Parker on the bench

ICTGoober

ICTGoober

New member
I have one of those Parker-shaped bolt-on neck solid bodies on the bench. You know - after Ken Parker split from the proceedings. Wilkinson whammy with piezo saddles, generic Asian pickups, Grover gears - a big heavy chunk. It's never been setup even though the owner is a steady player. Reading gigs at the Crown Uptown Theater and Mosley Street Melodrama, etc. He teaches in the afternoons. Anyway - it's black, chrome hardware, with cream pickup rings. Yuck. Needs black ones. I'll see if I can talk him into letting me change them out for a cooler look. Got a couple good sized dings right down to the wood. I'll take care of them first since it takes the longest. Then I'll adjust the truss rod straight, and lower the action at both ends to get it playing nicely. I'll post pix when it's done - otherwise I'd bore you.
 
Ken said that the original company was making $10,000 guitars and selling them for $3,000. Personally, I think they tried to be TOO innovative TOO soon. Small changes, let the general public accept the changes. Instead they burned themselves out. Ken has the right idea now - make what you want, and THEN sell them. Follow your muse, don't try to make a killing.
 
Mincer said:
I would really love a USA Parker one day....
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Good luck they are only becoming rarer and rarer to find. Mostly because there are no replacement parts out there for a lot of the components of the guitars. Especially those old Fishman bridge/trem systems. The good thing is a lot of parts Ken Parker got at his local hardware store can be found in the hardware aisle of Home Depot. You will see a lot of them on eBay with irreversible mods that had to be done because of the lack of or the expense of the correct parts.
 
I do have a friend here who used to work with Ken and has several parts and completed guitars. I think the market for Ken's design is there now, maybe not 20 years ago, but I think it would work now.
 
They were a bit overengineered in places. I would have ditched the Fishman piezo stuff because it does NOT sound good, despite what the market wants to believe. Also, Ken lamented using heavy pickups in a light instrument. If he'd only known Don Lace made some lightweight pickups, and he would be coming out with Alumitones in a few years. That would have been the way to go. Also - Bill Lawrence had some stuff that was lighter. I don't know how far afield he searched to find parts when trying to source stuff for production.

Why didn't he use Hipshot tuners with aluminum bodies instead of the diecast pot metal? There were a number of choices made along the way that I'm pretty sure look not-so-good in retrospect. Right around in the 90's there was a market change in hardware moving from heavy to light (Tonepro for example), using aluminum for bridges and tailpieces. There are so much better choices these days, perhaps the full potential the Fly promised could be reached.

If I ever found a lightweight husk of a Fly, I'd try my ideas out and test the results.
 
ICTGoober said:
I would have ditched the Fishman piezo stuff because it does NOT sound good,
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I would not say the Fishman stuff doesn't sound good. For the era that is amazing technology and sounds great. I will admit my newer generation Fishman Piezo blows away my Parker piezo. But you only really notice when they are played side by side. I have gotten nothing but complements of the tone of mine be it the DIMarzios of the Fishman pickups.
 
Very few piezo pickups sound good - especially before the last 10 years. They are never quite there. A microphone is still the best. However, now that I think about it - the piezo in my Yamaha Silent Guitar sounds pretty good - but it's not perfect. The problem is a piezo is a compromise.
 
You're making my point for me. Piezo stuff has been around since the days of Barcus-Berry and FRAP, and most of them don't sound good without a LOT of help.
 
Piezos are the best for hexaphonic synth triggering, though. So if I can get that, I will take the sub-par 'acoustic' sound. In fact I hate most standard piezos in actual acoustics, too.
 
Ken is the man; the prototype Fly from the 80s is wild, and puts paid to the superstition that guitars need to be heavy etc. to have sustain and whatnot. He said it best: "guitarists are unreasonable and have unrealistic expectations". :D The production Fly guitars were indeed a bit too ahead for their time, but now would be more welcome in guitar circles, with the appropriate updates in the light of development in pickups, hardware etc. since their original run.

The stuff he's doing nowadays is amazing as well, and the videos on his channel are full of knowledge and interesting anecdotes. It is very cool how for the necks of his current guitars he basically adapted principles of lute neck construction and merely brought them into today, using modern materials and sensibilities.
 
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.

p44 1.jpg
 
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