Parker Guitars P8E

absolutely beautiful custom built like looks

The reviewer above nailed it on the head when he used the analogy of a beautiful woman who turns you off a bit when she opens her mouth. She is a six dressed up as a nine. I didn't buy the thing although I sure wanted to when I first looked at it.

Have a ton of guitars was looking for a good everyday performing acoustic/electric to save hauling the 4g rosewood Larrivee to the show. I was attracted to her at first, second, and third sight. It stood out from the rack of conventional premium solidwood acoustics- a style reminiscent of the selmers with advanced acoustic electronics... looks like the Pamela freakin Anderson of guitars man. I circled around it saying "hmmm how much is that doggy?..."

I picked it up and it begged to be played... no really officer... then I played in anticipation... the big G ...ANNNNND(drum roll)....nothing... nada...? Coitus interruptus. Plugged her in- played for a half an hour in the shop because I loved the look of it and really wanted to like this guitar sound... but couldn't.

It may overstate it a bit, it is not bad but I am currently comparing it to the Larrivees, Taylors and Guilds among others in this 1300-1500 cdn price range- all much plainer, more conventionally "bland" in style and design, all with nuances in tonal range based on style construction and materials used...but sound fabulous compared to this guitar. The Parker is stunning, but rings and sings sadly like a guitar in half the price range. Uninspiring. The cedar/maple produces a compressed tone which is bright but loses clarity in mid strum. It has great attack for fingerpicking.

Electronically, the others all have single source piezo active transducers in the saddle all made by Fishman, Bband,and this has a dual source piezo/magnetic config so it can and does get a lot more sounds plugged in...so I give it a six out of ten, overall.

Sonically, this guitar would be perfect if you were looking for a cross between a 335ish jazz archtop and a traditional acoustic guitar, leaning on the acoustic side- it would do both functions quite well but not as well as I wanted to.

What an awesome deal tho for someone who wanted a combo for a bit of jazz, some fingerstyle and light strumming.

action was alright out of the box-slightly high good frets.

no real basis for opinion.

Playing for 24 years weekend acoustically now in blues, country r&b, celtic styles- also classical/flamenco experience.Owned a number of cheap instruments over the years in the 3-800 price range, (a number of which impress me sonically more than the parker)- As I say, I'm lookin for an acoustic everyday "pro quality" elecrified with an onboard preamp to compliment a collection of other acoustics and electrics- not a flashy dressed midpriced electric jazzbox that doubledips as a cheaper acoustic.

For what I need, I am moving towards Seagull artist dual source int he same range- preferably one of the new chinese Guild GAD series guitars- much cheaper and much more acoustic

The P8E is a wonderful acoustic guitar. Its strikingly unusual body style just begs you to pick it up and play it. The guitar features solid Canadian cedar top and USA flame maple Back and sides, ebony fingerboard and bridge. The Fishman mag/piezo pickup system has both ? and XLR out puts that can run independently or simultaneous which is an awesome config for both recording and live use. It has a smooth glossy finish and came with one of the nicest hard cases I have ever seen, its almost like a fo-suede cover with a wonderful crush velvet green interior and satin embroidered cover blanket.

I play a variety of styles but primarily finger style. I have spent experimenting with different tunings on the p8e and it performs wonderfully. The Cedar top creates organic and earthy warmth acoustically and the maple back and sides provide great projection. Tonally and volume wise it compared very well with the Taylor 614ce with ?slightly? softer highs/midrange and fuller lows (probably due to the cedar top). In the store I plugged into a Roland ac60, a Fender Acoustasonic 30dsp and a Behringer acx1000. I was thoroughly impressed with the control of the p8e?s electronics. With little effort I could pull out everything from realistic jumbo tones to vintage archtop timbres. I have a 1932 archtop at home so I was blown away to be able to coax out those tight tones with such a modern guitar. I then experimented with running the Roland (xlr out) and the Fender(1/4out) together and I cant even explain how full the tone was. I a/b tested the P8En with a Lerrivee DO3e (the closest they had in the store to the price) and the P8E killed it. Once I got it home I went down to my studio and plugged straight into my PA with the P8E?s XLR out and my wife did not see me for the rest of the night

The fit and finish were great, from the glossy finish to the case. The action did not need to be adjusted (for me) from the factory and it was tuned perfectly ? step down straight out of the box. Everything is great. There is an attention to detail I just love. Inside the sound hole they put the model and serial and all that jazz on an oval of wood that looks like it was taken from the sound hole. Way nicer that a little square of paper in my opinion. It has a little list of where all the components are from inside the body of the guitar so when you look down from the top of the guitar you can read the list. It is little details like this that I really appreciate. The only issue so far is the Grover open back tuners are somewhat sticky on my 1st 2nd and 3rd strings and quite loose on my 6th. My B string pinches a bit in the nut so I get a high pitch chirp while tuning that sting. I am hoping with time and a string change they will even out and the Nut will loosen up.

As far as ?Gigability? I have not gigged with her yet but I feel very confident she will hold up with flying colors. I have already put quite a number of hours on her in my rehearsal studio and my living room and have not had so much of a hint of concern. Other than the tuner issue, which I have already mentioned.

I have been playing for 20yrs and have been in a number of bandsand have owend a ton and a half of gear over those years. I currently play lead guitar with She Says Electric and will be recording a solo acoustic album this summer. I think my favorite feature is the pickup system although I do wish there was a factory 13pin GK option.

Current rig:
Only through death may one truly live!
2006 P8E Acoustic
2005 Mojo Flame BCH
2003 MWC handcrafted Dragonfly W GK internal
1932 Patrician arctop acoustic
1975 Pan 12 string coustic
198? ovation 6 string
1988 Vantage Vp850 W GK2
VG*8ex
GR*30
Rawda industries custom pedal board
A plethora of effects
1974 VT Twin 60 60w 2/12 amp
1972 VT Phasor Twin 60w 2/12 amp

Most of you who are looking at this review are waiting to hear first from someone in anticipation and already know about the features very well, but for the sake of someone who just happened across this model review here is the company list of features. I will comment below. I will say this; the features listed here will not give you a good picture of the uniqueness of this instrument. You need to go to the Parker website to get a better picture.

Color: Natural
Body Type: Custom-designed acoustic
Finish: Gloss
Neck Wood: Indonesian mahogany
Neck Shape: Custom
Top Wood: Canadian cedar
Back Wood: Solid American Flame maple
Side Wood: Laminated American Flame maple
Machine Heads: Grover Sta-tite
Scale Length: 25"
Fingerboard: African ebony
No. of Frets: 19
Position Markers: Microdot
Pickups: Fishman magnetic neck pickup plus Fishman Acoustic Matrix system
Controls: Master volume, Mag/Piezo blend, active bass and treble controls
Pickup Switching: Blend control
Bridge/Tailpiece: Solid ebony with compensated saddle
Hardware: Gold
Case: Vintage-style hardshell

First I want to say to say that I have been reading these reviews for years to help me gain a better grasp of an instrument before I buy (of course that is why your here!) and now I want to finally give back by giving a few reviews. With that being said one of the things that has jaded my faith in many of the reviews given here is the fact that many reviews of particularly mid to higher end guitars are too skewed. What I mean is that it seems to me that everyone who pays a pretty penny of their hard earned cash for that new guitar or amp really want it to be the holy grail of what they were looking for and lean too much toward giving a raving review. What would be interesting is to hear from folks who have used the item for at least 6 months to a year. How many of you have too many things setting in your closet now collecting dust because it seems lacking now of your initial expectations? (A particular Taylor T5 of mine comes to mind)

With that said I want to stress that this review, especially being the first or one of a new product is a "first impression" and may not be necessarily be wise to base buying this instrument on. I will say regardless of what I spent and how bad I want it to be a primo guitar I am will try and give an objective review here on the P8E. As well, I judge it based on my expereince with


I received the P8E and was immediately impressed with the custom case. It is very attractive with an antique leather bronze look to it. Very nice. I was feelin the warm fuzzy coming on even before I opened the case. Upon opening the case it revealed a beautifully crafted instrument with wonderful inlays and attractive cedar top.

Upon pulling out the guitar I realized the flamed maple was not being done justice in pics on the parker website. The flamed maple was excellent in beauty, as good as any high end instrument I have seen. I good 3D effect when turned up and down in the room lights. The ebony looked uniform and up to Parker specs as well as the frets. I did not care for the vintage style machine heads. They look nice but functionally they where harder to turn than modern closed grovers. The controls on the guitar are excellently designed, to add to, and not take away from its beauty. I give an A to design and features. I will not give a 10 as to me that would be the HOLY GRAIL of features and this does not meet that criteria. I give it an 8 comparing it to other guitars in its price range and class. This guitar so far is giving me that roller coaster high!

Well at this point I could not resist that first strum. I positioned my hand for my favorite G5 chord. I noticed the action was a bit high (more on that below). I created my chord position anticipating a beautiful and articulate harmonic G5 to come singing back at me. I strum downward and then.... and then.... what...? Did I hear right. My roller coaster was beginning to slow abruptly...

It was out of tune a bit so I tuned it up to standard A440. There that should help it! I tried the G5 again and again it was disappointing. My mouth dropped! This thing is a tease! It's like coming up to a beautiful blonde that?s got it all only to hear a scruffy dude voice coming from her lips when she talks. Well maybe I am exaggerating a bit here but darn-it! My roller coaster has come to a full stop. Now granted I have not plugged this in yet. But unplugged it sounded... well.... I would put it the class of $300-$600 Ibanez or Washburn acoustics. Not a lot of clarity and sustain from any of the strings. Ther strings where a bit tarnished so to be fair I replaced the low E and the G string with a new Elixir Phosphorus Bronze which helped some but still did not come near the singing ring of a Taylor or Martin. OK..... let?s plug her in. I tried my Fishman Loudbox Acoustic amp and it did sound somewhat better plugged in but you could still tell that the lack of resonance from the soundboard was missing. I tried to adjust and balance the tone controls to get an acceptable tone. I had to be careful of adding too much bass as the feedback was horrendous. I achieved a decent tone after much tweaking. I still could not achieve the sustain and resonance of my $1300 Taylor 310ce. Now to be fair this guitar does sound better fingerpicked. The notes are more articulate and pleasing.. so for fingerstyle picking its not bad. I plugged into my Fender Twin Reverb and got a decent jazzy tone from the pickup mixed more toward the neck pickup. If the action on the neck was as low as a good electric it would make for a decent acoustic Jazz instrument. Again though I had to be very careful of lots of feedback even at a medium volume. Bottom line for me was I could not get a good tone for flat strumming. It's only saving grace was the custom Fishman Pickups and electronics. Put these same pickups and electronics on an Ibanez, Washburn or Samick acoustic and I bet you would get the same sound.

I give a 4 as compared to other guitars in the same price range. Stacked against any Takamine, Larrivee, Taylor, Martin in the same price range and there is no comparison.

This guitar is very appealing and there were really no material flaws. It truly has the same class as any guitar in its price range if not more so because of the uniqueness of the design.

I can only knock the following:

The string action was way too high. I measured carefully with a micrometer and found 3/16" on the E string at the twelfth fret. C'mon Parker! Your cheapo electrics have better action than that. The neck was straight enough it?s just that the bridge was way too high and needed to be cut down. This also hampered the neck magnetic pickup as the strings were too far away. The average player would have to take the instrument to a guitar tech to get the action acceptably down.

The electronics gave a proverbial hiss sound if you turned the treble all the way up. This is likely due to a poorer design in the Fishman Preamp. I really don't think that Fishman gave their best electronics to Parker on this one. I believe it to be a cheaper design than their "Prefix" models.

I give an 8 in this category as the guitar does reflect for the most part what I would expect from a guitar of this class.

I think this guitar is built pretty solid and could withstand as much as any acoustic could be expected to go through. It's made in China with various materials around the world. It's funny that they put a label inside the guitar stating just that and where it all came from. I have been impressed with the workmanship coming out of the Asian countries. I have a Korean Parker PM20 that I just love.

I give an 8 as I am taking an educated guess on this one and want to be fair.

I have yet to deal with Parker directly

I have been playing for 30 years now. Wow how time fly?s! I have a Martin HJ28M, a Taylor 310ce limited, a 514ce and a 355 12string, I have a Rainsong WS1000, and not to mention the several electrics and bass guitars. My wife is officially classifying me as GUITARDED. That is having way too many guitars than you do common sense!

I ordered this guitar hoping to have something different that played and sounded as well as my Taylor?s and was unique. For some folks it may fit the bill for their style. I play acoustic/electric rhythm in a contemporary pop/rock setting (Dave Matthews, Hootie, GooGoo Dolls)which does require some finger picking but then would inevitably go into some solid strumming which this guitar I think could not handle well.

In this catagory I assign a 7. The P8E is a pleasure with excellent visual appeal with a seduction that draws you in to pick her up. For me and my playing style that where the honeymoon ends. I hope for others who may give her a try that you find it acceptable as I would love to see this guitar played by someone.

Needless to say it's going back to hence it came, regrettably as it is such a cool looking guitar. I don't expect to see these on stage much. It's more of a novelty instrument rather than a practical musician?s guitar.