Parker Fly - Italian Supercar?

No Parker isn't Italian.  Stick with me though.  The payoff will definitely probably be worth it.  

Probably...

If Ferrari and Lamborghini had a baby, and that baby became a teenager and decided to rebel against its parents and become a guitar instead of a supercar, I'm pretty sure you'd end up with a Parker Fly.  

I remember Parker hitting the scene in the 1990s and thinking "whoa".  Kind of looked like a guitar, but only in the same way a Lamborghini Countach looked like a Ford Taurus.  Sure they had six strings, and pickups, and four wheels, and doors... Wait, where was I?

Like a more typical model, could be tuned to Open D

If I had to guess, I would say it wasn't until Parker started to produce far east versions of their models that most of us had a chance to try a Parker, and at that point it was really only the shape that was the same.

To continue the Italian sports car theme, it's the guy who tells you his Pontiac Fiero with the awesome Ferrari kit body is "basically the same" because they're both mid engine cars.  Everyone knows it isn't true, but you politely smile and nod (and walk away very quickly).  If you've driven the real thing, you probably chuckle and shake your head as you walk away.

In any case, with such little opportunity to experience the real deal, I think it is no wonder that Parker never really caught on like PRS did, though after spending a week with this one, it may not be the only reason.

Parker Fly Mojo

A generous friend dropped this off about a week ago so I could really experience it.  Playing a guitar for 5 minutes rarely give you a sense of what makes it special, so I was appreciative of the gesture.  After a week though, I'm still not sure what to think. There's no doubt it is special, but I'm not sure what to think overall.

The Italian supercar comparison came to mind because everything about it says "engineered to exacting specifications" .  I'm not going to say that the book was thrown out (it's still a guitar after all and has four wheels), but the folks behind this clearly weren't going to be held back by tradition.

I'm not going into all the details on this model.  It has been around for 20 years now (seriously?), and been exhaustively reviewed by countless others.  That said...

Love it:

1. Stainless Steel Frets - If you have never experienced stainless, you're missing out.
2. The neck - Despite the guitar body being ridiculously thin (an Ibanez S is overweight in comparison), the neck is a big 50's style Gibson profile that fills the hand and feels substantial. Almost plays itself. There's a cruise control/automatic comment to be made here, but I can't be bothered.  
3. The fret board - Not because of how it looks, but because of what it is -a  carbon/glass fiber fret board which is just as fast as those stainless steel frets.
4. The Bridge - A unique system, with three settings - locked, only down, and floating.  Combined with locking tuners it's a super stable system that let's you have fun when you want, and takes the headache away when you don't.

Unfortunately, there are just as many things I don't love.  I don't want to say hate, because there is only one thing about this guitar I hate (and I'm not the only one), but they are a considerable collection of minor annoyances that had me constantly putting this finely engineered guitar back in it's garage before long.

No Love:

1. Body thickness - Lightweight it good, but I need to know I'm holding something.  This is too thin, and when paired with a beefy neck, there is this complete disconnect between neck and body that I can't get around. 
2. The pickups - Yes, Seymour Duncan makes great pickups, and the JB/Jazz combo is among the most famous.  Here it's a mismatch.  This isn't a Les Paul, and although they share the same species of wood, the difference in mass is appreciable.  That makes a difference, with the JB lacking gravitas. Both do split, and the Jazz does this better than I had expected, but not so much with the JB.  I seem to recall that Parker originally had Dimarzios in them, and I'd be keen to hear one of those.  The sound is far from bad, and the more time I spend with it, the more I like it.



So cruise control is standard?

3. That damn upper horn - This is the elephant in the... trunk (see what I did there?).  It digs into you when sitting, and is such an obviously stupid design that Parker is making models with a reshaped upper bout.  Smart move, and I like the look of them for the most part, but they're certainly not as striking visually.  There's got to be a happy medium, no?

Final Corner

Back to my Italian car analogy, this guitar is pretty much one of those, save for not being a car and everything.  Excellently engineered.  Maybe a few questionable design choices (removable wing anyone?). Money no object, would you want one?  Sure.  Would it be your daily driver?

Looks like it was poured, not carved.

Probably not, but that doesn't take away from it being special.  It would be easy to be a Jackson or PRS knockoff, but Parker is neither of those things.  It isn't trying to be anything else, which means when you play it, you're not pretending to be either.  

That's more than you could ever say for most owners of Italian super cars.

That backplate is super ugly though.