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I took another trip to GGuitars today and I got to play some pretty awesome stuff. I now consider myself well versed in high end gear 
The amps:
First off, Matchless Chieftain = to die for. Good Lord that is a clean tone! I would take one over any Fender or anything else without a second thought. With the right tweaking I got tone to die for.
Rivera Supreme. I'm impressed that Rivera tries cramming Fender and Marshall under one head. The cleans were pretty good and the distortion was pretty good as well. A good all around amp.
TopHat Club Royale. I love this amp. The lo-gain channel gets great Vox like tone and I love how it breaks up. The hi-gain channel has a sweet articulate crunch.
Two Rock Reverb Custom. Wow, expensive amp, but pretty amazing. Great cleans and a very articulate gritty type distortion. Very unique, I've heard these sound like Dumbles... so I can sorta see why Dumbles could be desireable.
Tech 21 Trademark 120. I wasn't too crazy about this amp. It's a decent amp, but after playing the others there was no comparison... I guess I got spoiled.
Now for the guitars....
Andreas Shark H-S-S: I thought I was going to really like this guitar, but it really disappointed me. Love the shape and the rubber is cool, but it has no life to it. Just a dull kinda vintage tone... no character to the notes at all.
Terry McInturff Monarch: this has a nice twist to the H-S-S design. The all mahogany combo makes for some solid warm tones that can get sorta Strat like with a more strat oriented overdrive. A solid variation.
G&L Legacy (S-S-S): It has a good feel and great craftsmanship. My biggest complaint was the pickups. They weren't really chimey, they sounded kinda dull to my ears. I think with a pickup upgrade it could be killer though. Unfortunately, I never got to try the trem on it, but it looked killer.
Don Grosh Bent Top Custom: my old "dream guitar". After extensive playing, it doesn't do anything for me anymore. It looks drop dead gorgeous. The flame, the binding, the craftsmanship is KILLER. This is one of the nicest guitars I have ever seen. However, the Fralin Blues Specials and Fralin Unbucker don't sound good to me. They lack sparkle and the humbucker doesn't have any kick or distortion like a good humbucker should. Lots of little tweaks could be done to the tone, but overall it still had only decent tones to it.
Parker Fly Mojo: I thought this was going to be my dream guitar. It looks and feels great. The playability is unsurpassable, period. The piezo tones are great. It has a very warm sound to it and the Seymour Duncan Jazz/JB combo adds to it. Sounds a bit like my Les Paul. Split it changes the tone a little, but didn't give me a Strat like tone I was looking for. The looks on it were great, the transparent cherry is unbelievably classy. Close, but still not for me.
2004 Parker Fly Deluxe: this is it. Poplar body and basswood neck sounded like garbage wood to me originally. Boy was I wrong. The humbucker cleans had a little bit of brightness to them and was very articulate. Split, it gets a very convincing strat like tone. The piezo system is the same as on the Mojo. When tweaked properly, the piezo sounds like a GREAT plugged in acoustic. Overdriven, I got great crunch tones... not quite as mid strong or "deep" as my Les Paul, but I was always more concerned about clean tones than overdriven. I thought I'd hate the Dimarzio Custom pickups, but they work for me.
I was jamming in there for a while and the guys were patient with me. I now know without a shadow of a doubt what I want. I guess there is truth to the saying that "nothing plays, sounds, or looks like a Parker".
The amps:
First off, Matchless Chieftain = to die for. Good Lord that is a clean tone! I would take one over any Fender or anything else without a second thought. With the right tweaking I got tone to die for.
Rivera Supreme. I'm impressed that Rivera tries cramming Fender and Marshall under one head. The cleans were pretty good and the distortion was pretty good as well. A good all around amp.
TopHat Club Royale. I love this amp. The lo-gain channel gets great Vox like tone and I love how it breaks up. The hi-gain channel has a sweet articulate crunch.
Two Rock Reverb Custom. Wow, expensive amp, but pretty amazing. Great cleans and a very articulate gritty type distortion. Very unique, I've heard these sound like Dumbles... so I can sorta see why Dumbles could be desireable.
Tech 21 Trademark 120. I wasn't too crazy about this amp. It's a decent amp, but after playing the others there was no comparison... I guess I got spoiled.
Now for the guitars....
Andreas Shark H-S-S: I thought I was going to really like this guitar, but it really disappointed me. Love the shape and the rubber is cool, but it has no life to it. Just a dull kinda vintage tone... no character to the notes at all.
Terry McInturff Monarch: this has a nice twist to the H-S-S design. The all mahogany combo makes for some solid warm tones that can get sorta Strat like with a more strat oriented overdrive. A solid variation.
G&L Legacy (S-S-S): It has a good feel and great craftsmanship. My biggest complaint was the pickups. They weren't really chimey, they sounded kinda dull to my ears. I think with a pickup upgrade it could be killer though. Unfortunately, I never got to try the trem on it, but it looked killer.
Don Grosh Bent Top Custom: my old "dream guitar". After extensive playing, it doesn't do anything for me anymore. It looks drop dead gorgeous. The flame, the binding, the craftsmanship is KILLER. This is one of the nicest guitars I have ever seen. However, the Fralin Blues Specials and Fralin Unbucker don't sound good to me. They lack sparkle and the humbucker doesn't have any kick or distortion like a good humbucker should. Lots of little tweaks could be done to the tone, but overall it still had only decent tones to it.
Parker Fly Mojo: I thought this was going to be my dream guitar. It looks and feels great. The playability is unsurpassable, period. The piezo tones are great. It has a very warm sound to it and the Seymour Duncan Jazz/JB combo adds to it. Sounds a bit like my Les Paul. Split it changes the tone a little, but didn't give me a Strat like tone I was looking for. The looks on it were great, the transparent cherry is unbelievably classy. Close, but still not for me.
2004 Parker Fly Deluxe: this is it. Poplar body and basswood neck sounded like garbage wood to me originally. Boy was I wrong. The humbucker cleans had a little bit of brightness to them and was very articulate. Split, it gets a very convincing strat like tone. The piezo system is the same as on the Mojo. When tweaked properly, the piezo sounds like a GREAT plugged in acoustic. Overdriven, I got great crunch tones... not quite as mid strong or "deep" as my Les Paul, but I was always more concerned about clean tones than overdriven. I thought I'd hate the Dimarzio Custom pickups, but they work for me.
I was jamming in there for a while and the guys were patient with me. I now know without a shadow of a doubt what I want. I guess there is truth to the saying that "nothing plays, sounds, or looks like a Parker".
You're welcome! 
For me, I have a killer versatile amp and I need a guitar that's as different, bold, and as much quality to match it. That isn't easy to do. It's very difficult to get Strat and Les Paul type tones in one guitar, nevermind an acoustic as well. That was my challenge, but it's finally over 
It was all around a good amp, better than anything I've heard Marshall really put out lately. I'd say it does the Fender/Marshall thing pretty well (I'd still take my Triamp over it any day of the week though :fing25: )
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