Washburn / Parker USA are closing

bluechargeboy

US Music Corp (Washburn / Parker) are closing their USA Custom shop, where they make the proper Parker Fly and Washburn N4 guitars. They are trying to find somewhere else to make them, allegedly.

Here

"From the horse's mouth, here's what's happening folks. The USA shop here has ceased production but Parker is not closing or going out of business. We are currently looking for another USA source for our high end Parkers. The PDF series will continue to be available and customer service will continue to help current Parker owners to the best of their ability. In the case of the OP, the guitar in question was from the mid '90s and these parts have not been available for quite some time. Hopefully this will ease your minds that Parker is not going to disappear and we're here for you."

stonevibe

Not surprised. 

But a shame they have had to close it.

Have owned both a original  non refined Fly Deluxe and an original N4 in the past. 

 Nice guitars.

GuitarWorkz

I really regret not buying a Parker Fly when they first came out, still to ths day I keep an eye out for a nice one, looks like I'm going to have to be more proactive in my quest for one now.

Stevepage

Coda Music has an old parker fly in stock. Check out the used section on their website

DrJazzTap

Sad times

Bucket

Stevepage said:

Coda Music has an old parker fly in stock. Check out the used section on their website

I've played it, it was fucking brilliant in every way except that bloody top horn, which is so uncomfortable.

GuitarWorkz

Stevepage said:

Coda Music has an old parker fly in stock. Check out the used section on their website

I have this issue with buying anything used, it always has to be brand new, I don't know why.  It's just the way I am, I always look at it like there is a reason that original owner got rid of it, and I don't want to chance finding out why.

Dave_Mc

Never tried either (I've tried non-USA Washburns, they were nice), but that sucks.

^ But it looks awesome!

stonevibe

I swapped my N4 for a Kotzen Tele about 6-7 years ago, which I still own and gig with today.

Sold my Parker Fly and used the proceeds to buy my R7.

So for me even though the other guitars were nice, I prefer the stuff I own now.

For example the N4 was too small for me and the Fly had the 'top horn' issue as already stated by Bucket and I found it was a little thin and neutral sounding (great for Adrian Belew with all his effects, but a little bland for my tastes)

Pics below of the old Fly as it looked awesome!

UnclePsychosis

A mate of mine once bought a (very, very nice) Fly Deluxe for £500. 

When he came to sell it he offered it to me as mates rates, again for £500. I was skint, so he ebayed it and it cleared well over a grand. 

I'm still very much gutted about that. 

richh

That's a shame, a very innovative brand.  I have 3 Parkers (2 x NiteFly, 1 x MidiFly) from the 'old days', and IMO the fingerboards and stainless steel frets were amazing.  Personally I didn't like the higher end Parker Flys I tried.  The necks were too skinny for me, and the sound only really seemed ideal for metal or fusion, neither of which is my thing.  The problem with the very lightweight Flys is that the bodies are so thin, that it is nigh on impossible to change the pickups to alter the sound, so you're stuck with the stock pickups.  The old style Niteflys are much more customisable.

I hear what you way about the upper horn being uncomfortable.  I almost always play mine standing up, and then it's not a problem.

Let's hope they do manage to resurrect in some form, maybe taking some of the good / proven ideas and changing others, perhaps scrapping the upper body horn, making it easier to mod for pickup swaps and so on?

Parker

I've owned a few Flys over the years. As mentioned, top horn uncomfortable and weak pickups due to the lack of meat on the body, but for playability and versatility in a live set up, they're fantastic. They're also like nothing else made (except perhaps a GUS). Still in my Top 5.

richh

@Parker you may want to give a NiteFly a try some time?  You're welcome to try mine if ever around Oxford way

bluechargeboy

Somebody on the Metal Guitarist forum ordered a custom MaxxFly with all the fibreglass/ composite gubbins, and six months later they told him it wasn't gonna happen. I love the mindset of the Fly and the break with tradition.

 

I have owned a couple of N4s and they were lovely build quality. There is no magic to Made in the USA though, plenty of other places knocking out fine production instruments. USM Corp just need to get a grip and become a decent competitive company.

richh

Really the golden age of Parker guitars was a long time back.  They've compromised on quality for a long time now, in order to try to broaden their market and offer more entry level instruments.  Unfortunately it has IMO devalued the brand.  Shame really, but there you go.  Add to that the fact that most guitarists are actually very conventional (as I am really), in that the guitar and amp designs from the 1950's era were just so good!  Hard to get folks to change?

Parker

Thanks Richh. I had one of those too ;;) Lovely guitars and a lot warmer. I forget about owning that guitar actually.

richh

Hi Parker,

Yes, it isn't so well known as the main Fly, but a lot closer to my perfect guitar.  I love the way the frets just stay mirror finish smooth with virtually no wear.  It make bends and vibrato and so on almost effortless.  Also, the trems are amazing, although actually they are fairly conventional, quite similar to a standard Fender, in contrast to the Fly trem, and generally parts are easy to replace or upgrade.  I'm not 100% happy with all the pickups, but they are pretty good and very easy to upgrade - the cutout for the pickup cavity is a big rectangular cavity.

In the end, I'll probably just keep one Nitefly as all 3 of mine are really very similar.  They are so consistent that there isn't that feeling that one is special, it is just different finishes.  One is swamp ash, another solid mahogany and another I'm not sure.  So they are a bit different, but nothing radical.

Parker

I last played my former Nitefly on the night of my wedding as I invited some guitar friends to join me on the last number and I went to acoustic. Not many guitars you can do that on! Much love for Parker Guitars (hence my handle!) but Washburn do seem to have killed off what Ken Parker had achieved.

richh

I forgot about the acoustic output, I don't use that much, but handy to have.

Have you checked out what Ken Parker is doing these days though?  Very high end jazz guitars, very limited production (I think literally handbuilt by him), and priced around £30k...

bingefeller

I used to have a Parker Fly Hardtail, maybe about 11 or 12 years ago, and I got rid of it.  I kind of regret it as it was a great guitar and really rock solid.  I remember buying it because Dave Navarro played them! 

SteveGV

I've got a Parker Fly Deluxe and even though I rarely play it now and I'd never use it live it's one of my guitars that I'd never get rid of