Parker Guitars

Parker Nitefly electric guitar model, first introduced in 1996, with the characteristic Parker shape of the body and headstock

Parker Guitars is an American manufacturer of lightweight modern electric guitars and basses , founded by Ken Parker in the early 1990s. The design of Parker instruments includes several innovations in guitar construction and in most details it differs significantly from the design of the more traditionally manufactured electric guitar models.

Company history

The guitar maker Ken Parker started out in a workshop in Rochester , New York, and developed electric guitars there. His goal was to manufacture instruments with an expanded sound spectrum that should also be lightweight and ergonomic to use. To do this, he founded Parker with his partner, electronics expert Larry Fishman. The first company headquarters was in Boston , Massachusetts . The first Parker guitar model appeared in 1993. In 2004 the company was sold to the US Music Corp ( Washburn ) based in Illinois . A series of inexpensive versions of the Parker guitar models has been made in Asia for some time. Ken Parker is still a consultant to the company.

Design features of Parker guitars

The back of the neck and body of a Parker Nitefly, made of glass fiber reinforced plastic . The ergonomically designed shapes are clearly visible

The most characteristic design feature of Parker instruments is the combination of different woods (mostly poplar or mahogany ) with a fiberglass-reinforced plastic made of carbon fiber and glass fiber . The body as well as the neck and fingerboard of Parker guitars have a core made of wood, which is covered with this composite layer on the back of the instrument and thus reinforced (company name: " external skeleton ", German: " Exoskeleton "). The in Solid Body glued on instruments the manufacturer in a conventional manner to the composite body ceiling consists of maple or mahogany. The result is lightweight instruments with high torsional stiffness and a distinctly clear sound.

Another novelty in guitar construction when the manufacturer's first models appeared was the simultaneous use of electromagnetic and piezoelectric pickups with active electronics on a single instrument, whose electrical signals can be cross-faded and mixed almost without restriction using the control unit integrated in the instrument. As a result, the sound possibilities have been significantly increased compared to conventional pickup combinations. The sound is described as a “ crossover ” between that of acoustic guitars and electric guitars (“ hybrid guitar”). However, the piezo and the two magnetic pickups can also be operated separately on the instruments and thus also offer the possibility of shaping more conventional guitar sounds.

The use of a leaf spring instead of the usual spiral springs for the tremolo system ("flat spring vibrato") is also unusual. This prevents resonating coil springs from affecting the sound of the instrument.

The optically most striking design element of Parker guitars is the shape of the instrument body, which has several ergonomic cutouts on the front and back. The shape of the two "horns" (English: cutaways ) on the upper bout of the body, whose idiosyncratic contour is repeated on the headstock of the guitars, is a trademark of Parker.

Parker guitar models

The first Parker electric guitar was the Fly Vibrato Deluxe model introduced in 1993 . Since then, the product range has been expanded almost every year. This was followed by models with nylon instead of steel strings (only with a piezo pickup), with and without a vibrato unit and with a screwed-on instead of an integrated neck. In addition to electric guitars, Parker has been producing the Parker Fly electric bass model in four and five-string versions since 2002 . As with the electric guitar models, the magnetic and piezoelectric pickups can be mixed by fading. Parker has also been making semi-resonant guitars since 2007 .

literature

• Tony Bacon, Dave Hunter: Totally Guitar - the Definitive Guide (Guitar Encyclopedia, English). Backbeat Books, London 2004. ISBN 1-871547-81-4

Web links

Commons : Parker Guitars  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Parker Guitars Official Corporate Website (accessed September 30, 2012)
• Parker Pt. 2: Parker's History . Second chapter of a five-part article on the history of Parker Guitars on fifthfret.org, with four subsequent chapters on the subject (see table of contents there. English; accessed September 30, 2012)
• Parker - Article about the company on guitarmasterclass.net (accessed September 30, 2012)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Tony Bacon, Dave Hunter: Totally Guitar - the definitive Guide, p. 528 f.
2. ↑ Fly Evolution ( Memento of the original from September 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - Article on the Parker company website on the composition of materials (accessed September 30, 2012) 
3. ↑ Parker Pt. 4 - Ahead of the Times ( Memento of the original from January 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Article on the construction of Parker guitars at fifthfret.org (accessed September 30, 2012)