You should have bought that Parker!

[CloseEnoughRocks]

 

Parker PDF80

To me, Parkers were always like custom shop Gibsons, high end PRS', etc.  Nice guitars for sure, but not on my radar since I already own my share of pricey guitars.  The Parker in question isn't one of their $2000+ guitars.  This one lists at about a grand, but I got it delivered to my door for $350 (Thank you to the thoughtful soul that posted it in the great deals thread last month).

So what do you get for $350? 

• Carved mahogany body with a maple veneer.  It's hard to believe that this guitar is so light and comfortable.  My wife thought I bought an empty gig bag when she opened the box for me.  But no mass = no sustain, right?  No, it sustains like any great guitar.  Acoustically, it's as loud or louder, than anything else I own.  The pic is a stock photo, the top on mine is nicer and belongs on a much more expensive guitar.
• Duncan USM pups.  I assumed I would just change these out, like I did on another guitar equiped with these.  For some reason, they work perfectly on this guitar.  I've gigged it three times and love how it sounds.  Even the split option is pleasing to my ear.
• Locking tuners(!) and a maple neck with an ebony(!) fretboard.  Crazy, right?
• A tremelo that stays in tune.  It's also designed well - very comfortable with no sharp or pointy parts. 
• It even came with a great gig bag.
• It came set up just fine, with nice low action.  No buzzes.  All I did was change the pup height a bit to suit my taste.

Negatives?  The only thing I can think of is the string "tension".  The first time I played this guitar, I thought the strings felt a bit heavier than the .10's I use on everything I play.  I checked the specs and even called Parker to verify - these are strung with 9's.  My main guitars all have 25.5 scale length like this Parker, but for some reason they feel a bit heavier.  Weird.

I've showed it to about a dozen musicians.  All have loved it and thought it was easily a $1000-1500 guitar.

I guess I have to mention this...if you have back problems, a Parker is a no-brainer.  But it's not just a light guitar, it's a great guitar that's going to see a lot of play time.

[Marko]

As soon as I saw the thread title, I knew what I was gonna be looking at. That

[BydoEmpire2]

Wow, crazy-good deal for $350!

[Skiddlydiddly]

I have that exact guitar, and it is indeed, a fantastic instrument!

[CloseEnoughRocks]

Hey Skiddly,

What gauge of strings do you use?  Do they feel "heavier" to you on this guitar than on other guitars?  Even typing this question makes me doubt my sanity.

Is it even possible that whatever brand came on this guitar feels so different?

I know, I know...change the strings to my usual D'addario .10's and compare.  I will soon, but us cheapskates don't change strings until we need to.  

[V-8]

>> Negatives?  The only thing I can think of is the string "tension".

 

A change of strings would be in order, then.  All you need is the right strings.  What strings do you use now.  Howabout some Ernie Ball Slinkys?  

 

 

[CloseEnoughRocks]

I been mostly using D'Addario .10's on all my guitars for decades, but to be honest, I've never felt a big difference when I've had to use something else (excluding coated strings).  I'll be restringing it soon.  Worst case, if it still feels weird, I'll switch to .09's for this one guitar.