Parker NiteFly-M Electric Guitar (With Gig Bag)

No longer available at zZounds
Mahogany neck and body. Humbuckers and piezo pickups.

Ken Parker's goal has always been to create the most versatile, responsive, dependable, and beautiful instruments possible. Developing the Fly guitar was a painstaking 10-year process, and along the way he and his colleagues discovered a whole new approach to crafting guitars. The NiteFly is manufactured from the finest tone woods and top-of-the-line brand name components like Fishman, DiMarzio, and Sperzel. Offering incredible versatility, playability, performance, and value! The NiteFly-M is unique in its thick, sweet midrange and singing upper register.

Features
� Mahogany body and Mahogany neck
� 2 custom-wound DiMarzio� humbuckers
� 3-position magnetic pickup selector and push-pull coil-split switch
� 6-element Fishman� piezo pickup system
� Fishman� Powerchip active piezo preamp with "Smart Switching" jack
� Split Stereo or summed Mono output
� 22 Stainless-steel frets
� Precision-cast aluminum vibrato bridge with stainless-steel saddles
� Brushed Black Sperzel� locking tuners
� Black chrome "Dome" control knobs
� Finished in Natural Satin

Nothing Plays Like a Parker
"I love music, and I love guitars. The guitar has been the most important musical instrument of my generation, and I think it will continue to be for a great long time to come. My fascination with the guitar and all the wonderful musicians who've embraced it has inspired and shaped my working life. More than 25 years ago, I started to build and repair guitars. I worked with thousands read more of guitarists, asking them to define their instruments' best features and worst failings. Their input helped design the Parker Fly, the models that have followed and those to come. I love creating new recipes from the ever-growing array of ingredients. Many of our designs and processes are protected by patents. We combine organic and man-made materials to create a uniquely musical guitar that performs as no other can. It's a lot of extra work, but we do it because we know you can feel and hear the difference."

"The Parker Fly neck lays perfectly in your hand. The neck shape swells into the guitar body to give easy access to every note. Our frets and fingerboard have to be experienced to be believed. Each note plays with a smooth consistency. The usual problems with dead spots, funny notes, and unevenness are absent. The guitar balances beautifully whether you're sitting or standing and its light weight allows you to stay relaxed and mobile. Most importantly, the guitar feels alive. You can feel it resonating against your body, singing along with you. It's a fine thing." - Ken Parker

Nothing Sounds Like a Parker
The story of a guitar's tone is a tale of motion. Body and strings vibrate and dance in unison to create sound. The Parker story begins with responsive, vibrant guitars. Then their 2 pickup systems come together to expand the sonic message.

Fastened directly to the guitar body, the custom DiMarzio magnetic pickups produce powerful electric guitar tones. Each string also drives its own Fishman piezo pickup, designed by Larry Fishman specifically for the Parker Fly. The piezos sense every part of the string's vibration, providing the lush, complex tone of an acoustic guitar without feedback, even at stadium level volume.

The piezo and magnetic pickup systems are blended by a stereo preamplifier, which allows you to mix the volumes and tones of both systems. A stereo-mono switch lets you route the signal any way you like. The end of the story is what you hear when you play a Parker guitar. Parker has created the most flexible expressive guitar available, with qualities every player will love.

Nothing is Built Like a Parker
You can't make an exceptional instrument from indifferent sounding materials. Ken Parker's understanding of materials and the physical forces on them allows him to create the most compelling instruments of our times. Wood, the original miracle fiber, is at the heart of every Parker guitar. They marry the magic soulfulness of wood with rock-solid modern fibers. The thin skin of carbon and glass fibers bond to the wooden guitar becoming a new kind of material, optimized to respond to the vibrations of guitar strings.

You can't make exceptional guitars without exceptional guitar-makers. At the Parker shop, skilled artisans design, create, and apply specialized tools to complete each demanding step along the line. Every handcrafted instrument embodies their skill and care.

The Fly Guitar neck is constructed from a solid piece of basswood. The union of body and neck is seamless, with carbon fiber overlaid lengthwise. A veil of reinforcing glass fibers is oriented diagonally, creating tri-axial fiber reinforcement. This patented construction results in an amazingly responsive, lively, and incredibly stable guitar with even tonal response and feel.
read less

Body
Wood: Mahogany

Finish: Polyurethane

Bridge: Parker cast aluminum vibrato bridge, with stainless steel saddles

Neck
Wood: Mahogany

Scale: 25.5 in.

Radius: 10-13 in. Conical form

Fingerboard: Composite

Nut width: 1.68 in.

Finish: Polyurethane

Frets: 22 Stainless steel

Fret size: .052 in. High .0103 in. Wide

Nut: GraphTech

String Spacing: 2.14 in. wide at bridge, 1.38 in. wide at nut

Tuners: Sperzel Locking

Electronics
Pickups:
2 Custom DiMarzio humbuckers,
6-element Fishman piezo system

Mag Volume: 500k

Mag Tone: 500k

Piezo Volume: 2k

3-Way Mag selector switch: (position 1 closest to neck)
1. Neck humbucker
2. Inside coil of both humbuckers (in series)
3. Bridge humbucker

3-Way Mag/Piezo Switch:
1. Mag pickups only
2. Piezo and mag pickups
3. Piezo pickups

Preamp/Mixer: Custom designed Fishman active circuit

Battery Life: Estimated 200 hours

Output: Split stereo or summed mono operation

Factory Setup
String Gauge: D'Addario EXL120 .09-.42

String Height: .050 in. treble .070 in. bass, at 12th fret (while fretted at 1st)

Reviewers gave this product an overall rating of 5 out of 5 stars. (94 ratings)
Submitted June 14, 2007 by a customer from yahoo.com

"Made In America with Premium Features!!"

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars
(see rating details)
Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
This review has been selected by our experts as particularly helpful.
I've bought, traded and sold many guitar. I'm going to keep my Parker Nitefly M.

Sound
I like the custom DiMarzio pickups. The ability to blend the Fishman piezo acoustic pickup with multiple combinations of humbuckers or single coils (split) either direct to one amp or stereo-split to two amps translates into refreshing versatility of sound. This guitar meets all my sound needs.

Features
Read the specs. I mean, c'mon, first off it's American made ... made in the good 'ole USA! Coil-splitting DiMarzio pickups, Fishman acoustic pickup, Sperzel locking tuners, steel frets, a GraphTech nut, a steel whammy bar with fixed, floating or down-only options, a lightweight and thin mahogany body and neck. The composite fretboard feels better than any ebony or rosewood I've every played.

Ease of Use
Parker posts a PDF manual on their website. It's adequate but can be improved and I've sent them instructions on how to do so. I hope they'll listen. The whammy bar options can be changed with the turn of a screw. The Sperzel locking tuners keep the guitar in tune and make it easier to change strings than traditional, non-locking tuners. I'm still not sure about how to adjust intonation and such. I'll probably rely on my local guitar tech even though it doesn't look too complicated. This is an area where the manual could do a much better job.

Quality
I haven't read more found any problems with my Nitefly M. I can see that real attention and care goes into manufacturing these guitars. I was hoping that my guitar would arrive perfectly setup as many of them do. I wasn't as fortunate. My bridge height was set a bit low on the bass side and I got a little buzzing on the 6th string.

Value
With these features and Made In America ... I can't think of another guitar that comes close.

Manufacturer Support
I've emailed Parker and have received fast replies, though often the replies seem too hastely, like the representative didn't thoroughly read my email and just wanted to get rid of me. One or two went completely unanswered. The Parker website is a pretty good source of info, especially the User Forum.

The Wow Factor
I love the neck, the head, and the fretboard. I don't think the body shape is the sexiest I've ever seen nor the natural finish. I find the upper horn somewhat bothersome in my chest when I play seated.

Musical Background:
Hobbyist

Musical Style:
Classic & New Rock and Metal
read less
7 of 8 people (88%) people found this review helpful. Did you?
Thanks for your opinion!

No longer available at zZounds

In most cases, a product is unavailable because it has been discontinued by the manufacturer