So tell me about Parkers

[Mayanus]

Sorry to be a killjoy but I have some bad comments for those guitars. A year or so ago I would have been foaming at the mouth about them and telling you to buy one or your life would be incomplete.

 

I bought a brand new Fly Mojo. Yes, the real deal USA, neck thru glass epoxy song and dance model. I tried that thing against custom Suhrs, ESPs, Ibanezes, Tom Andersons etc. The balance was perfect, the sound was good (couldn't touch the Suhrs but I use a PRS for studio work) and the neck and fretboard were unbelievable to play. Add to that the fact that the guitar weighed almost nothing, and I was pretty sure that I was onto a winner.

 

Fast forward about 4 months, and I no longer have that guitar. The reason behind this is an insane number of problems with a top of the range USA handmade guitar. And this is not just problems with the factory, I'm talking about their administration too.

 

While I owned the guitar, I experienced the following problems:

 

1.Finish flaw located on the edge of the left cutaway underneath the clear coat. About 3mm long, no biggie but still annoying.

2.After about 3 weeks the pickup selector switch became faulty. Had to be replaced

3.The spring that came with the guitar was faulty. It couldn't properly balance the tension of the tremolo. Not only did this cause the tremolo to go out of tune, but it also caused the position of the bridge to move significantly with the engagement of the backstop (the bridge had to be moved quite a bit with the tremolo arm in order to even put the backstop in) This obviously caused the intonation, action, tension and tuning stability to change to quite a degree. A new spring had to be installed, after which the tremolo balanced a lot better.

4.The nut was not properly installed. It had been fitted too far to the right, shifting all the strings to the right and therefore causing the high E string to be very close to the edge of the neck. This obviously caused havoc with tuning stability. This is probably the most alarming flaw of this guitar; that such a basic component could have been incorrectly fitted on a top of the range instrument is terrible, especially considering Parker's reputation for precise, hand made guitars.

5.The high E strings keep snapping on this guitar. They snap right behind the saddle, at the point where the string makes contact before it travels over the piezo element. After I snapped 3 strings in the period of two days (one of them being mid set in a gig) I decided that I simply could not use this guitar any more.

6.The piezo element on the A string has started to wobble in its slot. When I switched to the piezo pickups, it gave a scratchy sound and constantly cuts out, rendering the piezo feature useless.

 

Thankfully, the shop I bought the guitar from are experts with Parkers and were able to fix most of these problems over a very long period. The hours they spent on that guitar were ridiculous, and I'm very grateful to them.

 

Here's where things get INSANE. This guitar had to be replaced. So we talk to the UK distributor and send it back there. Fast forward TWO weeks- and they call my shop saying that there is nothing wrong with the guitar and they will not be issuing a replacement. This is not only an awful service to me, but also completely disrespectful to my shop, who are one of the biggest UK Parker dealers. My shop actually gave me store credit to buy a new guitar and took the Mojo back. Only, they never received the damn thing back from the dealer- meanwhile Parker in USA had zero involvement.

 

In short, I will never buy a guitar from Parker again. In fact, I completely encourage you not to buy one from them either. Get a second hand one for much cheaper, and make sure you try it to make sure it's perfect. If you find a good one, you will love it.

 

 

Here it is. I'm going to be getting a Vigier now with the store credit. It's a damn shame because I heard they used to be very consistent while Ken Parker was still in charge. I would say that I was unlucky, but from the huge number of people complaining about similar quality control issues (read the HC reviews and Parker forums) I think there's been a steady decline

Here's a picture showing a problem with the nut. Notice how the gap between the low E and the edge of the fretboard is about double that of the gap between the high E and it's respective side of the fretboard. Then look at how this causes a sharp angle for the string as it passes over the nut and travels to the tuning pegs. This was bad bad bad for the tuning stability. And yes, this is how the guitar came from the USA. I only noticed this after I'd had the guitar for a few days.

[mparsons]

I'm looking at all the specification for Parkers, and they all say they are made of wood bodies?

 

Sorry to hear that bad story! I do plan on buying a used guitar though.

[jrockbridge]

^ All Parker guitars are made of wood. The Nitefly has a wood neck (mine is basswood) covered in carbon-glass-epoxy resin. The body of the Nitefly is painted wood (Mine is maple). The new Nitefly-SA has a body made of swamp ash that's painted blue.

 

The Fly has a wood neck covered in carbon-glass-epoxy resin. And, the Fly body is solid wood, but very thin and covered in carbon-glass-epoxy resin.

 

Try them in a store before you buy a used one. Some people prefer the sound of the Nitefly...but, it does weigh more than the Fly.

 

I'm sorry to hear about the problems experienced by Mayanus. My '97 Nitefly was beat to hell...looks like it had several falls, yet there is nothing structurally wrong with it. Maybe Parker was building them better a decade ago.

[Mr_GoodBomb]

Absolutely, I can imagine! But will there be a significant quality difference between a Fly and a Nitefly?

 

 

The Nitefly is built more like a Fender. Bolt-on neck, pickguard, SSS, HSS, or HH pickups, simplified electronics, and a more traditional finish. While it still has the Parker neck feel and composite fretboard, as well as Parker's peizo bridge and magnetic pickup combos, it last a lot of what makes a Fly so unique.

 

The Fly has the wedged neck joint, making it feel like a neck-thru, but sturdy enough to be so light and narrow at the joint. The Fly also has all of the ergonomic contours, making it lighter and easier to play. No pickguard, the pickups are direct mount, and a higher-grade Dimarzio custom build. It also has the composite fingerboard, with stainless-steel frets glued on, but the entire body AND neck are composite-covered, as well.

 

The Nitefly is a cheaper version with some advanced apointments, but generally a more traditional build. The Fly is in a class all it's own. That said, there are people who prefer the Nitefly.

[mparsons]

The Nitefly is built more like a Fender. Bolt-on neck, pickguard, SSS, HSS, or HH pickups, simplified electronics, and a more traditional finish. While it still has the Parker neck feel and composite fretboard, as well as Parker's peizo bridge and magnetic pickup combos, it last a lot of what makes a Fly so unique. The Fly has the wedged neck joint, making it feel like a neck-thru, but sturdy enough to be so light and narrow at the joint. The Fly also has all of the ergonomic contours, making it lighter and easier to play. No pickguard, the pickups are direct mount, and a higher-grade Dimarzio custom build. It also has the composite fingerboard, with stainless-steel frets glued on, but the entire body AND neck are composite-covered, as well. The Nitefly is a cheaper version with some advanced apointments, but generally a more traditional build. The Fly is in a class all it's own. That said, there are people who prefer the Nitefly.

 

 

Thanks! I'll save my pennies and see what I can swing when the time comes.

[King Loudness]

Fly FTW!