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I guess this guitar is further evidence of my desire for instruments that are somewhat less than conventional. Whilst the appearance is not to everyone's taste (one of my friends characterises it as a glam-rock guitar) - Parkers were designed "from the ground up" to solve a lot of playing & constructional problems. Whilst not as light as Parkers made from more unconventional (and much more expensive) materials - this is still a light guitar. The acoustic sound from the Fishman bridge is excellent, and with careful setup and some strategic damping of the trem springs, you can have tremelo on acoustic tones (best to have a lot of roll-off below 80Hz to get rid of low-end mechanical noise). This was also a very cheap guitar - after a bit of negotiation, it cost less than my Blueshawk (both bought new). Parker/Fishman design combined with Korean manufacture mean you get amazing value for money. The downside is a guitar that is typically supplied very poorly setup - you either need to be confident setting up guitars (particularly Strat-style tremelos) or be prepared to to pay for a guitar tech to do a pro setup for you. |  |
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| clockwise from top left - 1) controls are placed handily include a switch controlling magnetic or piezo sound source, 2) cover for Strat-style trem mechanism, 3) unusual neck mount arrangement allows better access to upper frets, 4) minimalist headstock - this Parker is proudly made in Korea, and the quality is absolutely excellent, 5) the body - the upper horn provides excellent balance strapped on, 6) Parker-designed pickups sound great - the single-coil p/us are quite toppy - but can be easily controlled with the very effective tone control |
