Parker Fly: Six Things You Didn’t Know About This Unique Production Guitar
Phillip McKnight has taught us five things we didn’t know about the Fender Stratocaster, the Ibanez Tube Screamer, the Gibson SG and the PRS Custom 24.
In this video, he sets his sights on one of the more unusual production guitars ever made: the Parker Fly.
Designed by Ken Parker and Larry Fishman, the Parker Fly was introduced in 1993 and was unique for its use of composite materials and light weight—about four and half pounds. The guitar’s combination of traditional magnetic pickups and piezo-electrics in the bridge allowed players to achieve both electric and impressive acoustic tones. Perhaps most significant to the guitar’s design is the almost complete absence of a neck heel to permit greater ease of access to the uppermost frets.
Check out Phillip’s video to learn six things you probably didn’t know about the Parker Fly. When you’re done, take a look at the other great informative videos on his YouTube channel, many of which we’ve featured here.
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Christopher Scapelliti is editor-in-chief of Guitar Player magazine, the world’s longest-running guitar magazine, founded in 1967. In his extensive career, he has authored in-depth interviews with such guitarists as Pete Townshend, Slash, Billy Corgan, Jack White, Elvis Costello and Todd Rundgren, and audio professionals including Beatles engineers Geoff Emerick and Ken Scott. He is the co-author of Guitar Aficionado: The Collections: The Most Famous, Rare, and Valuable Guitars in the World, a founding editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine, and a former editor with Guitar World, Guitar for the Practicing Musician and Maximum Guitar. Apart from guitars, he maintains a collection of more than 30 vintage analog synthesizers.
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