I want a PM-20 but I don't know if it's worth it

[Rana del Cerro]

Hello, I'm new to the forum. I'm a guitar student searching for an electric guitar, since I recently moved from my country (Chile) to Spain and I'll be staying for a year, and I had to leave my guitar. I want to get something better than my all life Squier Affinity Strato, and the second hand market for instruments here in the EU is a lot more varied than in Chile. Searching around I found some Indonesian PM-20's (437-546USD)and a Korean PM-10 (349USD) at prices I can aim at, and I'm really invested in the PM20 because of the string thru body bridge style. Till now I've only known about the wonders of the Parker Fly (my former guitar teacher has some), never had I seen or heard about the lower priced Parkers, so these guitars did catch my eye. I started to investigate a little bit around the internet and it isn't so easy to find good info about the current value of these guitars, or at least if they are still a good option in the market after 18-13 years of being around. The option I'm considering is a used PRS custom 22 or a standard 24 (I like those a lot also, but there's something on the parkers that just intrigues me so much), so I would like to know if there is really a big difference or if I can go for the PM20 knowing it is equal or better.
All this considering that the guitar I buy will be my main guitar for the upcoming years, so I'm not interested in the collector/historical value or quirkiness aspect of the PM20 (or maybe a little, but only as a side aspect), I just liked the way It looks and want to know if it really is a good playing instrument compared to other newer similar priced guitars.
If someone answers this, or is interested in helping, I can go into more detail about the specs of each model i've looked at, because they vary in pickups, number of pots, headstock and all those things that parker changed apparently every two months on this model.
Thank you very much in advance, I know that most of decision is also just taste, but if you can convince me I'll be more confident on it (also knowing that all the options are wins compared to my current electric guitar).
English isn't my first language so I hope this post is intelligible.

[vjmanzo]

Hi @Rana del Cerro and welcome! I think we can all appreciate your questions about how these Parker models compare to other instruments. A long time ago, I was comparing PRS guitars to the Fly, and the Fly ultimately won for me—but that was the Fly model, which is unlike all the other Parker Guitar models.

As you may know from the history thread, Parker Guitars introduced the PM-20 and many other models that were easier to make (than the Fly and NiteFly) as a means to help maintain the company. Many of our members here at Fly Clone own and play these instruments regularly, and they can certainly speak to this more genuinely than I can since I don’t own a PM-20.

In my opinion, all models besides the Fly and NiteFly seem to be well-made instruments, but are more comparable to other non-Parker instruments in their list price class whereas the Fly and NiteFly are something radically different from all other guitars. Flys and NiteFlys generally have very specific failure/maintenance points and, as a result, are quite reliable, whereas all other Parker Guitars require the same sorts of maintenance (seasonal setups, for example) required by other guitars like Strats and Les Pauls and so on.

The prices on all guitar models seem to be varying of late, and there seems to be a “collectible” value placed on all Parker Guitars by people selling these in used marketplaces like Reverb and eBay—the extent to which that value is shared by others is, of course, subjective. The list price I linked to above (adjusted for inflation) could give you a sense of where Parker Guitars, as a company, placed the market value of these instruments given their costs to produce them.

Hope this helps!

[Patzag]

I have a PM 20. I think its a great guitar. It has no real similarity with a Parker Fly or Nitefly except that it has almost no heel. But it is a very traditional guitar. Like a slightly smaller, much lighter and more comfortable Les Paul.
Still, I like it. It would benefit from a good setup and stainless steel frets. I may or may not invest in that. I have not decided yet.

[spiceybadger]

Hello. What did you do?
I have recently picked up a PM-20 Hornet - I have a lot of other guitars, high end Gibsons, Duesenberg, Fenders. For the price I have paid for the PM-20 with coil splitting, it's light, heel access is amazing, I think it's an absolute steal. I would highly recommend getting one. Especially considering they are about half the price of a Gibson Les Paul studio that doesn't have the same level of finish. Embrace it my friend!