Played a Parker Fly DLX at a gig

[Jimi75]

So Friday was Blues time again and we played a 80 minute set at a small and very crowded blues club. I have played over a Fender Princeton (the new reissue) that belonged to the club. Whoa, this amp is a killer. You won't believe how loud it is...and its sound is great (together with my Danelectro FAB Overdrive)!

There was this guy who asked me after the half of our set, which I played with my ESP Paul and my Jimmie Vaughan Strat so far, if I wanted to play his Parker Fly DLX with Piezos. I had nothing to lose, the crowd was going crazy so I agreed. I think there is nothing that tops the possibilities of economic playing on a Parker guitar, but does one really want this? It's a fine instrument and I see that there is an intelligent concept behind it, but it felt like an "Alien", strange...the sound was good, but not woody, it was a carbone body and it definitely sounds different, the neck was a compound neck and as I never played a compund neck before I must say it might be the best alternative for guitar players, not too small not too big. Mixing the humbuckers with the piezo sound was the best result you could get. My personal impression is that it is a great instrument, but for players like I this is too futuristic. I missed the "soul" in this imstrument. If you have the chance to try such a guitar you should definitely do it, for some players this Parker guitar could be the end of a long search for the perfect instrument.

J75

[abraxas]

Thanks for the hands on review Jimi!

Parkers are, IMHO, one of the few really inovative instruments since the conception of the electric guitar (others that spring to mind are the Steinbergers, for instance). They are perhaps the best guitars for a "live-session" player, i.e. a guitarist with the need for a lot of tones on tap; and have you noticed the weight? Or lack thereof?

God, I played an older Fly which was 2 kilos in weight, all in all! It seemed to weight less than the strap! You could play literally for hours on this thing.

I understand what you say about the "soul" of the instrument, but then again, I would expect it to "grow on you". I don't really know, a friend of mine uses Parkers almost exclusively for the past 5 years and now can't play anything else.

In fact I wouldn't mind to have one in my futute as well!

[Spudman***]

Until I actually have the money I won't play a Parker simply because I know that I REALLY want one. My favorite guitarist uses one and gets amazing sounds from it. It sounds very soulful, smooth and the acoustic is great. That is everything I want in a guitar plus the obvious ergonomic features.

I think they take a little time to bond with but I'm okay with that. I have time.

[sunvalleylaw]

Those do look really cool. And I would be interested to try one to see what all the hub bub is about. I am a bit traditional too, so I might take a while to warm up to it. I am in no danger of buying one however, so it would just be a fun test drive.