Parker Guitars PM-20

Made in Indonesia. I think in '08. 22 frets, solid bubinga cap on solid mahogany body, 3 way pick up selector, 2 volume (each push/pull to split the coils on the pickups), 2 tones. 2 humbuckers (Parker Stingers), clear finish, black hardware, Grover 18:1 tuners, tune-o-matic style bridge, through body bridge, awesome cutaway. ebony fretboard(!) with 10-13" compound radius (!!!), 25.5" scale length (the way a guitar should be!), includes super nice gig bag (you probably will never buy a case for this guitar and I don't miss the weight. Sort of a modern take on the Les Paul. Very well designed. The strings through the body make it resonant and put max tension at the bridge to make notes pop more. Strings run straight all the way to tuners without a bend (even after the nut like on a Gibson)...this also helps your tone and tuning stability.

I play at church and use a number of modern and classic sounds. This guitar is versatile and has some great tones in each pickup with different settings of the volume, tone and coil splits. I feel a lot of guitarists don't make good enough use of their guitar's controls. This guitar has a well-voiced set of controls.
Live, I often play through a Tech 21 Trademark60 (with the XLR straight to the board), but I also have a Mesa Mark IV, Fender Blues DeVille and a JCM800 2x12 combo. Sounds great through all of them. Very nice clear sound, but well balanced (not too bright, thin, mid-heavy...).

The set up and build quality are some of the best I've seen in production guitars...regarless of price! I've had $2000 guitars (had--past tense!) that didn't sound or play this nice. The top looks great, the fretwork is impecible, the electronics are wired very neatly, the intonation was almost spot on out of the box. Action at the nut is excellent. The "compound radius" is awesome...feels great all across thefretboard.

The hardware is top notch and the neck is set beautifully. I don't foresee any issues. Strap buttons are strong, but I use a DiMario Clip Lock strap, so I'veswapped them out. I do bring backups, but mostly for a variety of tones. That said, the Parker currently gets the most love because it's so darn versatile.

N/A Haven't had reason to call.

I've been playing about 18 years. I mentioned my amps earlier. I also have a '78 Strat, MIJ Jazzmaster, G&L Tribute ASAT Classic (anther great sleeper) and a really sweet SG Classic. I would absolutely buy another PM-20. I've thought about getting another to load with some different pickups (so I can cover even more ground). It's just an exceptional, exceptional guitar. I would love to see one with a walnut top and satin nickle finish. I think that would be gorgeous. The bubinga's beautiful, too, but black hardware isn't my finish and as long as I'm dreaming, I think the walnut grain is a little prettier, anyway. It would be cool, too, if Parker could magically make 5 more pounds disappear, but it's certainly very light already!

2007 PM20, my option was burled mappe top in cabernet color. Ebony fingerboard, mahogony set neck and mahogony body. 2 "tapped-coil" humbuckers, 1 volume, 1 tone. String-thru body.

Simple, effective, easy

Simply this is now the axe of choice. Took me 365 days to make a call on this guitar, I sat at LA Music in Mississauga Canada off and on with various guitars on my lap. This Parker won....not flat out but with the rest of the obsetvations clearly the winner overall.

The Parker LOOK id still unique when it come to on stage. But the fit is great action straight out of the box and the Burled maple is the finish that catches some eyes.

Main elecrtic guitar now and seems to be holdong up real well.

No issues thus far

This is as far as I'm concearned at the price range the flat out winner overall. I did look at the PM 20 Pro with the upgraded pickups but to be honest I did not feel the increased price realy made me want to go there. Athough Ken Parker is no longer involved with his name sake guitar they seem to have kept Ken's quality and attention to detail as high as ever.

I like the neck tapped and bridge humbucker configuration.
Coiling tapping actually makes a big difference on this
guitar.

The pickups are good but not great but above average
for an import.

The action out of the box is outstanding.
I had the guitar plek'ed and set up with
10-46 strings. It needed very little plek
leveling. The plek tech was suprised how
good the fret job was from the factory in
fact. He showed me the before and after
graphs and it was better than many USA
made guitars. I love the neck carve and
10"-13" compound radius neck and ebony
fret board.

The low e string saddle is coming loose.
The bottom of the bridge had the part
number BM-002 so I have ordered a graph
tech reso-max bridge replacement with
string saver graphite saddles which I
intend to put on when it arrives. Other
than this the guitar is build solidly.

I decided I wanted to upgrade the bridge
anyway so I didn't call on customer
support.

Of all the imports in this range this
guitar is an excellent value.

I like the Les Paul style guitar. This
is a single cut but has a 25.5" scale.
Normally I like the shorter LP 24.75" scale.
But this guitar feels short scale because
of its over all length which is only 37.75".
It has a nice snappy sound because of the 10-46's
I put on this longer scaler. But it also has
the more beefy fullness of a single cut - very
unique sound. The unusual headstock makes
this guitar visually unique without having the
total over the top visual rebellion of the Parker
fly. I like this guitar having it only 3 months
that yesterday I when back to the store and bought
the PM-20 Pro. I'm debating on whether I'll keep
this one for back up or trade it in for a second
PM-20 Pro.

2002-2003 PM20, in burled mappe top in cabernet color. Ebony fingerboard, mahogony set neck and mahogony body. 2 "tapped-coil" humbuckers, 1 volume, 1 tone. String-thru body. Visually, very understated - no finderboard inlays (just dots on side), understated and undersized headstock, no headstock inlay, no extra h/w. It's a great way to take the look of the guitar out of the equation, and yet still have something that's almost a work of art (the wood's visual texture and color are awesome) that I can hang on my wall.

(If they had a black chrome option, the guitar would be completely understated, which would allow the appropriate focus on the sound. )

Don't confuse the understated visual with how this sounds. Very versatile. I play fusion (Jeff Beck, Michael Stern), some jazz, some "boutique" rock (Liquid Tension Experiment); this can play them all. But through all the styles, the "warmth" of the mahogony body and the "precision" of the ebony neck are a constant.

The coil-tapping on both pick-ups makes it easier than switches or box-stomping to change tones and brightness. Play through a Fender 65 Deluse (22w, 1x12).

And as much as I enjoy the sounds, I will be switching to Seymour Duncan pickups (different ones for neck and bridge, and both still tapped) to expand the tone range even more.

As stated above, the feel and look of the guitar are like nothing I've ever seen or played, and certainly not for any guitar even close to what I paid (I got it new off of ebay from a music store for < $400).

Everything seems fine on all of the fit-features, but the luther who will replace my pickups will tell me how much additional setup was needed.

Haven't had any problems, so I think it's good.

No contact with Parker.

Had this two years. It's now the only guitar I have (disposed of Epiphone Les Paul, Fender JazzMaster, and Guild Starfire), as it covers so much of the sound sprectum (and makes my home office/studio so much less clutterred).

I wish it had the stainless frets that the top Parkers have, but then it would cost as much as the top Parkers.

As a fan of complete onboard switching capabilities (pickup, phase, single/dual coil and series parallel switching), I would only rate a 10 for a guitar that smoothly incorporated all of these options from the factory.
That said, with a single volume, tone, and a 3-way pickup switch controlling two passive Parker Stinger Humbuckers, I applaud Parker for incorporating dual push-pull coil-splitters. When used in conjunction with the pickup switch, it's possible to simulate the feel of two volumes by setting one pickup as single-coil and the other as dual-coil, then switching between them with the pickup switch. Backing off the volume a bit simply magnifies the effect. Very handy for semi-clean to very dirty changes within a song.
I have the Bubinga-laminate topped model (transparent top-coat and a brownish (tobacco?) tint to the body and neck) with what appears to be a one-piece mahoghany body (a rather uncommon treat for a guitar in this price range), a mahoghany neck (once again, it seems to be made of a single piece of wood), which is attached to the body in a set-thru style (the neck is set, but appears to be and feels like a neck-thru). The fretboard is ebony which is once again uncommon for a guitar in this price range (most guitars under $1000 and many over $1000 feature a maple or rosewood fretboard), and matches the black headstock. The fretboard is very clean with no inlays, side dots only, and 22 frets on a 25 1/2" scale for those of us who love the sound of mahoghany, but don't like the loose feel of a 24 3/4" scale length.
The Body is roughly similar to a Gibson Les Paul, but a little thinner (front to back), and perhaps a tad wider (left to right). The Neck is different than many manufacturers, but it fits my hand just perfectly. It's about the width of a fender neck, but a little thicker. It's not quite as thick as a standard Gibson and not quite as wide as a PRS. I would compare the PM-20's neck to the ESP Eclipse. They have a more similar feel than any other manufacturer (in my opinion), and both are very comfortable. One thing which both share is a slight flare at the low end of the neck close to the headstock. This is a fantastic improvement as it facilitates much easier chording at the lower frets (particularly those first-fret bar chords that most of us hate)
The standard tuners are non-locking Grovers I believe. While I plan to replace them with locking tuners, the 18:1 gear ratio makes for very smooth and stable tuning.
The bridge is a Tune-o-matic with string-thru body mounting.

While the PM-20 is not overly decorated with hardware and binding and such, it is very much a working guitarrist's Axe with much to love. Particularly for a Korean manufactured model. It earns a much higher grade than many of it's Asian-made counterparts. If you are looking for the Mahoghany-bodied full mid-ranged tone without the weight and price tag of a Les Paul or even an SG, look no further. At roughly 8 pounds, this is an exceptionally versatile and well-toned guitar.

I can't say enough about the tone of the PM-20. While I have not owned very many guitars, and even less moderately expensive guitars, I have been a guitar connessiur for several years now and have played most every major manufacturer's top models. While there are some guitars out there that exceed the PM-20 in the tone department, nearly all of them cost at least $1000 more (high-end PRS and Gibson's being a few examples). However, within $1000, I would dare to say that the PM-20 is without equal.
I am currently enrolled in a college of music and am studying most contemporary music styles. I have yet to come across a style of music for which the PM-20 is not suitable.
While I have not played this axe through effects pedals much, I can't imagine it sounding bad through them. I am currently playing through a Peavey Valveking. While I am usually a fan of the whole scooped mids sound, I actually recommend adding a healthy dose of mid-range to the sound for this guitar. Trust me, just try it.
While there is some noise from this guitar, I think it's due to the fact that I live with a Tech-Junkie who has more radio-frequencies flying around the house than there are stars in the Milky Way. Nothing a mediocre noise gate couldn't take care of.
The overall tone of this guitar with either or both pickups engaged in humbucking mode and the volume and tone both full on is very much akin to a Les Paul, but with perhaps a bit more clarity. With the bridge pickup soloed and coil-split, I am able to get some very bright tones similar to a Tele, while the neck pickup soloed and split is very similar to a Strat neck pickup. When both pickups are coil split and on together, the sound is similar to a vintage humbucker, but with clarity akin to the neck/middle pickup combo on a strat. It could even be likened (to a certain extent) to a P-90 when the tone knob is adjusted lower.
I have yet to discover a truly undesirable tone from this guitar.

The action on this guitar is phenomonal. It's not low enough to be buzzy, but not high enough to be uncomfortable.
I haven't adjusted the pickups at all, but the sound fine right where they are. Nice tone, nice gain and no wolf-tones.
As the top is a laminate and not a true cap (as on a Les Paul or PRS), it's only one piece rather than bookmatched. There is a 1 1/2"-2" knot-hole type blemish on right side of the top (close to the controls), but it doesn't seem to affect the tone and I regard it as a beauty mark. :P Hence the rating of 9.
The electronics on this guitar are exceptionally quiet (particularly the pickup selector switch) and very smooth. Nothing was out of place, rusty, oxidized, loose (with the exception of the strap buttons, which have been replaced with straplocks) or flawed when I purchased it.

This guitar is well suited for live work, no doubt. Everything seems very solid and capable of taking a little bit of a beating.
I feel very much so that I can depend on this guitar to treat me well.
I rarely have a backup guitar on gigs. But, with that said, I would be ok with bringing only this guitar to a gig.

I have only dealt with them prior to the guitar purchase concerning details about this guitar. They were not overly helpful, but they were able to answer all my questions fairly quickly and courteously.

I have been playing about 8 years, and I own a variety of other guitars ranging from old to new, electric to acoustic to classical to bass.
I feel that I got a great deal on this guitar for the price and I would most definitely replace it in the event of loss, theft or damage.
As I said earlier, I am something of a guitar connessuir and I feel that this is the best guitar available under $1500. My only plans for altering this guitar are to install gold hardware and gold covered humbuckers (neither of which am I in a terrible hurry to do).

Please, if you're and intermediate player looking to upgrade or a professional looking for a less expensive, extremely giggable guitar. Try this one first and save yourself some time and effort.

Bubinga topped PM20 in honey burst, twin humbuckers with split coils, ebony fingerboard, see parkers website for full specs.
Came with just about the best soft case I've seen

I like to play electrics unpluged when I first get them, If it doesnt sound good unpluged chances are it won't jacked in, this guitar sparkled. Playing through a marshall MG250 I couldn't get a tone I was quite happy with, however through my little VOX DA5 superb, so I've ditched the marshall for a fender performer 650 and it sounds sooo sweet.
I have several "reasonable priced" guitars from the fender and ibanez stable non of which come close to the parker in terms of usable volume and tone controls. The drop in output from Hum -single pole while understandable is annoying, but with the volume pot been so usable without colouring the sound you can compensate for it.
I play heavy rock to blues to acoustic stuff(this is the only electric I have found that sounds half decent through a acoustic simulator pedal.)

One or two frets were slightly sharp and one of the tuning pegs was slightly wonky. The neck joint is a work of art and it arrived in tune!(all strings slightly # but in tune with each other).
Pickups were slightly low to get the best out of them. The quilted finish is real nice!
Build is really good for any money for what I paid exellent (Fender, Gibson LEARN YOU GUYS!)

It's built quite tough but I treat it like a baby, I've replaced the strap buttons with schaller straplocs, I wont use jim dunlops since the incident with my Tele the failed straplock and the stone kitchen floor!

I work on a technogy helpdesk so I know good customer service.
Nothings gone wrong so I can't comment on parkers CS

I've been playing 10+ years I would still consider myself a beginer.
I own mainly strats and teles built from parts ( I trust myself to put them together mor than fender!), and an ibanez SQ for live work until the parker (I still take the ibanez to the rougther places)
The lack of fret markers is weird for other people if your trying to show them something, or when possing in the mirror (we all do it!)
If it were stolen I would probable save a few quid and buy a PM10 which I wouldnt be so precious about. But definetly another Parker no question.

I suppose you'd judge what features the guitar has based on how many? This guitar works perfectly with the features it has. The pickups are bright and powerfull but not uncontrolable and when coil tapped ok a little loss in volume but you are losing a coil. the tuners are excellent, the fretboard is stunning and the bridge is solid.

I've never played a more versitle guitar! Blues,funk,rock,prog even malmsteen can be acheived! it's rich and bold,it has character and is consistant. Never heard sound like it...even on much more expensive guitars. I Had a PRS dave navaro, Once I played the parker pm20 in the guitar shop, I sold the PRS and went back and bought the parker...and a mesa boogie!!!!

for a guitar that cost less the ??400 you can fault it. On this one I found no blems or flaws at all. The switches are of good quality,the overall feel is excellent. I bought the bubinga top model and got a lovely finish.

There's no question in my mind that this guitar will not let you down, had mine a while now and have gigged many times with it, on occasion have taken a fender strat with me. Soon realised that there really is no need.

haven't needed to contact customer support. I never like speaking to customer support there always a risk of being fobbed of or lied to. I doubt I'll need to with the parker

Been playing 20 years,had ibanez, fender, gibson, yamaha, prs and now parker,will never buy anything else again, until the point where the guitar no longer plays or is broken accidentally or the wife smashes it against the wall i won't have anyting else, at that point I hope they still make it or something as good. Great for the money, once played you'll be hooked. You'd be gutted if you played the parker pm20 after you paid twice even three times the price for anything else.

Mine has a wine mappa burl finish that is very well done. The specs for the guitar are available in several places so I won't waste time rehashing. The features I really liked were the split humbuckers, set neck, simple control layout and the ebony fingerboard. I also liked the 25 1/2 scale and 1.65" nut width. This was the same as my go to guitar (an old Telecaster).

Features I don't like: Plastic nut, light gauge strings

I like blues, classic rock, southern rock and Motown. This guitar gives you a lot of different sounds to sound your best. I have plugged it into Solid State, tube amps and used the Digitech RP 150 Guitar Modeler and the guitar always does it's job.

The humbuckers are Parker "Stingers" which do a fine job of sounding musical. When switched to single coil, you loose a great deal of volume. I'm sure you could fiddle with the amp to compensate but I choose to just keep it in HB mode. Sustain is nice. I don't plan on changing the pickups so I guess I'm happy with them overall.

The guitar arrived in tune! I looked for flaws and could not find anything worth mentioning. Because I have worked overseas, I am more critical of import quality. You will not find a better guitar coming out of Korea! Looks, build quality, neck feel, sound ... impeckable.

No opinion at this time.

Warranty is 1 year. Seems like a good company.

I've been playing for 30 or so years. I have owned several Strats and Teles but I am fond of hollowbody guitars. This is the first set neck solid body guitar I have ever owned and I couldn't be more pleased.

It is a genuine musical instrument at a price that's more than fair. Overall, a great guitar in design and execution.

This years PM20pro In flametop mahogany two pice body, set neck, 22 fret ebony fretboard, polyurethane finish with abalone triming, graphit nut with locking Sperzel tuners, Seymour Duncan jazz and JB with dual coil tapping 3 way 2HH, volume and tone controls. Set through body Tone Pro. Gig bag, allen wrenches, manual and cable Included.

Its as they say, Its a Parker! I got my Parker yesterday and Iam addicted to this guitar already. Iam running It through a GS-10, so I havent heard It live yet. Although I have heard some effects that sounded horrible with my old guitar, now sound great with the PM20p. The guitar Is sweet, thick and warm sounding, with a fantastic balance and harmonical display. Its not a pounding guitar to me, because you can get what ever sound you like If you play It right It lets you do what ever you want with a profesional sound.

As addictid to Its sound, the same gose for its feel. I played alot of guitars In the past, but never came across such a comfortable guitar! Iam affraid this guitar almost plays you! Factory adjustments with minor problems like pickup hight. The guitar was almost In tune when I pre-order It. The only problems that I have found are two, one of the strings had just a small turn In the peg, so when I whent to tune It, It slipped from the peg and I cant get It back on. So Iam gonna have to put new strings on. Second Is the noise Iam getting when In pull-tap mode. The shelding seems ok, but It might need more. Need to hear It live. No flaws In the finish In my case. Its just beautiful looking and sounding guitar for the price.

At first, its a bit scarey. Been used to other guitars, Its thin and light and that takes about half hour to get used to. As I said befor, I dont think this Is a pounding guitar, so this all depends on you and the public you play In front of. It dose look like It will last everythings solid on It, but then again only time can tell and how you take care of It.

Its seems warranty Is a year long and no contact with the support team need til date. Parker has a active forum with all types of feedback, but generaly Its an addiction to the Parker Instrument. When you play one, you will understand why. You can also see fotos of owners with there Parkers, real nice thought.

Ive been playing on and off for about 25 years. My main Instrument Is the guitar, but for the past three years Ive been playing drums, I also spent some time on bass. The reason I bought this guitar was for my DAW layout at home. I have discoverd that some companys like Parker or Warwick who manufactor guitas In Corea are doing a great job for the price and quality. I recently bought a Corvette RockBass from Warwick, and very happy with It. With these two Instruments I have mid-high range quality Instruments at a resonable price with a profesional sound for my DAW, or any situation. Going back to the PM20Pro, It makes you wanna play and Its the best sounding guitar I have heard, Its so comfortable, its a pleasure to play, no dead spots at all and the neck Is awsome. Its very dificult to explain, so why dont you just try one and welcome to the club! The thing Is now, that I like this guitar so much that Iam thinking of getting a Fly! (part two of the addiction) Good job Parker and Thanks, you made my day.

I INITIALLY bought my PM20 from an eBay seller who liquidates B-stocks, blems, demos, and prototypes. I couldn't believe the "blem" that got this guitar tossed in the bin! There was a TINY finish bubble UNDER the tuner cap on the back of the headstock. I'd have never seen it if I hadn't been curious and taken off the tuner. The finish was honey burst on Mappa Burl. GORGEOUS finish on a succulent piece of wood. The mahogany body and neck feel better'n sex! This is the guitar you'll never want to put down! The Parker Stinger pickups have plenty of bark, bite, and balls, but they're not short on weepy dark tone either. Overall this is the most versatile guitar I've ever owned... and it's my cheapest to date! Gig bag is nice for what it is, but Parker really needs to make a hard case for a guitar this playable. Mine gigged twice before tragedy struck, but more about that later. At any rate, I want a hard case for my replacement PM20 Pro! The dual humbuckers have a coil-tap feature that lets you play ANY style of music. I do everything from Queen to Clapton to Pink Floyd to Tool, and this ONE guitar doest it all admirably.

Okay, it's like this. Take a Les Paul, a Strat, a Tele, a PRS Custom 22, a JS6, throw 'em all in a pile with a bucket full of strings from .08 to .12s, kick Harry Potter's ass, steal his wand, wave it over the pile and say "Wingardium Leviosa." It'll cost you about $9 grand, and you'll have the entire wizarding world pissed off at you, but you'll end up with a guitar that sounds like a Parker PM20. There simply IS nothing better, NOT EVEN FROM PARKER!

The neck had me wondering for awhile. It feels really small, but HOLY JEEZUS it's fast! I LOVE the ebony fretboard! I've owned a lot of guitars, and played literally thousands, but never seen a foreign-made one with this level of quality. It was delivered with the intonation needing a little attention, but I handled that in 10 minutes. Finish was beyond flawless, save for the needle tip sized bubble hiddend under the tuner cap. I'm talking about serious museum quality fit and finish here!!!!!

AAaahh.... here we come to the clincher. I owned my PM20 for 3 months. I gigged it twice without incident, and the rest of its life it stayed in my temperature- and humidity-controlled studio. I've always been obsessive about keeping my instruments in top shape, but this one beat me. The finish on the neck began to crack, then splinter, peeling away slivers of the wood with it. I was horrified! The damage rendered it completely un-playable. BUT there's good news..... keep reading! Incidentally, I'm a member of the Parker Guitars web forum, and of the hundreds of owners on the forum, I'm the ONLY one who's had this problem. But still, yeah- I'm afraid the new one is gonna fall apart.

Okay, here it gets dicey. John Page, a factory rep who appears on the Parker Forum frequently, is a champion of a guy. He got my problem solved, offered me a SWEET deal on an upgrade to a PM20 Pro. I was thrilled with the offer, but when it got beyond working with him, customer service sucked the sweat from a gorilla's balls. I was lied to, manipulated, and ultimately sent a guitar that was structurally and functionally better than what I had before, but the fit and finish were (and still are) SHAMEFUL in comparison. For the $200 difference in price, I can't recommend the Pro series.

I've been at this guitar thing since I was nine. That's 32 years now. I own -but no longer play- guitars from Fender, PRS, Gibson, Ibanez, Washburn, Rickenbacker, Galanti. I still play my Taylor and Babicz acoustics. I run all my stuff thru Trace Elliot amplifiers, but "all my stuff" now consists of six USA-made Parkers and five Korean "P-Series" Parkers. The rest of the guitars are just sitting back increasing in value til I find another Parker to buy. I love the feel and action of the PM20 Pro. It suits me better than even my Fly Classic, which set me back 10 times as much money. If it was stolen, yeah, I'd get another one, but I'd insist on seeing and playing it first. Quality of manufacture seems incredibly consistent with Parker, but finish quality doesn't, as witnessed by the multitude of blems they ship to the guy I bought my P guitars from. What doesn't make sense is that they blem out some great guitars, but they completely overlook major finish flaws in others, and ship them out as top-shelf stuff. Not cool.

PM20 honeyburst model
Made in Korea
To many to list. Check their websight.

The sound is amazing. Can play as distorted as you want. To a great clean sound for church. I`ve found no limitations so far. By distorted, I mean alice in chains, to nickelback.

I have the honeyburst model. The guitar is beautiful. The action was perfect for me. Great setup. No finish flaws at all.

Being as light as it is. And the neck so thin. I wonder how it will hold up. So far so good. Everything else seems pretty solid.

Been playing for 22 years. I`ve owned everything. Still own 12 high end guitars. Les pauls, Old charvels, esps & fenders. That doesn`t mean anything. For the money, this is by far the best guitar I`ve ever played. If you can find one used for 400 to 500 bucks. You won`t be sorry. If mine were stolen. I`d buy another one for sure!!

2006 model, with honeyburst finish. All the standard Pro upgrades including Seymour Duncan pickups, Sperzel locking tuners, Tune-O-Matic bridge, etc.

Can get a variety of quality sounds from this guitar, probably largely due to these pickups. I would say this is primarily a rockers' guitar as I've been able to closely match the distorted sounds heard in some famous rock songs. The clean sounds are clean, but in my opinion not as rounded or smooth as I would like. Probably wouldn't be well suited for jazz players.

The finish was a dissapointment, and here are the details...These models were brand new, and none of the local stores carried them (some say because of poor quality control), so I searched for one online. I looked carefully at the photos, as the wood grain, finish, and color, seem to vary from guitar to guitar, and don't look anything like the model picture on Parkers website. I eventually found one at a reputable online dealer that looked decent, and I took a chance and bought it. When I received it, I immediately noticed there was some discoloration on the edge of the fretboard, there was a filled-in hole on the fretboard, some discolored spots on the side of the guitar, and overall the guitar was just not as beautiful as it I hoped it would be. I thought I paid too much to have such poor quality control on a new instrument. I agonized over this for several days, played it everyday, and finally decided that with Korean Parker's frequent quality control problems, I'd be better off keeping the guitar, rather than risking getting something that looked worse! Sad, huh? In any case, the top was adequately bookmatched. The action and fit were fine. I beleive the guitar set-up was fine-tuned by the dealer. The strings have a very "live" feel, and bending notes on this guitar is a pleasure.

I think this guitar is well build, especially considering it's small size and light weight. I'm not too worried about its durability, except when I transport it in the included gig-bag. I'm mostly concerned about the neck. I have always used hard cases for all my guitars. If I were gigging seriously, I'd try to find a hard case, but Parker hasn't offered any.

Once emailed customer support with a question, before I bought the guitar, but didn't get a response. My rating of 1 for this catagory is based only on this experience.

I've been playing for too many years. I've owned a few electrics in my day, but haven't kept more than 2 at a time. This one is fun to play rock leads on, and it feels very expressive. The neck is narrower than I'm used to, so for me it's not as suited for playing chords. I like the light weight and the shape of the body, and from a few feet away, this guitar looks pretty good. It feels and sounds great when playing rock leads. While it won't satisfy all my musical needs, it does have some strong points. Quality control on the finish brings my score down from a 9 to an 8.

I bought the pm-20 pro in white. Very well put together and no flaws in the finish. The body is bound with abolone perfiling. Ebony fretboard. 2 S/D hummbuckers with coil tap and locking tuners. Stung through with black hardware.

Many options for sound with the coil taps. The guitar sounded a bit dark at first and I checked the pickup distance and brought them in a bit closer to the strings. It gave the tone a bit more bite and brilliance.

I always adjust the guitar to my own preferences. Truss rod adjustments and string height, pickup distances etc. Can't complain.

I've only had it for a few days.

no opinion in this area.

Great over all value. Plays well and looks great.

The PM20 is a new look for Parker, a single cut with the distinctive bottom cut that makes it clear you're playing a Parker. If that doesn't make it clear, the moderately thin and somewhat rounded neck will make it clear as will the light weight and wonderfully balanced feel of this guitar.

I purchased the Bubinga topped PM20. It's quilt is more subdued than in many pictures. By subdued I mean not garishly shiny yet still obviously quilted and simply put, different from most guitars you see these days. Note, the Flame Maple looks beautiful as well and is more traditional. It also has a subtle change to the sound, with Bubinga seeming to be a bit warmer and even in it's sonic character. By even I mean steady in it's sound. As it is Parkers have some of the best controls to be found with the volume pot steadily lowering volume but not at the expense of tone, and that tone was most consistant with the Bubinga top. The single tone control has so much capability that most guitarists won't mind not having a tone pot for each of the two Parker Stinger pickups.

The tuners are Grover and use an 18:1 ratio. Once tuned they stay tuned. New in the "P" series is a glued neck, and a welcomed difference this is. I have a P42 and love it's neck and feel, but the feel on this painted neck is surprisingly fast and easy to play on, even when sweat gets into the situation.

Also new are independent coil taps for each pickup. The volume control is a push-pull tap for the neck pickup as the tone control is in regards to the bridge. The strings go through the body onto a tune-o-matic styled bridge. Besides the volume and tone controls are a three way toggle switch.

The nut is polycarbonate, meaning synthetic substance, but at $590 what is there to expect? Besides dual humbucking pickups with individual coil-taps and a Gibson meets Schecter by means of Ibanez "S" series thin bodies and neck with a beautiful neck joint to boot there's hardly anything to screw up, and Parker makes sure to make one hell of a guitar in the PM20.

The clean lines and simplicity are typical of a new breed of American based guitars via Korea at a truly affordable price level. Though not feature laden what is here is excellent.

Picture a Les Paul with it's lower mids in the middle and neck position, consider the crunch in it's neck position, and then think of all these positions with either single coil styled sounds or even nicer, a combination of a humbucking/single coil with either the bridge or neck being single or humbucking. That adds two extra dimensions to the PM20's general sound.

The general sound is big in it's native humbucking setup and closer to a P90 than single coils found on Fender, GSL or traditional single coil designs. There is more brawn and heft to the coil tapped sounds of the PM20. It is a traditional sound with a minimal noiseprint. If the sound isn't noisy the chances of it's single coil version being different is rare. But if there is noise, it will get louder.

The PM20 runs the gammut of new school furious distortion to sweet tones depending on amp, multieffects and to a huge extent the volume and tone controls, which shape sound better than I've heard in a guitar of this price, or quadruple it.

If you can't get your tone you are playing on hyped up, active pickups which, in my opinion, tend to sound good for their specially designed sound and not much else. If you can't get enough distortion or volume you will want custom pickups and are essentially buying this, or most guitars as a good shell to bury these specialty pickups in. And while it's none of my business what you may play with the PM20 my first thought is, "what a waste of a wonderfully expressive guitar.", but you will probably find the feel very useful and live happily knowing you are getting good quality.

But play this guitar before dropping custom pickups in it. This is too good a guitar to suck the expression out of it. Most users wouldn't get rid of Les Paul stock pickups and to me, the Stingers are awful close to any high quality stock pickup, maybe more considering the tonal colors you get out of the box!

This is a teriffic sounding guitar, one worth exploring for what it is.

In describing it's tone it ranges from a Les Paul sound of many ages, especially with the coil taps and their slightly less ballsy sound but equally compelling warmth in the upper mid-range frequencies, even better exploited using one coil tap and one regular humbucking position in the middle toggle.

While a bit thicker in spots than the traditional Parker design, the added mass seems to have warmed the general sound so that a Les Paul to SG comparison with the SM20 as Les Paul and P42 as SG seems not unlikely. And while it's doubtful Parker were trying to do a Les Paul sound it is also likely that they looked at the design, saw the merrit and took their overall lively sound and found a design to take a bit of that lively modernist sound and take the tone to a more traditional mode.

This neither means the PM20 is old school although, like most Parkers that is an element of the design and in the PM series, perhaps a larger amount of old school made it's way into the sound. Ironically, leaving the single coil sound to change things into a more modern P90s styled single coil design.

No matter, if you spend any serious time you will find a sound or seris of them to make your own tone; or if you are looking for it, the qualities found in modern and traditional guitarists.

At 7 lbs, there's nothing to dislike here. Large sonics to emotive sounds rarely found in guitars at this price, there's nothing to dislike on the PM20.

There is a ever so slight amount of fret wire touching outside the Ebony fretboard. Beyond this, the guitar was all but in perfect pitch outside the box upon arrival.

It may be light and thin but the Parker PM20 feels like it could take a beating, but that would be fairly dumb, unless you like bashing on finesse guitars or finely cut wood.

If you are the type that punches your guitar instead of struming it; yanks strings rather than bending, then I'm not sure what to suggest. A 12 pound Les Paul may take a beating but why would you waste the guitar's life expenctancy? This would be the kind of guitarist suited for an inexpensive axe and replacement pickups due to the poor quality of most inexpensive guitar pickups.

However, if you plan on taking care of your guitar and treating it as a quality instrument you'll probably be happy with this well made Korean guitar. Parker were one of the first companies to go to Korea, train and maintain a strong relationship with the luthiers overseas and see the benefit in affordable pricing for most guitarists.

A glued neck, well balanced guitar that will take road use with a roadworthy case, the Parker PM20 should work for the vast majority of guitarists playing all kinds of music.

The gig bag is great for taking to practice and back, but if you want to toss it in a van full of equipment, invest a bit more and get an appropriate case.

No experience to date

I've been playing since 1968, professionally between 1974 to 2003 and for session work since then. I purchase guitars for function and design. I must like playing the guitar. For decades the guitar that fit the bill were Gibsons.

Parkers, with their outstanding blend of both past and present features and capabilities, with excellent quality parts with lots of sonic range and good looks make for a fun to play, exceptional sounding guitar.

2005 Bubinga top, mahogany back and mohagany set neck. Trim as described in all the other reviews. Comes with a really nice gig bag, but I'm going to get a HSC for it.

Great range of sounds from the two pickups and coil split. I've played everything from jazz to shred with it. Good clean sounds and great single-coil screech when you need it. I use a variety of amps including a Fender Princeton, a G-K with 12" Celestions (for jazz) and a modded Carvin Nomad for blues and rock. Also sounds clean and quiet when recording direct with Sansamp or Zoom 2.1u

I bought this off eBay as a "blem" from Funky Monkee (great name, great shop). For the life of me, I couldn't find anythng wrong with the finish. It looks great: the finish, frets and setup were perfect. As with most Korean guitars, the frets seem to be finished better than most US production models.

Finish looks deep and strong. I own a lot of guitars, including a vintage Gibson 335, a EBMM Axis and a Taylor T5. Given the size, shape and slimness of the headstock, I worry a bit about its durability compared to a standard headstock. The hardware is all solid, but I immediately switched out the strap buttons for Dunlop strap-locks, as I do with all my instruments. I never gig without a backup. In fact, this Parker is the backup to my Axis on rock gigs and the Gibson on jazz gigs.

Haven't dealt with them, but they have a great reputation.

I've been playingg since the Kennedy administration and gigging since the Johnson administration. (Old fart, huh?) In addition to the gear mentioned above, I use a pedal board with several Boss effects, George L cables, and have begun to use the Zoom 2.1 to try and replace the pedalboard (not yet)... If the PM20 was lost or stolen I'd get another one a.s.a.p. The PM20 is one of the great bargains in instruments. It's very light, and that may take some getting used to. I'd like to have one like it with a Floyd Rose on it.

This is a 2005 PM20 Pro, a prototype with Sperzel locking tuners, a Tone Pros bridge, Seymour Duncan humbucking pickups ('59 neck and Custom Custom bridge), star inlay at the 12th fret and a gold top. Coil taps on both the volume and tone controls. Black hardware. Came with metal Washburn hardshell case. Apparently this model will be available in 2006 in bubinga, flamed maple, and white, but not in the gold top.

Outstanding sound quality from the Seymour Duncans. Warm jazzy tones from the '59 and a range of rich, full, solid lead sounds & crunch from the Custom Custom. Good quacking, chicken pickin' sound with the coils tapped as well as some real gritty snarling tones with high gain. I am using a Line 6 Spider II 2 x 12. I have not heard the Stinger pickups but the SD's are superb with this guitar. I play a wide range from blues to jazz to alternative rock and this guitar covers these bases with aplomb.

Exceptional workmanship throughtout. Had to do minor bridge adjustment to elimainate some fret buzz. Action is nice and low. Ebony fretboard is very well done. Gold top is both classy and stunning. no finish flaws at all.

Can't realistically rate this yet. It appears solid in every respect, however.

N/A

This is a boatload of guitar at an incredible price. With the hardshell case included, it felt like stealing. Parker should sell plenty of the Pro models. Tremendous value. I would try to replace this guitar if it were ever lost/stolen but not certain that I could obtain one given the unique specs.

2 HB's, coil tapped, Mahogany bod, Mahogany Neck, ebony fretboard, honeyburst quilt maple top, Grover tuners. Shaped like an LP but about as thick as an SG. Lots of goodness here.

Pups are weak in HB mode not enough depth & character for my tastes and deficiencies highlighted by tapped mode, swithching these out for a SD JB/Jazz combo. Awesome resonance due to string through body and quality of materials used. Pups are main gripe here.

Perfect playability out on the box. Even frets,Perfect intonation. Clean routing. No cosmetic flaws. Despite being fairly lightweight shows good balance and is not neck heavy.

Good quality materials used in construction resulting in the PM20 beig extremely durable.

Good alternative mid priced guitar to the big three of Fender PRS & Gibson. some minor tweaking and it becomes an absolute monster of a guitar

2005 model Walnut limited run finish. Twin humbuckers of parker origin (stingers i think) Grover tuners. Gibson esque shape but with Trademark parker squared off horn. Came with good quality gig bag and some accessories. Ebony fret board , no dot markers on fret board (stylish?). No more features and extras than are necessary, has just what is required and no more.

Sound is just superb, loads of gorgeous sustain but it bites if you want it too. coil taps work well and easy to operate but sound best using both pickups in humbucker setting. played through a variety of amps and effects it sounds good all round.-

cant fault it at all, have looked closely all over and frankly its so close to perfect it hurts, something quite unexpected at this price level. Action once set up properly is quite exquisite, again something youd expect to pay 5 times more for. Poly carbonate nut is just superb. Cant fault it at all.

This is a light guitar but feels strong, only time and a few gigs will tell but for now feels like it can take the pace. Finish seems very tough and will go on looking good.

Dont know , never dealt with them directly

Considering I had this shipped from the states to the UK, I saved a small fortune (even after paying shipping!!) its a bargain and a half compared to other UK prices. THe same money (?320) barely buys an entry level Fender in the UK and this Parker PM20 blows them into the middle of next year. incredible. Already saving for a parker Fly, if the PM20 is this good the Fly must be astonishing. I am a Parker Convert

Either 2004/2005 Parker PM-20. Stringer humbuckers w/coil push pull coil tap. My color choice was natural mappa burl.Grover tuners,tune-o-matic bridge,22 frets(no inlay),string thru design,black polycabondate nut,22 frets. Body design is kind of like a single cutaway and roughly the same size as a PRS,Wolfgang. Nice gig bag with built in metal support for the neck, truss rod wrench and a cheapo chord.

I prefer 16 bar rock n roll,boogie,blues and just a touch of jazz. I play through a crate amp and have a Behringer effects unit. The pick ups are very quiet and sound especially bright in the bridge position. Personally I don't like the sound with the coil taps on in any of the positions and feel that they just muddy the tone. These Stringer pickups sound loud, clear and bright and suit my style of music.

When I got the guitar in the mail the high strings were dead and buzzing on the first two frets. I broke out the truss rod wrench and went to work. A few turns later the problem was gone. Still had a problem with the D string though so I raised the tune-o-matic 1/8 inch of a turn on the low strings and problem solved. Now the action is low, mean and a blast. I mean you can literally fly all over this fret board. The fit, finish, hardware etc were in perfect condition.

This guitar is very well built although I certainly don't believe it would withstand a good thrashing. This is a guitar to stroke, not bang on; and having said that I would gig with it. I would never gig without a backup no matter what my main axe was - nuff said.

Never dealt with the company. I know there is a warranty but couldn't say what the terms or length are.

I've been playing for thirty years and own three fenders, a Les Paul, Rick 330, couple of Dillions (nice guitars for the $$$),Peavey Wolfgang and a Washburn 330 style guitar. If this were lost or stolen I might have trouble replacing it as there are only 100 of this color around. I like the way this guitar feels, the neck is small and feels real nice especially when your hand rests along the headstock while playing an e-chord. It's light and feels just about right to me. I don't dislike anything about this guitar and feel it's very unique. I wouldn't compare this guitar to anything ,it has it's own personality and as previously stated, these Parkers are unique. All in all this is a well built, fun to play guitar and if you hurry you can get it in one of the limited edition colors.

Bubinga top, two humbuckers, conical fingerboard radius - check parker website for details

The guitar plays very well in tune with itself. I play jazz and gospel. Quiet humbuckers make by Parker. Coil split is nice, but I have yet to hear 1/2 a humbucker sound like a good single coil pick up. Lovely Jazz tone after I put flat wound 11's and mucked with the truss rod, intonation a bit. Bridge pick up probably does not have enough bite for some tastes, but it suits me fine. I have other guitars for twang.

My set up is PM20->Peterson Strobo Stomp Tuner->Fulltone Distortion Pro->Cry Baby 535Q->Fulltone Choral Flange->Roland DD-20->Peavey Classic 50 Head->JDesign Speaker cabs

Perect factory set up out of the box with 9's. I hesitated re-stringing with heavier strings because it played so well, but I wanted a jazz tone so I re-strung after ~ 2 weeks. One of the best playing guitars I found at any price. Bubinga top is beautiful, only slight finish marks around string through holes. Amazing neck joint. Fret edge finish if fine, but not as smooth as higher end guitars (at > 3x the price!)

It will probably be fine, but I only had it for 2 months. OK to gig without a backup. I noticed a PM10 in the store that had some type of crud growing on the finger board, but that could have been from someones hands or odd body chemistry that can sometimes react with strings, fingerboard. No signs of the crud on my unit.

Never dealt with them.

I've been playing for 30+ years, serious amature at church and jazz combo for the last 5 years. I have a real day job so I can afford toys. I have a Carvin DC127 and an Epiphone Emporer hollow body (+ ~ 12 others). I wanted a solid body humbucker to play jazz without feedback (even when the drummer and bass get loud) and this fits the bill. You can'd beat it for the price. I never took Parker guitars seriously becaus of the unusual looks, but now that I spent some time playing one I'm a convert. They really do defy physics by having great tone and sustain in a light body. I plan to try the Southern Nitefly when one gets to a store near me, and will very likely purchase another Parker.

Parkers new single-cut entry. Last Summer I was talking to my friendly neighborhood dealer, complaining that Parker hadn't come out w/ a single-cut model yet. That night I opened my new issue of Vintage Guitar, and lo and behold there was a blurb on just such a new model!

I'd had a ho-hum experience w/ a Parker Standard a couple years ago--loved the playability, but hated the balance and pickups--so wanted to see what else they could come up with. YESH!, THIS IS IT!

I snagged this one 3 days ago, and am already planning to sell off a few of my other 10 axes on ebay so I can get another.

Most guys compare it to an LP: I'd posit that it more resembles a Gibson L5S (I've owned 3 of that model), but its weight, playability, and sounds surpass the pricier (!) Gibson.

This is the bubinga version. I can only find one super-miniscule finish ding on the back of the horn, but it takes some serious scrutinizin' the catch it; otherwise this baby is perfection incarnate. All other details have been covered admirably by the previous reviewers. I prefer the simplicity of this instrument to many other overly-tricked-out geetars in this price range (The 10 "Tons of features" rating is for the lack of unnecessary features and the shear usefulness of what you get here). I especially like the omission of position markers on the sweet ebony fretboard. I would add that this axe is extreamly lightweight.

My only gripes: a) there is a very slight tendency to be neck-heavy, but that trait is negligible in light of all the positives; b) the lower edges of the frets are a little rough, but a little steel wool should take care of that in a jiff; c) the bridge is a typical cheapo Korean T-O-M that may tend to corrode or collapse under regular use, so will have to be replaced by something sturdier...

Tone depends much on the amp used and the hands/musculo-nervous system doing the playing. This one suits me. Through a Behringer 212, trying out the different amp models, the humbuckers are a tad dark, but the sustain is super-buttery, with a smooth attack that can be made more percussive with the right pick (I use 3mm Dunlop Little Stubbies). In single-coil mode you get a nice sparkle'n'spank that, while not too tele-like, approximates a decent stratoblaster. Overall , I'd agree with the reviewer who thought the tone was like an SG. Nothin' bad 'bout that!

Very likely, I'll soon change out the pickups for some Duncans (I will have to snip the mounting tabs down to a triangle, though, as the routs are cut for Dimarzio baseplates/tabs) so I can get a little more bite and grind out of her.

PERFECT. 'Nuff said.

This remains to be seen. It'll be a month or two before I can take it on a gig or two. Right now it seems plenty solid.

I haven't dealt with'em.

Over the past thirty years I've gone through about 500 guitars (NO LIE), and I can honestly say this critter smokes 495 of them.

I'm selling off some other pieces so's I can grab a second.

Believe me, this guitar plays itself. I can Burn on this mother, no sweat.

Coulda been a custom shop for me: Tele neck, ebony fb, two humbuckers and coil tap to provide a variety of tones. Wanted both LP and Tele in one guitar. Switch is in the LP location which I prefer. Push/pull pots.. Very nice smooth finish. These Korean made $500-$700 guitars seem to be the sweet spot for the best price/performance at this time (1/15/2005). My short list included the Yamaha AES620 and Fender John 5. Would never have bought anything that was named a Fly or looked like them. A bit of that design is left over in this model ? oh well, it?s very attractive otherwise. Not too heavy (7 lbs?). In a word: elegant.
See details at www.parkerguitars.com.

Clean and pure unadulterated sounds are what I hear in this guitar. Notes are clear and rich up and down the fb. I don?t get a hint of LP or Tele sounds but it does sound great with my very limited amp. In an unplugged A-B check with by old Yamaha Tele copy, the contrast is dramatic. The Tele twang is there in the Yami but not in the PM20. There is no hint of ?personality? in the PM20 playing unplugged ? just perfection. Will be shopping for a new amp which might help to get LP sounds and will try various effects/amps. Will likely go for the DiMarzio virtual PAF and maybe a "twang" pickup.

Perfect fit and finish. Every detail speaks of quality. Very nice playing neck.
I give the ebony a slight edge over rosewood - YMMV.

Too soon to tell but seems to be solid.

No dealings with Parker support.

That is a qualified 10 because the sound is so subjective. Just be sure to do a good audition before buying which I?m sure you would. I bought on impulse and a love at first sight kinda decision. I don?t gig or have any expectations of doing so. I don?t have a style to project - only hopes of sounding something like Mark Knopfler or Chet Atkins some day. The playability and overall quality makes it a steal and a keeper.

2004 model. Solid mahoghany body with highly figured glossy bubinga top. Single cut like a LP but with the familiar Parker shape to the lower cutaway. Pickups are Parker Stinger Humbuckers with push-pull coil taps for single coil tones. Each pickup has this capability.
Cosmetically, this guitar is perfect. Grover 18-1 tuners. Tune-O-Matic bridge. String through body. LP neck scale. Ebony fretboard with jumbo frets. 3 way switch. Tone and volume controls.

The humbucker and single coil tones are more than capable to be applied to virtually any music style. The tapped single coils have a shimmer to them that I have never experienced with any other tapped config on any guitar. Real attractive sound. Rich and full. The fact that each humbucker can be independently tapped adds a whole lot of tone options. I love all of the tones!!!

Perfect set-up, fit and finish. Pickups are mounted directly into the body with perfect adjustment. No weak individual strings. This is a top drawer guitar that easily rivals the expensive boutique brands in looks and performance. The neck is easily the best I have ever played in over 35 years of owning and playing guitars.

This is a solid dependable guitar period.

No comments. Never dealt with Parker.

I have been playing over 35 years. I only wish that this guitar had been available years ago. I would have saved a lot of money that I wasted trying to find something this good. The only thing I added was pickup rings as it looks much better with the rings instead of the routed gap cavity between the body and the pickups. Also, the chrome rings at the base of the bridge studs were missing. I don't know if this was by design or purposely left off. Nevertheless, only my preference and does not affect the performance of the guitar at all.

2004, Korean-built. This is Parker's new "single cut" model, with a quasi-Les Paul vibe. Mahogany neck and body with quilted bubinga top. Dual Parker "Stinger" humbuckers, one volume & one tone knob each with push-pull function for splitting either the neck or bridge humbucker. Ebony fretboard with no position markers (just side dots). Tune-o-matic bridge with string-through-body ferrules. Grover 18:1 tuners. Neck is 22 fret, with profile very similar to that of the USA Fly models; fairly wide and thin. Neck is set, with no heel whatsoever. Feels just like a neck-through body Parker. Only Parker series with no piezo acoustic bridge. If this had a piezo bridge, it'd be perfect.

Wow. Unplugged, this Parker has a very resonant, bell-like tone. Very similar to a Fly Classic. Pickups are definitely not the same as those in the older P-38 guitars, or at least they sound much much better to my ears. I owned a P-38 for a while, and thought the pickups were terribly bright, harsh, and lacked definition. These seem much fuller and punchier. I use a bunch of different tube amps, modeling amps, and such, and the guitar seems to have quite a unique voice. It does NOT sound like a Les Paul; more like an SG. Coil tapping works very well; easy to get some relatively convincing single-coil sounds. Nice to have each pickup able to be tapped separately; this opens up many more pickup combinations. Clean, the guitar sounds very clear and full. As distortion is added, it does a fairly good job of retaining clarity of notes even with highly overdriven power chords. Leads have a very open, musical tone and never get overly muddy like with a LP. I guess my rating could be a bit misleading; because the guitar really sounds excellent. However, I have some other guitars in the same price range with Duncan pickups that just really make the hair on the back of my neck stand up, so I have no choice but to knock off a couple of points. One point of interest: The pickups are direct-mounted into the body, and the pickup routings are cut for Dimarzio-style p'ups (very "pointy", triangular mounting tabs). If you decide you want to put Duncans or some other brand of pickups in, you'll need to do some serious trimming to the mounting tabs on the pickups to get them to fit the guitar.

Factory quality is outstanding. This is one beautiful guitar, and it plays like a dream. I lowered the action a bit (it's now very low with no buzzing. Truss rod was correctly adjusted, with the prerequisite 0.010" of relief at the 7th fret. All controls are smooth and quiet. Fretwork is excellent. Nut is cut better than any other Korean-made guitar I've purchased. Finish is like polished glass. I can't find a flaw anywhere on this instrument.

Seesm pretty solid. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't hold up to the rigors that the average working musician would put it through.

I have no idea. My guess is that they're okay.

I've been playing for 21 years and currently own 21 guitars (just a coincidence, I guess). I've owned dozens and dozens of guitars over the years, including USA LP's, Strats, Hamers, Carvins, Kramers, etc.
This guitar ranks with some of the best from the standpoint of fit, feel, and playability. The neck is amazing, and the guitar really seems to want to "play itself". I'm thinking that adding a set of DiMarzio Virtual PAF pickups (I prefer Duncans, but for the sake of ease of fit as mentioned above) that this would rate as a truly world-class instrument. I'd put it up against a Carvin, Anderson, or USA Parker almost any day.