Honest opionion on Parker guitars? More specifically Maxxfly

Khoi

Khoi

New member
Anyone have any experience with Parkers? I was never really interested in them before because I thought the Fly guitars were fugly, but I'm digging the newer MaxxFly models.

They look like something I'd like to play at a decent price. I'm looking at the lower end one though, the DF422? I just like something thin and simple with no floyd.
 
i like your style :D

if it has dimarzios in it, run!

but i wanna say they may have changed to a different pickup manny???

been a while since i "explored that space".
 
I've owned 2 of them. I use to service them when I worked at Korg USA. They were distributing them at the time.

They are well made guitars. If you use the bar like Vai or Larocque, it just won't stay in tune...at least never for me.

Looks like the DF422 has normal pickup mounts so that is a plus. The original flys had custom dimarzios that didn't have the side screw mounts which made it impossible to use anything else.

The flat spring for the tremolo is a bit of a pain since you need a heavier gauge flat spring for heavier string gauges but you can always purchase extra.

Cheers,
Mike
 
oohh that's good to know about the pickups

the pickups honestly aren't too much of a game changer for me, as I'd probably change them out anyways.. and I won't even use the trem, I just need something stable enough for some drop tunings or constant changes in tuning :D. If I could have it my way, I'd try to get a hard tail one, but its hard to find good hardtail guitars!
 
I have a Fly Deluxe that I've owned since new. I've had a couple of them, and though they play like butter and have a great and diverse palate of tones, the reliability is some of the worst I've ever come across. My first Fly Deluxe was fraught with electronics issues right out of the gate, and I went through hell trying to get things made right. My second one (the one I have now) has, over the last year or so been slowly dying on me. The electronics are failing (jack, switches, pots) the bridge is breaking pieces, the parts are rusting, the frets are falling off, etc... hardly acceptable for a $2,000+ guitar. I've since moved on to Suhr and Charvel for superstrats... I still have the Fly but haven't yet repaired the frets, so it's presently unplayable.

W.
 
Had several flys, have since sold them all. The original ones were thin sounding, but played great. I modified many pickups so they would fit in the pickup cavity. I tried a SD Full Shred, Scream'n Demon, Dimarzio X2N, and various others. None of the pickups drastically changed the tone. I decided to live with the thin sound because it played so great. Then the frets started falling off, they're glued on and will eventually fall off. At the time it was $350 plus shipping to have the frets replaced. What initially turned me on to Parkers was the Piezo(It was rare in the 90's) and the SS frets(Again rare in the 90's). Those two options are fairly commonplace now, and for what they sell for new you can get customshop stuff that surpass them IMO. I had a Fly Artist which sell for what I paid for my custom Suhr Modern. The Modern plays just as good, but sounds much better. The Maxxfly has an Ebony fretboard so i doubt the frets are glued on, so the frets falling off shouldn't be an issue. But it seems to have deviated pretty far from Ken Parker's original design. I can't tell if the bodies are as thin as the Carbon flys, but if the are it'll probably sound thin, I would try before you buy.
 
wow, wasn't expecting there to be so many reliability issues with them. I really wouldn't be spending more than $1000 for a Parker to be honest, but the lower end model. I still like the look of it, but I'm actually debating either between the MAxxFly or a Rasmus. Looks like the Rasmus definitely wins over it
 
I own a 2010 DF422 MaxxFly, an 2012 ESP LTD AX401FM and a Fender Stratocaster and the Parker is probably my favorite. It's light, the neck is fast, it has an extremely low action (.070" on the bass and .050" on the treble) it was my first guitar and I purchased, or stole it rather, new off on eBay for $450.00. I have completely upgraded it though - I installed custom colored purple/black Sperzel locking tuners w/matching "D" Thing, put a Seymour Duncan SH-13 Dimebucker in the bridge and a custom made 4wire Seymour Duncan SH1n59 in the neck, installed Seymour Duncan Triple Shot rings and switches, 2 Bourne 500K push/pull pots for phase and series/parallel switching, replaced the standard Parker bridge with a Parker piezo bridge, installed Graph Tech piezo ghost saddles and complete Ghost Acusto-Phonic pre-amp kit, installed a Graph Tech black Tusq nut, hand carved a mahogany body to replace the original in order to bore/route the controls to better suit my needs and topped it with a book matched rolling quilted maple veneer finished in Purple burst...umm, what else did I do...I think that's all. Believe it or not the upgrades cost less than $500.00 so altogether I spent just under $1,000.00 for my custom DF422 MaxxFly. I also got a custom fitted hard shell from Parker for it for like $100.00. Keep in mind my upgrades were just me wanting to tweak this guitar out to the max just to see what it would sound like. It was fine stock and sounded awesome, but I gotta admit the Triple Shots, new humbuckers, dual coil taps and piezo give me just about every tone imaginable to man - almost too many. If you find one and get the chance to buy it I would highly suggest doing it, you won't be disappointed. Stay clear of the PDF Series guitars from overseas. The DF Series were/are made in Parker's USA custom shop and have a greater amount of attention given to them during the building process. Matter of fact 2010 was the last year they made the DF422 and they aren't easy to find used either because I've kept my eye out for another one on eBay and haven't came across one in over a year now. Anyhow, purchase one, find out for yourself why a Parker guitar, especially a DF series MaxxFly, is considered to be one of the finest guitars made today. If you don't like it contact me, I'll buy it from you, seriously. Take it easy, John
 
P.S. I also installed a HipShot TremSetter and for your information the DF422 MaxxFly didn't use the flat spring tremolo system like you were told in a prior post. It has a typical 3 spring floating tremolo with a claw and block pretty much exactly like a Strat. It can be set to float, dive only and you can lock it to make it a "hard tail" if you want by adjusting the block adjustment screw which is next to the top bridge post adjustment screw on the back of the body. Comes in handy when changing strings so you don't have to re-tune. Of course my TremSetter does that and more, I recommend installing one on every guitar that has a tremolo. It costs less than $30 and after installing and using one on each of my tremolo equipped guitars I'd gladly pay $100 for one if I had to. Anyhow, have a good one, later..... John
 
I have a fly deluxe... crusty old, probably have had for 13+ years. NEVER a problem with the frets.. like day one. Had to replace input jack and spray out the volume know with cleaner. Put a D-Thing drop d tuner on it, and it's the most reliable guitar I own. Little thinner sounding, just turn up the bass, not a hard fix.
 
My old teacher was an endorser and had tons lying around. They are generally pretty high quality and i absolutely loved the ones I tried at his house.

I nearly ordered a custom maxxfly7 but apparently:

a) The bridge design doesn't allow for tuning below Ab
b) There have been stories of Parker frets just flat out falling out!

I live in Canada so shipping back and forth to the US is not an option for me as it can sometimes cost $220 to ship and insure properly each way/
 
Have a Parker Fly deluxe and its an early non-trem model. Only issue I have had in the 5 plus years I have had it are the input jack always coming loose. The damn thing plays awesome and is the most stable all season guitar I have. Pickups are thin sounding and proprietary but there is lots of info on how to change them out. Love the ability to play acoustic and flip over to electric on the "fly" haha. Also blend the two. Not sure how the new ones hold up or sound but the older ones can be had pretty reasonably.
 
I have a nitefly and a fly Classic from the late 90's. Never had a problem with either of them. I don't know anything about the newer models.
 
Browsing this forum I was surprised to learn of anyone having problems with their Parker Fly deluxe. I've owned mine for about 15 years and have never had a single issue with this guitar. I find the guitar is extremely accurate and plays amazingly. A friend of mine turned me onto the Fly and when I first picked it up I instantly hated it, but after playing for about 30 minutes I finally "got" it. As far as the frets falling off, the only thing I can think of is that possibly these guitars were locked in a trunk or something at some time and got overheated, as the frets are glued on, but I take care to never get this guitar hot. I would never do that to any guitar. So I've experienced no issues with fret failure. I will say the guitar does take some time to set up properly, however once set up, it never goes out of tune. Even with extreme use of the whammy. I would also note that it is not a guitar that likes to be tuned down or to different tunings, because of the critical set up procedure. Another key feature of this guitar is, I can change a string in about 30 seconds. Love it and would not consider getting rid of it. However, there are many other guitars I would love to own as well. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top