will last. i jus keep a screwdriver (for the back access plate) and batteries in my bag just in case.

i sent a couple emails to the company, but i didnt get a response for a month so far. because guitar center discontinued the line, i just went to my friend's music shop (a mom and pop store) and he just showed me how the fix the piezo feedback. dont expect help from parker unless you spent more than $3000 because they probably wont help you.

i have been playing for about 2 years on a nylon string classical while borrowing friends' guitars and this is my first electric. i think that this is an excellent beginner's guitar with parker quality (foreign, but still parker) and plenty of features.
im perfectly happy with it and if somebody stole it, i would hunt them down.

if you are a beginner and you want a guitar that you wont have to replace even after you get better, this is for you (especially if you can get it for my price)!

Typical features... no need to elaborate.

Ahhh... herein lies the trouble. In and of itself, it sounds very good. Good quality tonewood, but the mediocre pickups which Parker disguises as "custom Parker" are in all honesty very plain sounding imports. The sound would be MUCH better, however, if the fretwork wasn't so disastrous. Law of the cosmos is the highter the string height, the more articulate the tone, but to play clean, this thing had to be raised WAY to bloody high (we're talking near half inch where it meets the body). So end result is moderate sound quality which is wounded by terrible fretwork.

The piezo pickups, too, are hugely disappointing. Even though Parker admits themselves that it is NOT intended to even moderately replicate the sound of an acoustic, it's only real utility is in a blended mix with the other (magnetic) pickups, and providing a separate signal to a recording rig which can be run through whatever effects you can think of to turn it into something useful.

Fit and finish are immaculate, but the action is bar-none the worst I've ever seen in a >$600 production guitar. But if you put it into perspective, that's not terribly ironic. Remember afterall that it came out of a Korean factory where one person routes the body, one person finishes it, one person installs frets, etc... Everything was exceptionally clean EXCEPT for the most important playability ingredient... Some of the frets weren't leveled at all, not to mention poorly dressed. But the fretboard itself was absolutely lazer-level, perfectly fitted to the neck, go figure.

Other than the sketchy quality control, it is very well made. Decent finish which should stand up to routine abuse provided folks care for it like they should anyway.

I left messages with Parker concerning warranty AND out of warranty repair work, and I NEVER got a single reply. I was even willing to pay for what THEY should have fixed, but oh well.

In my personal experience, customer support is imperically none better than any single un-returned phone call. Nuff said.

I've been playing for about 15 years, and I'm an electronics technician by trade, so I'm fairly adept at the A-typical repair work, and even though I re-crowned and dressed the frets and got the thing sounding as good as the neck would let it, I was at the wrong point to now look to replacing 3 poopy pickups.

There are plenty of other reviews for this guitar, so I'll try to skip the redundant info and focus on what stands out to me.

Pros:
- Awesome neck profile. Reminds me of the older PRS wide-flat neck. Best playing guitar I own (out of 8 others, although my Hamer would be a close second.)
- Excellent hardware as related to the instrument price. Fishman/Wilkinson bridge, Grover tuners, Dimarzio pickups.
- Mother-of-toilet seat pickup cover. My wife thinks it's sexy. Gotta love it.
- Very distinct shape. I've found that people either love it or hate it. I love it. You can tell it's a Parker from 100 feet away.
- Fairly low price point. More expensive than the entry level guitars, but cheaper than most Fenders or Gibsons. Helps mortals like me join the Parker club.

Cons:
- No Sperzel tuners. The Grovers work great, but I'm a dedicated Sperzel man.
- Didn't come with a case as part of the base price.
- No easy way to track battery life, so you risk going dead in a live situation.

The pros on this guitar far outweigh the cons. For the money, the cons can hardly be held against it.

To help you understand my point of view, I need to give a little explanation on my background...

I've been playing semi-pro for about 13 years now. I'm a self-admitted gearhead; I've owned roughly 20 guitars in this time period, and still have 8 of them. I've had everything from budget axes up to high end custom models (though more from the budget end since I got married 8 years ago!) When purchasing a guitar, I try to listen to the tone of the guitar. Hardware can be upgraded, setups can be adjusted, but if the piece of wood sucks wind, there's not much you can do. In my experience, you can't base this on price (although generally the more an instrument costs, the better the wood and the more likely it is to sound good - no guarantees though.) Whatever instrument you buy, at whatever price range, you need to close your eyes and listen. My first Hamer was a beautiful piece of art, played wonderfully and cost me an arm and a leg. Unfortunately, after I had it for a few months I discovered that the tone would make Roy Rogers punch a nun. Too bad, because Hamer makes some great paddles, but that wasn't one of 'em.

My main and best sounding axe is a cheap Chinese made Strat copy that somehow sounds like the Holy Grail. God must have smiled on the tree that produced the piece of wood. I had to replace most of the hardware and completely rewire it, but that guitar is magical. I installed a Mike Christian piezo pickup in it to give me semi-acoustic sounds, so I'm going to use this guitar as a reference to the Parker.

Also for reference: I use .011 strings. For amps, I either play through a Line 6 Pod, or a Sovtek Mig60 head through a custom 4x12 cabinet.

When I went shopping I played all of the P-38s (and P-40s) in the store, and bought the best sounding one. Too bad it was the red one as I wanted a blue one, but such is the price of tone. I'm sure Stevie's Strat wasn't the prettiest axe in the store either.

The humbucker sounds good - the output is not overly powerful, but not as wimpy as my old Kramer. The sound is similar to my Les Paul in the bridge position, but with more top end.

The single coils are decent. It's got the 60 cycle hum when not running in positions 2 or 4, but that's why you play single coils. I found the single coil sounds to be somewhat strat-like, but not quite as "quacky" (quacky is good when talking Strats.) There was quite a volume difference between the single coils and the humbucker, but I resolved most of this by adjusting the pickup heights.

The piezo-acoustic bridge sounds OK. Obviously, it's not my Taylor, but it's a lot more convenient than switching guitars and it allows you to approximate acoustic tones mid-song. As compared to the Mike Christian in my Strat, I don't think the tones are quite as detailed and realistic. However, the Fishman pickup allows you to run the piezo output through a mono cable for use in one-amp situations, which is a lot more convenient than the Mike Christian which forces you to always use two amps. When I've asked friends to compare the two sounds, the average person thinks they sound the same so the difference between them is probably neglegible.

The Parker doesn't seem to excel at any one particular type of tone, but approximates them all fairly well. Many of my other guitars sound better at the tone they were designed to produce, but that's the only general sound they can make. With the Parker, I can get close to all of the different tones without having to haul a load of guitars with me. Interestingly enough, this is the same reason I use a Line 6 Pod.

Overall, the Parker's sound is more mid-range oriented vs. my Strat. When playing by myself, I prefer my Strat. However, in a band situation I've found the Parker cuts through a lot better and holds it's own position in the sonic spectrum rather than trying to fill up all the frequencies. If you want to be heard in a multi-guitar situation, this is a good one to play.

Of course, you can get some ve

First, here's my rant: ignore the factory set up. Whatever guitar you end up buying, do yourself a favor and learn to tweak your guitar and set it up yourself. Maybe you don't have to learn how to do fretwork and wiring, but you should know how to adjust the truss rod, set up action, pickup heights, etc. Unless you sit with the guitar tech as he/she does the setup and tweaks everything exactly to your liking, it will only be by chance that the axe is adjusted perfectly to your tastes. It'll save you money in the long run and you can make little tweaks as the guitar ages and settles without having to return to the shop.

The first thing I did was replace the .009 strings with .011s. Then I set it up for the heavier string gauge. After I did this, the Parker became a simply amazing player. String height is low, with little buzzing. The neck is not Ibanez-thin but not as thick as my Strat, and is a tad wider.

Fit and finish are top-notch. There are no noticable flaws that I can see. The quality is really quite impressive for a Korean made, budget instrument. When I bought it, I traded in a '92 Les Paul Standard. It is unfortunate, but there was an extreme difference in quality between the Parker and Gibson, with the scales being tipped towards the Parker. Especially noticable in the fretwork, the Parker's fretboard is darn-near perfect while the Gibson was a disaster. My Gibson had glue drippings, poor sanding, and uneven frets since new, which is very disturbing considering the difference in the base price of the two guitars. Hopefully Gibson has improved their product in recent years, but unfortunately my experience with the two Les Pauls I've owned have tarnished my previous loyalty to their brand.

From what I've gathered, there were some quality issues Parker had to resolve on the early production runs of the P-38. In my opinion, it looks like they have gotten the kinks worked out. My P-38 is as good quality-wise as any guitar I've owned. Might want to keep this in mind if buying a used P-38 or one that's been hanging on the wall for a long time, though.

The only thing I found annoying was how difficult it was to get the protective plastic off of the pickguard. I almost had to remove hardware to get it all. So I'll ding the rating a bit because no guitar is perfect.

I play live about every other weekend. I never use a backup guitar no matter what axe I bring, as I don't like hauling gear if I don't have to. I have played the Parker live 5 or 6 times now, and have found it to be dependable. The hardware is good quality, and the finish appears thick, so I am of the opinion that it will stand up to many years of playing.

Admittedly, I am very easy on my equipment. I don't tend to beat my stuff up, so usually I'll notice fret wear on my guitars before I notice any other blemishes.

As other reviews have mentioned, the strap button on the upper horn is in a different spot. I haven't had any trouble with the strap coming off, but it's something to keep in mind.

The vibrato arm does tend to fall out of the hole it sits in. I haven't figured out a way to secure it in place. I don't use the vibrato much anyway, so it's purely a vanity thing to have it hanging there. Someone who relies on the trem heavily may want to be aware of this as it would stink to reach for the arm and not find it there. It's embarassing enough having it fall out mid-set and not noticing until you step on it. Oops.

After I had the guitar about 3 months, the volume knob did come loose. Two minutes and a deep well hex socket fixed it.

Haven't had to deal with them, which is a good thing.

I purchased this guitar about 9 months ago. I traded a '92 Les Paul Standard (minus the road case) even up for the new P-38 with a soft case. Seeing as the Paul needed a complete refretting and some other work, I felt like I got a good deal. Especially since the street price on the P-38 and case was pretty close to what I paid for the new Les Paul 9 years ago (right before the whole vintage craze got going and they were just about giving Les Pauls away.)

When I first saw a Parker Fly on the cover of Guitar Player in '92, I fell in love with the shape and had lusted for one ever since. Unfortunately, the price of the USA made models was keeping most guitarists (myself included) from ever being able to own a Parker. When the P-38 came out, I was excited but skeptical. I liked the idea of having a chance at being able to afford a Parker, but I was leary at the thought of a reputable manufacturer releasing a "budget" line that doesn't cut it in terms of quality (i.e. Fender's Squier or the Hamer Slammer series.) I'm certainly not against playing cheap instruments (my mutant Strat is proof), but if I'm going to shell out good money to get a particular name on the headstock, the quality had better be there.

Thankfully the P-38 lives up to the Parker namesake. While it doesn't have all the fancy features of it's older brothers (carved body, stainless steel frets, carbon fiber skin, etc.) it does provide a lot of bang for the buck. No it's not perfect, but I've yet to find an axe that is.

If you need a guitar to cover a variety of musical styles and you dig the distinct Parker shape, it would be well worth your time to investigate the P-38 model.

I'm not sure on the year-built on this guitar, but I bought it brand new. It is black with a pearloid pickguard. The pickups are Parker made single, single, humbucker, and a fishman piezo. The neck is a little more round than I am used to, and it has 22 rather sharp frets. I don't think mine are jumbo, like everyone else says theirs is. Non locking tuners.

I play heavy music to jazz to blues. I am a huge fan of John Petrucci, so my Ibanez has his old pickup configuration. In comparison, the parker does sound like a strat, so I get a totally new set of sounds with it. My signal is such; from my guitar to a whammy, Bad Horsey, either a Peavy Rockmaster (4 tubes, screaming tone)or a ADA MP-1, a ART FXR Elite (actually a studio rack, but I only use 1 or 2 delay effects that are perfect for me, a DBX 166 (both the Peavy and ADA can be noisy) into a Mesa Boogie 50/50 stereo
amp, out to a old Carvin 4x12 loaded with old 25w Celestions. I use custom made coaxle cables, Jazz III picks.
The Pickups sounded great when I first plugged it in. The humbucker is a monster, and I can get pretty good sound out of both the singles.
The piezo is amazing sounding, and will add a new touch of brilliance to my playing.

The action is a bit high, but I'll take it to Mike Lull in Bellevue, WA, and he and his shop will do their usual incredible job. The pickups were adjusted funny, but a couple of seconds and a small philips fixed that. I did notice that the paint on the back has a weird "wavyness" about it, and I hope it is not something that is going to haunt me later. The friction fit hole for the trem arm looks like it was quickly placed, then trimed with a dull boxcutter.

I tend to be a very aggressive player, and am a rather large guy, so my '80 Gibson Explorer and Ibanez RG 570 fit me well. I also tend to sweat under those pesky microwave-like lights they put in at venues, so I hope the metal holds out. I do hate where the upper horn strap is placed, and it hangs a tad funny.

N/A

I have been playing for 15 years and have played everything from Hohner to Gibson. I went into GC looking for the Ibanez Premier version of this guitar, but it was sold. I miss the ultra flat neck, but I can learn. I love the fact that the plug is stereo, and the piezo pickup is really the only reason I even looked at this guitar. Yeah, sure, I'd love to have the weightless parker fly, but this does pretty much the same thing, so all is good. I will be adding locking tuners, and i may change the position of the upper horn strap peg.
All in all, this will be a great addition to my collection, and I will use it a ton at church; Playing for Jesus Christ is the other reason I wanted a guitar with a piezo. I can plug into my amp AND the PA for lighter songs.

So you want to put Piezos on your Strat and a Humbucker in the Bridge position, Well save your money and buy this baby. IT has 22 Jumbo frets, two Single-Coils and one Humbucker, A Wilkinson/Fishman Piezo Vibrato Tailpiece, a Smart-Switch for discerning between mono and stereo signals(giving you the choice of playing mono or through two amplifiers,eg: regular guitar amp & an acoustic amp or a P>A> system), Lightweight, easy controls( you don't have to be an M>I>T> grad to play it. A lot of bang for the buck. The only thing missing is a Humbucker in the neck position w/coil splitr/tap.

IT is my "DO ALL" axe, since I can cover any style in a pinch and it can hold its own Tone & Outputwise in any live situation I may encounter. I have been playing since 1964 and I mostly work in classic and early Rock'n Roll and R&B, Light Jazz, Funk, and a little Salsa music. It's just about as noisy as a Strat or Tele, so I use it live on stage except in venues that have hum problems such as lighting, etc. In which case I go with my '77 ash Strat w/ Vintage-Noiseless pickups. I do a substantial amount of recording session work' but I've yet to get to use my P-38 that way. IT is my most versatile stage axe, and if it's not my #1 on any show, it is surely my backup instrument.

I recieved the guitar in perfect playing shape, it came with .009-.042's and it felt so good that after I tried changing to .010's (which I prefer on my Strat), I settled on a hybrid mix of .010,.012,.016,.026,.036,.046 for a fuller sound. I've had this guitar for over 1 year and the only two problems I'm having are that the G string Piezo is losing volume at times and I cannot find a fix for it, and the Tremolo arm bushing has worn out causing my Tremolo arm to go limp in its hole as if it needs Viagra. I love the weight and feel of this axe so much that with the playability and tone I get from it, I can live with the above mentioned flaws.

I know this guitar can take it because one night I was performing on stage with my Oldies band and during one of our choreographed moves, my left knee buckled and gave out, causing me to fall backwards on stage and also causing the P-38 to become airborne and crash on the wooden stage. When my sax player finished his solo he helped me up and I picked up my P-38 and finished not only that song, but the rest of the set and another set that evening.

Warranty is one year, so now that my piezo is acting up and my tremolo bar is slipping out, I guess I'm out of luck. Otherwise I haven't needed them before.

I'VE BEEN PLAYING SINCE 1964. I OWN A '77 STRAT W/VINTAGE NOISELESS PICKUPS, AN IBANEZ 6/12 DOUBLENECK (1974), AN IBANEZ ARTIST (70's), A JACKSON FUSION STD. PRO, AND AN ARIA ELECORD MODEL #P-90 (acoustic roundhole arch top), AN EPIPHONE SHERATON II, AND AN EPIPHONE CHET ATKINS CEC (nylon string electric).THE P-38 CAN BACKUP ANY OF THESE INSTRUMENTS EXCEPT THE 12 STRING. IF THIS AXE WAS STOLEN AND I WAS NOT PROSECUTED FOR MURDERING THE PERP(s), I WOULD BUY THE P-38 OR AP-44. ITR CAN DO EVERYTHING I NEED IT TO DO ON STAGE WITHOUT BREAKING MY BACK.

this is an update on my previous review (made a few months ago) by me, cosmo mcturk.

since then, the bridge humbucker has broken.
i was really starting to like it too.
apparently, according to my guitar tech in town, a korean pickup of similar standard would cost #20 ($30)... which incase you didn't realise, isn't alot.
so i am changing it for an EMG 89... which will give me some single/humbucking changing action (baby)

i'd like to see the difference.
time shall tell.

This is a Korean made guitar with the Parker name on it. My guitar was made in 2001. It has non-locking tuners, 09-42 strings, Fishman Piezo pickup in the bridge for an acoustic guitar sound, a humbucker by the bridge for the Les Paul sound and two single coils for the Stat sound. There is a volume, tone control, and 5 way selector switch for the three magnetic pickups and a volume control for the piezo. There is also a three way switch to choose between the piezo, the magnetics or both. The piezo uses active electronics and the magnetics use passive electronics. The body is ash, the neck is 22 frets and made of maple with a rosewood fretboard. It has a Wilkinson bridge with a whammy bar and the output jack is stereo. The piezos on one channel and the magnetics on the other channel.

I have only owned this guitar for a few days, but I have an observation I wish to share with anyone interested in buying a Parker guitar. The output from this guitar can either be summed to mono (by using a mono guitar chord) or it can be split to stereo (Piezo on one side and the magnetics on the other). My point is that the sound of this guitar is terrible in mono, but it is unbelievable in stereo. I run the piezo signal clean through either the PA or a second amplifier. I run the magnetic pickups through my processor then into a Marshall 50 watt and the results are a wall of sound that cannot be duplicated by any other guitar on the market. The piezos are in direct contact with the guitar strings and the magnetics require the sound to jump a small air gap (between the strings and the pickups). This makes the two signals a small bit out of phase and really fattens up the sound. It sounds like we have added another guitar player to the band. If we play larger gigs I will use two Marshalls instead of one Marshall and the PA. If you are considering a Parker then try it out in stereo and prepare to have your mind blown. I dislike the mono sound but I still give it a 10 because this guitar will never again be used in mono.

I bought this guitar used on eBay for $450 but it is about as perfect as a new guitar can be. The bottom E string had a small buzz so I took off a point for that. That problem was easily solved. The neck on this guitar is better than any neck I have had my hands on in 37 years of playing.

Since I have only had the guitar a few days I can't comment on reliablity or durability, but to quote another review here, the finish looks like it would take a hammer and chisle to do damage to it.

I have been emailing Parker with questions and they have been fairly good about providing answers. I must say the P-38 is the bottom of the line Parker. I actually prefer the P-38 over any of the more expensive Parkers. I tried out several Flys and several NiteFlys and the P-38 does everything they do but at about 1//3 to 1/4th of the price of the more expensive models. I could have afforded to buy the more expensive models but could not find a reason why I should, so I got the P-38 and I am thrilled to death with this instrument.

I have a bad back and this guitar is extremely light weight. I can play it for hours and my shoulder doesn't feel like it is going to fall off. The neck is very silky and smooth and very easy to play. Especially chords in the first position, like C and F. The stereo output is orgasmic and it does an incredible job of sounding just like a real acoustic guitar. I can play the intro to Hotel California and sound like an acoustic then punch a button on my processer and shred on the solo.

This Parker's low end guitar retailing for $599. It's made in Korea and I purchased mine in May of 2001. It has three pick ups set up like a strat and a piezo under the saddle. Has decent tuners, big fat frets and a decent bridge that is easy to adjust. The truss rod is adjustable although the location of the truss rod nut is a little awkward to adjust. It has a tremolo bar that friction fits into the bridge.

The sound is pretty decent. The five position switch controls the 3 pickups and gives you a range of full to thin electric sound. The piezo is also adds a nice touch. There's even a 3 position toggle switch that allows you to choose either magnetic pick ups or piezo or a combination of both. I would say for $599 I would expect a little better sounding guitar, but all in all its not bad.

I found that the P38 suffers from bad quality control. I tried several in the store and each had a drastically different set up. I picked the one I thought was set up the closest and then tweaked it when I got home. Although the bridge is easy to adjust, getting the action adjust was a little tricky. It required a slight adjustment to the truss rod and a lot of adjustments to the bridge. Once dialed in, it plays pretty good. I especially like the fat frets. Unfortunately, if you don't know how to set up a guitar, chances are the P38 you bring home from the store will not play very well. The finish on the guitar is very thin and in some spos, you can see bare wood. There are also rough spots - areas of the body and neck where you can see "grind" marks as if they only roughly finish the guitar before spraying. I found many of the P38s that I tried in the store had pits and marks under the paint. I tried to pick the one that had the least amount of flaws.

After owning the guitar for 3 months, I noticed a very small crack in the back of the neck, located at about the 2nd fret. Af first I thought it was a pore in the wood, but it began to grow. after 6 months the crack grew to about a 1/2 inch. I decided to take it back to the store and exchange it before the 1 year warranty was up. The store gladly replaced the guitar, even after 6 months. The replacement guitar was only in my possession for about an hour, when I discovered the piezo under the G string was not working. I took it back to the store and found the pick up was defective. So, I received another replacement which now was my 3rd P38. Well, I guess 3 times is not a charm for me. After having the guitar for about 3 weeks, I noticed that the piezo under the low E was distorting a lot. It became progressively worse. I took it back to the store and finally exchanged the P38 for an American Stratocaster. I ended up paying about $200 more, but the sound and quality are 500% better. I suspect the American made Parkers are pretty nice, but I wouldn't touch the imports with a ten foot pole. In my opinion, they are pretty bad. In fact, I'd go out on a limb and say that Fender's Strat Squire is a better quality guitar at 1/3rd the price.

With all the trouble I had with my P38, I never had to deal with Parker. The store from which I purchased the guitar handled all the problems and way beyond my expectations. I felt pretty fortunate that the store was so willing to take back the guitar, even though I had purchased it 6 months before.

I have been play acoustic guitar for 25 years. I also play a little jazz on a arch top. I wanted to buy a relatively cheap solid body to play some rock and ended up with the Parker because it sounded good, had the piezo pick up which gave it a bit of an acoustic sound and had an interesting look. I was surprised that after spending $600 on the P38, the quality was worse than $200 student models. I ended up spending $800 for an American Strat which is more than I wanted to spend, but I'll own and enjoy the guitar forever so I guess it's money well spent. As for the P38, I would recommend not buying this guitar. I hate to say it but it's a real piece of junk.

It's new but it might have been made in 2000. Made in Korea. S/S/H pickups with Fishman piezo Wilkinson vibrato bridge. I got the Sunburst model. It comes with tools, stereo cable, and a manual.

I play jam band stuff with a mix of everything else, and so far it suits my needs pretty good. I have only been playing for 1 year and love playing. A good versatile sound helps you out especially with the stuff I play. The pickups are good for stock and the piezo system is supposedly good but I dont have an acoustic amp. I like using the mixed mag/piezo sound.

My headstock had a small paint flaw where the black paint must of rubbed off or something. It bothered me at first, but in the end, who really cares? There were two scratches on the back, but probably due to regular handling. The finish is great, looks very nice and makes you want to play.(Helluva lot better than my Squier :) Anyways, the guitar was well set up and played good.

I don't play any gigs yet, but I am pretty sure it will stand up to some abuse and the hardware wouldn't fail, but a spare battery is a good idea.

I didn't get the vibrato bar, tools and accesories and we eventually went to Guitar Center to get them. The guy said he called Parker and had them sent to my house but they haven't arrived. It might of been the guy at GC's fault so I do not know. - 1 year warranty

I would definitely buy another P-38 if it was stolen or lost, which would really suck because I would be playin my Squier for a long time. :) I played some other guitars in my price range, inc. the new PRS Santana SE. The SE is a nice guitar but for a few more bucks you get a guitar thats more versatile with better playability . Played Epiphones, Gibsons, Ibanez, and Fender but the P-38 beat them all.

all of the above...
22 jumbo ass frets, great sounding pickups, amazing acoustics. only bad thing i can say is that the strap is likely to let your axe fall on your feet while jamming.

wilkinson tremolo is actually pretty good, i've never liked floyd rose trems anyway

i play in an alternative-like band, kinda like primus mixed up with tool and all sort of metal and no so heavy influences, you can check out my band's web site at: www.bajotres.com, you can download some mp3s there. this is my main axe now, and has incredible tone, especially the acoustics sounds, it sounds more real than the lead singer's Washburn electro-acoustic.
i play it throug a roland JC-120 amp and a floor effects unit Boss ME-30, and i'm really happy with the tone i get from the humbucker with the tnoe knob rolled back almost halfway. also, the clean tone with the combined single coils kicks so much ass!!

i bought this guitar through the internet, so the action and factory set-up was not quite perfect, lucky me, it took so little effort to correct it, thanks to parker thruss-rod system. i also replaced the poor factory strings with D'Addario's XL 10s and this did wonders to both electric and, most notable, acoustic tones. also, you gotta love the transparent blue finish with the perloid pickguard (mmm...i actually wanted the red one, but couldn't wait till they were available)

i've played like 5 or 6 shows with this axe, but it sure is one hell of a guitar, it's built like a freakin rock! -and all of those gigs i've played without a backup guitar

no need to talk to the parker guys... yet

it would be nice to have the manual tell the users that the magnetic pickups also depend on the 9V battery, scared the sh*t outta me! also a EQ for the acoustics would come in handy in situations where you're playing through cheap PA systems

I play country and jazz gigs, and I use this guitar for both. Between this guitar and a Zoom 505II with a volume pedal, I am quite simply ready for anything the leader might call without a lot of muss and fuss. I actually play through a bass rig (a Peavey MarkIII to an SWR Workingman's 110) to get the widest tonal response from my set up.
The Parker has the feel of a Hagstrom and the sound of just about anything you want unless you are EXTREMELY picky. The ability to blend the acoustic/magnetic sound is partiularly helpful on jazz gigs.

I have replaced the strap buttons for Straplocks, and moved the upper bout button to the edge of the horn, as opposed to behind it.
Not only do I use this intrument without a backup, that was the reason I sought it out.

Most of what can be said has been covered in the previous reviews, so I won't belabor those points.
I've been playing various styles for well over thirty years, and have owned this guitar for about eight months. My intent is to do the most with the least, particularly when one gigs in clubs and wants a quick load in/load out. Therefore, I try to get as much done with one instrument as possible.
If I had my druthers, I'd have opted for coil splitting on the lead pickup, and a hardtail (since I don't use the trem).
However, dollar for dollar this is the best guitar purchase I have ever made. Not only would I replace it if it were lost, I am considering buying another one.

made 2001. korean made.
22 jumbo ass frets.
good hard finish, but a little too shiney (you might blind someone).
volume, tone, 5 way selector, piezo volume, 3 way piezo / magnetic switch.
s/s/h with piezo in bridge. parker and fishamn pu's. active circuit.
maple neck with rosewood frets, i presume the body is ash.
trans finish, very nice.
double cutaway, the styling is very nice. takes infulence from tele's, strats... very thin and light with some nice angles in there.
wilkinson bridge.
non-locking tuners.
very nice very thin neck (i love this... my deciding factor).
gig bag, tools, and a stereo lead all included in price.

infact, what doesn't this have?
it's very versatile.
it's pretty much got everything without heavy customising

oohh, baby!
*drewl*
i'm loving this.
i play some rock, gentle noise making, dabble in metal from time to time, pretty much everything.
it suits all of these - insanely so.
i have a korg ax1000g multi-effects (on sale) and a peavey bandit 112 (also on sale).
they're on sale because they're sh*t.
i love this guitar - it's the only thing that makes me want to pick it up.
it's silent as silent can be on the humbucker, two singles and the piezo, but there's an audible hum on the single coils, hence, i don't use them much, but they are still amazing.
the neck is damn rich and the bridge and piezo are bright, but not too bright.
the piezo itself can vary from really bright plucking at the bride, and full, rich sound if you pluck at the 12 fret... infact i don't think i've heard anything quite so rich in my life.

*drewl*
so creamy.
it's like 4 kinds of rich creamery butter melting in your hands... except it doesn't leave the greasy feeling. i salivate at the thought of picking up my guitar every time.
the nut could do with being a bit lower, but it doesn't bother me much, so i haven't done anything about it, from fear of losing some of the creamy goodness (excuse the inuendos).
all is good and creamy with my baby.

although it's thin, i'd throw it around if i didn't care about the finish.
i doubt it's going to split, it's some pretty good feeling wood.
the finish is damn thick, and you're not really going to chip it without a hammer and chisel.
i'd depend on it with my life.
i have a backup crappy strat, but i wouldn't even bother using it.
my baby will never fail on me!!!
only one thing, i was pulling and tugging on the bottom strap button, because the straplock wouldn't fit on, becuase my strap is a fat mutha, and the screw came a bit loose. it's not fallen out yet, but i've found myself having to get a screwdriver sometimes just to make sure this never happens.
this only happened becuase i was applying excessive force, remember!

i sent them an email ages ago, about some stuff which i can't remember now.
pretty trivial i think, but no reply.

i've been playing on and off for 3 years, but i got really serious about christmas last year.
i bought the guitar in the summer while on holiday, and shipped it back to england for 2/3 the price in my local shop.
the design really is a love it or loathe it situation.
it's like marmite.
personally, i hate marmite, but love this guitar.
(hmmm, wonder if i could make a survey to see if there's some sort of correlation between marmite haters and parker lovers... the possibilites are endless)
i own a multi fx and a pevey bandit 112.
i don't really like either of them, and i am selling them both.
if you read my other reviews, i've given them like an average of 4/10.
the moment i picked up the guitar i thought, this is it, i have to buy this, now where could i get #400 from? hey mum, dad...?
it's an early christmas / birthday present, and a damn good one!!!!!
i seriously love this.
this IS my guitar.
i'll have it forever, and will never ever sell it.
if it were lost or stolen, i'd seriously be distraught. i'd definitely try to claim insurance / try to save up for another, if not a bigger, better model, like the nitefly
mr. parker is obviously some sort of god of guitars. he sees my needs, and fulfills them.
my favourite bit on the guitar has to be the frets and neck. they were just made for me!!! i narrowed down my perfect guitar - it has to have a matt finish neck and frets, and it has to sound good.
i compared this with other guitars like ibanez's, gibsons, godins, you name it.
i was originally going to get a gibson SG, but i really don't like the neck - it's got that varnish and it's the size of a small elephant.
i wish it just came with a free roland gk-2a and other bits and bobs.
but then mr. parker would have to delve into the deepest depths of my mind, rather than just my simple desires - which is just worrying
it's very light and thin. i like this, but i'd still want a tele, just for the the plain bulk slab of wood. i'd do it up like jonny greenwood's and put gizmos and gadgets in it, but that story is for another day.

mmm, beer *drewl*

cosmo.

Sunburst ash body (pool-routed under scratchplate). Single, single, humbucker. Rosewood fingerboard. Acoustic bridge. Stereo option (electric and peizo can be into one amp with a regular cable or can be sent to different amps/P.A. with supplied stereo cable). 9v battery for acoustic pickup but magnetic pickups go through the same switch so if the battery goes ALL pickups stop working. One mark off for that.

The acoustic peizo bridge sounds good, especially int a desk with an EQ. The parker designed pickups I wasn't as impressed with so I replaced them with Kent Armstrongs (vintage strat and PAF) which were a great improvement. I play thru a Fender Hotrod Deluxe with a celestion V30 and different than stock preamp tubes and I usually use a new U.S. series tele. I'm in a band that plays abit of everything and this combination does the trick with no effects usually (a little chorus sometimes). I'm afraid to say that even with the new pickups the Parker doesn't compare to the tele, at least not to my ears. It's either because I've recently become a tele freak or else it's the pool route that's affecting the sound (it goes right through to the vibrato springs).

It is pretty well made but it has that massed produced quality like Mexican Fenders have (scratchplate not fitted quite perfectly, etc...) Finish was excellent. Fretwork is good but the nut was way too high. Why do manufacturers do that? F barre chords should be as easy as with a capo. I had to shim the neck too. After adjustment the action is great but I find the frets abit high personally. It makes my fingers sore alot faster than playing a Fender guitar. Just a personal thing.

Woodwork and electonics seems put together well. Seems reliable. Don't like the magnetic pickups being wired in with the battery-run peizo.

No idea.

I can see lots of people really liking this, especially if they put their guitars through lots of effects. It's comfortable (standing up) and light and sounds OK and has a usable accoustic sound. However, after 3 decades playing I've become fussy and it isn't what I want so I'm trading it for another Tele. I put this review in to let people know that, as nice as it is, it may not be as perfect a guitar as they expect...or maybe it will be? Anyway, my advice is to try one before you buy and make up your own mind.

All been outlined above, but briefly:

s-s-h pickups
piezo bridge with smart switching jack socket
graphite nut

- mine now also has straplocks and an internal GK2 and will soon be gaining a Sustainiac Stealth.

Very bright sounding compared to my Ibanez RG570, but great for the tinkly and jangly sounds. The humbucker seems a little wimpy, especially for full, chuggy distorted tones, but is very useable the rest ofthe time. The piezo bridge sounds pretty good with a full range amp but not so great with a normal guitar amp (as you'd expect). Generally very low noise and a very good range of tones. Only problem is that humbucker.

Action was abysmal at the shop - this seems to be normal in the UK. Every P-38 I've tried has needed a complete setup, including a fret dress. It shouldn't be like this on a guitar that retails for #600; my Ibanez was perfect out of the carton.

Other than that the guitar is very well made and beautifully finished, though the trem arm needed cleaning and polishing.

Stays in tune perfectly with the bridge floated. I replaced the strap buttons straight away, but there didn't seem to be any problem with them. I just prefer straplocks.

The major problem on this front is that the trem arm isn't held in at all, and keeps falling off. Just a bad design.

I'd gig without a backup, except that it doesn't have the full range of tones I'd like, so it gets played half and half with my Ibanez.

The website is pretty helpful, but I've not dealt with the company direct. The UK distributor wanted #85 for a scratchplate, which is just stupid.

I've been playing for about 9 years now, and also have an Ibanez RG570. The Ibanez seems a little better for harder sounds and the Parker wins out for clean and tinkly; they're both great to play and look good too.

If I lost the Parker I'd certainly consider another one, but maybe the P40 for the 2 humbuckers. With a guitar like a P-38 in the shop, it amazes me that anyone would buy any Strat. It does everything a Strat does and looks, plays and sounds better.

It'd be nice if Parker did a Fly with 13-pin piezos.

It has 22 jumbo frets...active 9v battery(which makes it have some balls)wilkinson tremolo and s/s/h piezo stock parker pickups. made in the usa. Translusent red which makes it look beautiful. non locking tuners. The bridge is a little shitty...it actually unwinds my strings when i dive bomb the tremolo sometimes!!! The acoustic pickups in the tremolo crackel when i use them and one has a lower volume than the others. i think the bridge...5 way switch...and the volume knob(which makes noisey noises when turned) gave this a 7.

It really fits my music style. I play mostly metallica...judas priest...and heavy type music. I changed the humbucker though to a duncan invader(great humbucker)but i will talk about before i got it the duncan.I use a marshall vs265 2x12 combo...kick ass amp...and a boss metal zone. It is noisy only on the acoustic pickup setting but other than that...perfect. It has a heavy clear bassy sound. It can go from shake the house up and down distortion. also to crystal clear acoustic...if ur bridge is better than mine that is. When i first got it the acoustics where very nice!! I really like the sounds of this guitar and i am proud of owning it. The acoustic thing is the only reason for a 9.

Set up absolutly perfect from factory. The action of the strings is a little high but dont bother me much. The pickups where directly under the strings which is best for good output. It didnt have any flaws at all. The finish is really nice but can have sweat for a drink. make sure you wipe off ur sweat when usin it. Other than that...i say this guitar really makes it look like it is 300 dollars more.

I really think this guitar is realiable if usein it for a gig but the thing i said about the strings unwinding really makes is lose some points. Imagin losin your string in the middle of a heavy song on stage in front of 50 people!!! That would suck!! Always bring a backup anyways. But aside the strings...it can have a good beating to it before you notice a diffence in performence.

never dealted with them...

i have been playing for 3 years and this is my fav. guitar. If it were stolen...i would probebly go for a gibson and not buy another one...even though i would be pissed off if it was stolen. I say it compares to fender phat srats. i wish it would of had locking something!! If you are thinking of getting this guitar...you should. it is great for the price.

I'm writing this review for people who don't want to read novels while they are convulsing in anticipation to venture to the guitar store and buy this guitar. Feature-wise, this beats out any standard guitar. The electronics are superb for a Korean guitar. It has a S-S-H configuration, and they are surprisingly good pickups for a guitar whose 600 dollar price tag obviously went towards other features. The piezo active (needs a 9V battery) pickup system is flat out mind blowing! I was supposed to buy an acoustic guitar on that fatefull day but this thing does the job and then some. Beware, though, the acoustic pickups are very high output, so back the volume on your guitar off when switching to them live. The only other out-of-the-ordinary thing that came with this guitar was a "smart-cable" that plugs into your guitar and will send the acoustic part to one amp and the electric part to another amp. One male splits to two males to go to separate amps.

For a long time I was a naive metallica fan, but i'm now writing music with a drumming prodigy, and together, when recording on my roland VS studio, we make a whole band. Our second song, which is a clean instrumental with a distorted intervention and solo, was done almost completely on my parker. It's great to run the acoustic mixed with a little bit of the two single coils combined through a ton of chorus and out of a scooped clean channel. The acoustic pickups are very sensitive and sound very much like a miked acoustic guitar. This guitar is not necessarily made for every style of music, but with some practice, you can do everything from acoustic instrumentals to overdriven chording to darker, heavier riffing (assuming the rest of your setup is appropriate for this music too).

On my three current guitars, I have been lucky to receive models with good factory setups. The action is just fine, but i usually keep my guitar a half step down or more to ease the tension on the strings. You don't have to do much with the pickups to make them sound fine; just raise the humbucker if you desire and play away. The finish is a very deep cherry stain and there are no cosmetic flaws. My only wish is that this would have come with a graphite nut or something of that sort, I'm not used to plastic nuts (my other 2 guitars have locking nuts and floyd roses). But, i can't say that is a flaw, just personal preference.

This guitar does not break strings (as my satriani is notorious for doing when it's least appropriate), the hardware is nice and stiff. The tuners are fairly tight too, so they hold a tune for a decent amount of time. I would definitely have a backup, but that's just because every guitar is subject to some unforseen error. Unfortunately, we use a ton of different tunings from song to song, so i'll probably have each guitar there, but no backups (since they are all tuned differently).

My current setup (i'll make this quick) is a Jackson DR3 w/ EMG's, Ibanez JS-100, and Parker P-38 through a Boss MT2, SD-1, CE-5, GE-7, Dunlop 95Q, then a Boss NS-2, out of my pedal board into a Mesa Nomad 100 half stack. I use this guitar just as much as my Jackson and my Satriani is now becoming a backup guitar. I love how versatile this guitar is, but remember to give yourself time to change from one setting and pickup configuration to another (it can take a little time to flip 2 switches and step on 3 buttons/pedals to switch from clean to dirty or vice versa). The one thing I wish parker would have done on this model is either have backed off to a solid bridge or upgraded to a floyd rose. The Wilkinson is virtually pointless, and i never use it because the bar falls out and the guitar eventually detunes. However, I am thankful the the tremolo is very stiff, because I was able to tune it down to low B without changing anything other than the strings (9's to 10's). No spring tension adjustment or anything. Overall this guitar is a very solid purchase and I have had no regrets other than once again evading my dream of owning a les paul.

Check features in the other reviews. One thing that i will repeat is that of the two P-38s in the store one of them had what sounded like shorts in the electronics. The guys at Guitar Center said it was the piezo since that is what usually goes out on the P-38. The one with the shorts was the display model. This is a 2001 guitar. Made in Korea.

This guitar has a very versatile sound profile. Strat like, LP like, and acoustic like. It does all three reasonably well. I especially like to finger pick with just the piezos. I usually listen through earphones when i fingerpick. I use a Blues Jr. Combo amp for the magnetics.

The guitar was set up well with the exception of cheap strings which were corroded and improperly installed. I think one could expect to change strings on any new guitar anyway. A new set of 9's did wonders. The fit and finish were flawless. A beautiful guitar. The body is black with black pickuops, black knobs, black head stock and no inlays on the rosewood fingerboard. It is not flashy but sublimely attractive. The maple neck contrasts nicely with the black ash body.

I don't play live so i can't comment on that. This guitar has a very solid feel and the components are good quality. The finish is flawless. I have the black one. I actually liked the tobacco sunburst model better but it was the floor model and had shorts in the piezo. I've always preferred black guitars and the sunburst was the first guitar in that color that i liked.

I haven't dealt with the company. The staff at Guitar Center was helpful.

The best thing i like about this guitar is the way it fits me and the way the neck feels in my hand. The second best thing is the versatility of the tonal modes. It is also very light and that is a big plus in my opinion. It is a small guitar and i am a small guy. I knew when i picked it up that this was the guitar for me. I actually went in to check out a Schecter C-1 Elite but was consumed by guitar lust the moment i picked up the P-38 and plugged it in. I'm sure you understand.

This is just add on to my review earlier. It is still a great guitar and plays wonderfully. Just note that the instruction manuel is wrong. The battery powers not only the piezio pickup, but also the magnetic pick ups. This is just to let everyone know this so you don't look stupid and bring it back a couple of days after you buy it b/c the pickups don't work.

Made in Korea (but you would never know!). Has S/S/H custom Dimarzio pickups , Wilkinson tremolo with Fishman piezo pickup, 3 volume/tone knob, and 1 Fishman Smartswitch switch. I got the translucent red finish (I never thought I would own a red guitar but the finish on this, with the pearloid pickguard, was absolutely beautiful). As far as the other specs, see the other reviews or go to www.parkerguitars.com.

Fabulous! This is actually my first guitar with a true humbucker (I'm pretty much a strat guy) and I was impressed with it. Even the single coils stand out. The single-coil in-between sound are excellent (you can get the American Standard strat sound) and they're pretty quiet, especially recording on the computer (also, see my Johnson J-Station review).

The Wilkson tremolo with piezo pickups are an added bonus. I've never been a Floyd Rose type, but you can do dive-bombs on that thing. You can get a pretty decent acoustic sound with the piezo pickup it you get an outboard processor (I use an LR-Baggs acoustic processor because I got it for my X-Bridge-equipped Strat). You should only expect an ovation-type acoustic sound from these pickup because you'll be dissapoint other-wise, but I wouldn't count this against it. It has the smart-switching for the input to detect and split the output if you have a stereo plug (I would recommend it this way if you are gigging).

It is an EXTREMELY comfortable guitar to play. It is considerably lighter than my strat but it does not affect sound. I haven't played the regular Flys but I heard they're even lighter. If you are accustomed to Strats, the neck will take getting used to because the P-38 has a wider, thinner neck. But if you keep playing it, you'll find it is easier to bend notes and do vibrato. I use .10 - .46 strings so I restrung it anyway so I have no opinion about the factory set-up for string action. One thing is that I tried two different P-38's at different store and they sounded like they had shorts in them (noisy output). Definitely try one out before you buy. Parker seems very detailed with guitars so quality assurance is probably higher than most other manufacturers.

My only beef with the placement of the top strap button (facing you instead of on the top horn like a Strat). Certain strap will come off while playing. I changed it with a Dimarzio locking strap (but the screws that came with it didn't work).

I haven't gig with this guitar but I think it will withstand live playing (and get you some notices with the wierd shape). The craftsmanship seems flawless so it'll last me a lifetime. The only thing is that it doesn't stay in tune with aggressive tremolo use but then again it does not have a locking nut (and I haven't spent time oiling the points of contact).

Haven't dealt with them. Their website has downloadable manuals.

The P-38 is an awesome guitar. At $599, you probably can't build a better guitar from part at a cheaper price. If you figure in the cost of a Wilkinson tremolo with piezo (~$200), Fishman smartswitch (~$80), pearloid pickguard (~$40), Dimarzio S/S/H pickups (~$150), the P-38 is a fantastic value. I would definitely buy this guitar again if it were lost or stolen. I would even buy an extra one. When I saw Parker guitars, I was turned off by their shape, but I got used to it. The P-38 translucent finish are excellent (especially with the pearloid pickguard). I LOVE this guitar (my strat is now fighting for attention, heh). Because of this guitar, I have a deeper appreciation for the humbucker (but I am still a single-coil strat guy).

The P-38 I bought is a 2001 model. 22 frets, 2 Piece ash body.
It has the single coil-single coil-humbucker configuration, but I plan to replace the neck single with a a hot rail or similar. But that is because I like hums better than singles. It also has a Wilkinson/fisherman tremlo with built in fisherman piezio pickup. It has the usual parker body style. The neck is pretty thin, witch I love and the frets are the perfect size in my opinion, but for the exact specifications go www.parkerguitars.com. All of the p-38 are the same, except some w/o the piezio. It has what they call smart switching. This means that if a normal guitar cable is plugged in it goes to mono, but if the stero cable provided is plugged in it will spilt the piezo and the magnetic pickups to different out puts. Kind of a cool feature, though it is a little hard keep track of one cord, not to mention 2. Esp. the way I play. I plug the piezio straight into the amp and the other into the tuner and distotion pedal. Though if I had another amp I would plug into 2 different amps. The fingerboard is rosewood. It has some very neat controls. It has a fiveway selector switch to control the magnetic pickups and one volume and one tone. The switching is unique in that when mixing the middle single and bridge hum it split the coils on the hum(but has hum canceling). It also has one volume control for the piezio(wish it had a tone also). This guitar also has a 3 way selector. This lets you choose b/n the magnetic pickups, the piezio or mix both. It came with a tremlo bar, 2 allen wrenchs(all you need to make any brigde adjustments), and bar to adjust the truss rod(witch is easily accessible where the neck ends and body begins. It also came with an extra tremlo spring.

This guitar can produce the most beatiful melodic sounds and some of the ugliest sounds known to man, and everything between. The only problem I have is that with the piezio distorts when played heavily, but I have been told and read that this is more of an amp problem than a guitar problem. It did not do this when I was trying it out. So I believe what I am told. The sound very full, also bright. You get this by mixing the magnetic pickups with the piezio. My favorite setting is the neck pickup and the piezio mixed. The singles have almost no hum.

The action was great. The pickups were very well adjusted. Nothing seems to make noise. It has a 2 piece body, but it was match so well it was hard to tell where they met. You can see some glue residue(nothing big, just more like dust) around the frets, but it seems to be going away. I got it in translucent red, which is beautiful. All of the colors were so cool and good looking I had a hard time making a choice. The only problem I have with the finish is a medium scratch in the paint around the upper cutaway. This seems to be from where the holder it was hanging on the wall by scratched it. I will be getting somemore finish shortly to repair it, but I also paid 50 bucks less for the gig bag because of it.

All of the hardware seems to be very durable. It is all top notch and seems to with hold. From the ding at the upper horn I can see that the finish is very, very thick. I don't think it will scratch easily. The strap buttons are fairly large, witch is nice, but I would not gig with any guitar without straplocks, I jump around too much. I haven't had this thing long but it is very high quality for the price. The only thing is the 9v battery that powers the piezio. I will gig with a backup just becuase I have one and I would like to not have to wait to change a string, but I don't think it will go out. I will post if I have any problems.

I think 1 year warrenty. Other than that haven't dealt with the company.

Anyone who plays any style should play this guitar. I have played a couple paul reed's and like the way this plays better. But if you are looking for a big fat neck like a Les Paul this is not the guitar for you. But that is what I was looking at, along with a couple others, and I picked this up and could not put it down. It plays like a dream. Though this is my first major guitar purchace, I think I will only buy parker in the future. This guitar is cutting edge and I hope that this is the direction everyone moves. Also, this guitar is an eye catcher. Play one at a gig and I bet everyone will be atarring at it and asking about it.

All this has been said. Mine came with all the accessories and Gig bag.

Unbelievable Versatility for the low price. Just about any sound you could want.

Action, finish, intonation were right on the money when I bought it, though someone had put a crap set of strings on it. D'Addarios are my choice for all my guitars.

I've already bought a set of Sperzels, only because I hate stringing guitars and love the locking tuners. Everything else is fine and seems well made.

I've E-mailed Parker numerous times and have always gotten helpful responses, though they sometimes take a while.

I also own a Parker Delux vibrato, and a passive Nitefly. I also
had a Delux (Mahagony) model, but the Bassist in my band bugged me constantly untill I sold it to him (haha) He has thanked me every day since. I just happened to see this Sunburst P-38 sitting in Sam Ash, and when the salesman said it was used and only $400, I immediately bought it without even hooking it up to an amp. Stupid?? I think not. I just have a deep respect and adoration for Ken Parker and total faith that he would never market a guitar that wasn't something very special (You have to own one to understand) All my Parkers play beautifully and are a joy to gig with. I have yet to gig with one without being complimented on the way it sounds, and the P-38 is no exception. I play through a Line-6 Flextone w/extention cabinet, with the acoustic routed to the PA through a Boss CH-1 & Hum eliminator (A must have with the stereo cable!!!) We play modern/Classic Rock, Fuel, Creed, Ozzy, AC/DC plus alot of female stuff like Benatar, Crow, Heart, etc. I obviously need alot of sonic diversity and a good vibrato setup and Acoustic ability. After years (20) of playing Strat's, LP's, Ovation and Ibenez guitars with all their shortcomings (Like weight, total loss of tune when a string breaks, difficulty playing the upper frets, difficulty restringing, etc) I have finally found what I consider to be the perfect guitars for ME. The P-38 is obviously not the guitar that the Delux is, but it's 1/4 the price. It's hard to imagine finding a better value than this (try pricing the trick Fishman/Wilkinson bridge, jack and preamp setup the P-38 has for your Strat!) My Parkers have made me a better player, and I have mixed feelings letting the "Cat out of the bag" so to speak. I kind of hope no one else around here buys one and discovers the joy of playing a guitar designed with playability, versatility, comfort and tone in mind instead of the same old boring Strat/LP/Ibanez guitars & their clones.

22 jumbo nickle silver frets
non locking tuners (they hold very well)
very fast thin satin finished neck
Swamp ash body
maple neck with a nice rosewood fingerboard
Fishman custom wilkinson bridge
S/S/H parker custom wound alcino pickups
transparent red finish (comes in tobacco sunburst, black, trans red, and blue)
5 way selector
3 pay selector for piezo/ piezo+magnetic/ magnetic

The P-38 offers quality stuff at a low cost...Check out the well finished top with nice ash grain. You don't usually find wilkinsons on other guitars at this price. The custom alnico's are hot too, though they hum a lot, they make up for it with sweet balanced sounds. The piezo elements (6 seperate ones) give a really sweet acoustic like tone without the feedback. - I got some feedback when i gigged...but I guess I was too close to my amp then.

I play pop/rock, ccm and the guitar really sings. My friend used it for metal and it works too.

I'm currently using my parker with a Yamaha DG series 80Watt amp which drives a 4X12 cabinet. Effects lineup: Tube king, flanger, vox wah. Simple setup but fills up all I need.

The sounds are bright and clean but they get noisey when on the 1st, 3rd switches on the 5 way switch. The humming of the pickups are very noticable...Might change them to hum-cancelling pickups.

The neck pickup gives a full sound which does not emphasize too much on the treble side but if you're looking for treble, switch to the 2nd or 3rd. The middle pickup sounds real sweet. could pass for a fender! hehe ;) The bridge pickup, play around with the tone, plug in and sound like a PRS or GIBSON! I'm serious. Well, that's what I can do. hehe

Mixing the piezo with the magnetic can give you endless types of sounds. Play around, they're really neat.

- Drawback on the piezo's, not balanced well...the B string is rather soft. Not sure why.

The factory setup was good in terms of action. I like higer action so i raised it. (to feel the strings). The guitar was NOT well intonated though, had to do that myself.
Pickup height was perfect as far as i was concerned, with the original factory setup.
FOr my guitar the top was perfectly bookmatched. I looked at 3 others before choosing mine because the rest werent bookmatched well. THe bridge was well routed and setup, apart from intonation.

As for finish flaws, I have nothing to say. Everything fine except for the plastic mother-of-toilet-seat pickguard cover which i screwed up trying to remove...(the pastic protection) DIfficult to remove that stupid clear thing. got stuck under my knobs....

This guitar would definitely last a long time. Hardware, finish, strapbuttons and i'd definitely gig w/o a backup on this baby!

Never had any experience.

I've been playing guitar for 5 years now. I own a fender stratocaster, parker nitefly and an Ibanez JEM series guitar. I chose my P38 because it had the SSH configuration i had wanted, it was a PARKER, heck if it was made in korea, the workmanship is as good as one made in the USA. It's parkers ONLY FULL WOOD and NO glass/carbon guitar available and it's solid. Compare it with other top end solid wood guitars and make the choice.

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.