Parker on the bench

[ICTGoober]

Okay, here 'tis. Took some liberties with it (client trusts me - bought his first good guitar from me in the 80's). Opened up the hole in the back cover. Now you don't have to remove/replace 8 fricking screws every time you change strings. Black rings look way better than cream. Whammy is now hardtailed down, action set low - plays great. Surprisingly, the humbuckers sound very clean - even when the amp is cranked. Perhaps because of the battery preamp? All dings touched up, too. It's not a striking appearance, but I'm sure my guy will love it.

[ICTGoober]

Back photo..

[crguti]

Looks like a P-44.

[ICTGoober]

That's what it says on the peghead.

[Mincer]

They were pretty different than the USA models, huh?

[Securb]

They were pretty different than the USA models, huh?

Only the body shape is the same

[Mincer]

Only the body shape is the same

And then, just barely, right?

[ICTGoober]

The original Parkers were very thin guitars. This thing is the same thickness as a Les Paul. As I stated in my first post - this is Parker shaped...

[Mincer]

How does it compare to other Les Paul-thickness guitars? I am sure it sounds nothing like a US Parker.

[ICTGoober]

Keep in mind, I've never had a real Parker Fly on the bench to judge the tone. On video they sound thin to me. This one sounds okay through the Marshall, but the pickups have a clean tone. Cranked to 10 on the preamp it doesn't roar, but it exhibits a polite crunch. I'm going to say it sounds like a Les Paul Recording without all the variations in tone controls. It does have a coil split when the tone knob is pulled up - that single coil hum comes out. The piezo pickup sounds like a lipstick pickup without the hum. Very bright with a lot of chime. I think Robert will dig it for live work at his theater gigs. You might like it, Dave.

[Securb]

My Parker sounds pretty full. It is HSS so I use it for every style across the board including metal. I would put the tone in the standard superstrat catagory. The piezo is "good" but it doesn't have the fullness and top end bloom that the newer Fishman pickups have. They are much more realistic.

[Mincer]

Keep in mind, I've never had a real Parker Fly on the bench to judge the tone. On video they sound thin to me. This one sounds okay through the Marshall, but the pickups have a clean tone. Cranked to 10 on the preamp it doesn't roar, but it exhibits a polite crunch. I'm going to say it sounds like a Les Paul Recording without all the variations in tone controls. It does have a coil split when the tone knob is pulled up - that single coil hum comes out. The piezo pickup sounds like a lipstick pickup without the hum. Very bright with a lot of chime. I think Robert will dig it for live work at his theater gigs. You might like it, Dave.

I guess they tried to throw at least some of the technology into it without the very-expensive-to-produce stuff like the thin body and trem system. I'll have to see if I get a chance to try one out around here sometime.

[zionstrat]

I've got a nitefly and it's about as good a guitar as possible... All the "great parker stuff" but the body is maple so it's up there in the LP weight range and can sustain forever in correct configuration. So a similar look but rather different than your example.

Lots of mods to make it a one stop performance guitar.. JB, cruiser and cool rail with spin a split and parallel to self covers literally everything.

And I get the idea that piezos aren't optimal, but it's more than good enough to cover acoustic in a band mix.. the key is a second signal path that optimizes acoustic timbers.

They're getting up there in cost on Reverb, but remain one of the best platforms out there!

Thanks for a good thread.

[Mincer]

Yeah, the costs are pretty insane these days, and if you have $4k to spend, there is a lot of competition out there.

[zionstrat]

Yep. Paid 450 for mine