The Steel Guitar Forum

These guitars are quite expensive but the reviews on their import bolt on neck line are pretty good. Always wanted to play one. Any thoughts?

Lenny

I played one a while back at a store. They are the lightest guitars i have ever played.

Parker Flys are the brainchild of Ken Parker, a dear friend, who I've known and spent time with since the 80s, when he first began designing them.

Ken is one of the great luthiers in the world; however, he has been disassociated with Parker Guitar for almost 10 years now. My point is, they may be decent guitars now, but the earlier ones are special. Many of the designs they manufacture now are just bizarre designs that Ken had nothing to do with, such as that weird Tele or the acoustic guitar they make.

Speaking of acoustic guitars, that is all Ken builds now: archtop guitars of his own design. Absolute masterpieces. Have a look: http://kenparkerarchtops.com/photos.html

Hi Mike:

Thanks for the info on Parker guitars. Ken Parker's arch top jazz guitars look very nice.

Very unique design.

Lenny

I like to fool around some with "behind the nut" bends on my Telecaster ala Jerry Donahue and others. I messed with a Parker Fly guitar at a store awhile back and I think that'd be the ultimate guitar for those licks as the shape of the headstock on a fly leaves everything totally open behind the nut and gives you great access to the strings.....JH in Va.

Coincidentally, it was actually Ken who really got me into steel guitar. When I used to go visit him in CT, he would play a bunch of stuff for me and he made me a few tapes, one of which was all Buddy Emmons, another Buddy Charleton, and still another with King Sunny Ade.

He told me back then that steel players were crazy and locked themselves in their practice rooms for years.

I want to try a parker that a local music store has (used) and needs a new acoustic saddle. This model looks cool as it has a radial neck joint.

Here is a picture of strange Fender active Tele with a bone bridge and active electronics and pierzo.

Nice to have an electric/acoustic Tele but this guitar is more acoustic.

Hey Len, I just went to Branson, Mo. in October and saw the Buck Trent morning show and his guitar player/singer was using one of those Fenders. It really sounded great onstage...........JH in Va.

JH in Va.

My son has a pre Washburn Parker with active emg pickups and the tone shaping active pots, plus a piezo bridge. He can make it give up loads of guitar tones from delicate acoustic to searing metal chugs and leads with everything in between, and says it feels like holding fresh air. Unfortunately he just had it dedicated to Djent metal set up for dropped D and C
Great guitars.
If you want one shell out for a late 90s model. Check it carefully for loose frets upper horn damage and cracks at the neck/body interface.

Parker is a brilliant, visionary luthier. His arch tops are amazing. Pat Martino used to play a Fly and for all I know, still does.

Ken sent me a steel guitar tone bar that he made and it is so cool! It is not useful for slanting, but it is the most comfortable Stevens type bar I've ever held and I can do things with it that I can't with other bars. Unfortunately, he made only a few and will not make any more. They would cost a fortune to buy.

The man loves steel guitars and even got a triple neck steel from a friend a year or two ago.

I was surprised to see Joni Mitchell using one.

Read this great article about Ken in The New Yorker from a few years back:

http://www.kenparkerarchtops.com/NewYorkerArticle.pdf

Thats a good article, thanks for posting.

I sat in with a friends' band one night a few years ago and played his Parker Fly all night. I think it may have been the best playing most versatile sounding guitar I have ever played.

Going to try a Parker Fly next week as the store that has a guitar, don't know what model but one of the acoustic saddles needs replacing I am told.

We'll see?

Never had a chance to play one, but one of my favorite guitarists and effects wizards Adrian Belew (King Crimson, Zappa, Talking Heads) has been playing one for many years now.

I purchased a Parker Fly Deluxe in the early 90's, so it was one of the early ones built in the USA. I was playing in a house band in NC several nights a week and had been playing a Les Paul. The light weight was a welcome relief! Also, I no longer had to bring a separate electric acoustic to the gig. I ran the piezo bridge though my steel amp and the mag pickups through a Rivera M-60. What a rig! The later offshore models never did much for me.
I agree Ken Parker's archtops are amazing. I met him through Fred at Westwood Music. Make sure to bring a fat wallet-those archtops are in the 30K range!

The last time I saw Pat Martino play he was using his Benedetto Signature guitar. Much like his Gibson Signature model.

Sorry for the multiple posts, however one thing on the early Fly trem system. It is a unique design that uses a horizontal single spring, like a plate. These plates are marked for the gauge strings that you are using i.e. .10's 11's, and so on. If you don't match this plate up with the string gauge it can be very difficult to get the Fly set up properly and play in tune. The one I bought included different springs.