the Fly Clone Project

This DF842 recently came up in my eBay searches and the price was too good to pass up. It is in very nice condition with only a few scuff marks on the headstock. It is modified but the knob layout and blade switch remind me of the Adrian Belew DF842 but I am not sure as the owner sent it without any documentation or the original parts. Any information on this would be greatly appreciated. I would really like to get it back to original condition.

More pictures of the sockets and the serial number.

@Vaya, I don't think there's anything to "restore"; as what you have appears to be a one-of-a-kind 2014 custom shop order using the ABDF842's CNC preset as a starting point, but with mostly different components:

The Adrian Belew iteration has:

- Distinctive control layout and rear routing carried over from the Fly iteration (retroactively designated ABRF842, as I recall), which includes a square cutout around the spring cavity for a custom piezo junction circuit board fabricated by Dennis Anesi (this was so that any one of the RMC piezo elements could more easily be replaced by Adrian or his tech, should one go bad on tour).
-Seymour Duncan TB4 (JB) and Sustainiac Stealth Pro pickups
-RMC Pow'r Bridge PF saddles
-50kΩ master volume pot
-Custom switching push-pull pot fabricated by Dennis
-5kΩ blend pot for Magnetic/Piezo signal
-3 way blade pickup selector (as confirmed by owner Vince Genella - Every listing I have seen for the ABDF842 repeats the ad copy mistakenly specifying it as "5 way").
-Recessed 13 pin jack for PolyDrive I

The Belew model has two 9v batteries: One for the Sustainiac, and another so that the RMC PolyDrive is powered when using the 1/4" output. The PolyDrive outputs the magnetic and piezo signals in mono only.

Your guitar appears to have the following specs:

-ABDF842 routing and control layout
-A pair of what appear to be "Low Boy" Lace Alumitone pickups (they may be custom-built or modified for however they're mounted). To my recollection, there was only a single instance of these having been installed in Fly pickup routs at the factory, per a custom shop order. Either this is that particular guitar, or it was done by a third party with the previous installation having proved it possible.
-Graph Tech Ghost saddles
-Graph Tech Acousti-Phonic preamp (which, in tandem with the pot values Lace prescribes, probably consists of three 250kΩ potentiometers). I can see from your photos that the guitar uses the Graph Tech switching stereo jack for use specifically with the Acousti-Phonic's mono/stereo-switching circuit (automatically detecting whether a T/S or T/R/S plug is inserted via a N.C. switch terminal which is forced open).
-I currently have no idea what your controls do (aside from the obvious volume, tone, etc.). What in the Belew is the location of the RMC blend pot appears to be a push-pull in yours. It looks like you have the on/off/on and momentary switches for mag/mix/? and S1/S2 functions which come with the Graph Tech kits - But I would need a closer look, or for you to confirm their function. I also can't see any wiring harness connecting the Hexpander board to the 13 pin jack - Is it disconnected; or just hidden beneath the other wire runs? If there's a Hexpander preamp, it should be sandwiched with the Acousti-Phonic board.
-The guitar has none of Dennis' components made for the Belew model(s).
-Your guitar appears to have an Oak-Grigsby/Fender selector switch. Is it also 3-position? If so, that would help to explain the tele-style switch tip.
-Plate-mounted Graph Tech Hexpander 13 pin jack

With the rear cover having been removed for the photos, all I can say is that it doesn't appear to have had either the neck pickup rout or control cavity layout to accommodate more than the one 9 volt battery (which the Belew model has). It also appears that the battery box is secured with a single screw. I wish I had seen this example prior to drilling for four of them on my Supreme when I relocated the battery box.

Between that and the odd color choices for the saddle screws and the knobs, I'm considering this to be all (or mostly) custom shop specs. If this guitar had left the factory as a Belew model, many of the parts specific to that model would have been carried over through these mods, rather than replaced with cheaper components. The wiring looks a bit slapdash for a factory job - But I've also seen some examples of slapdash factory wiring in these guitars. Perhaps the 13 pin setup was added after the fact?

I'm JEALOUS of this treasure you happened upon, by the way! Your guitar is likely the only one if its kind; and I sure hope it wasn't stolen at any point. I've added the serial to the thread title, due to its unicorn status.

Thanks for the detailed answer @mmmguitar. I figured the chances of it actually being the DFAB842 were too slim since less than 10 were produced. Anyway, even for a regular DF842 or any other Parker, the price was a steal. I think the Lace pickups were added later by the owner, and all the boards have Graphtech written on them, with the saddles not even connected to anything. The backplate and truss rod cover are not the regular ones either, they are cut out of wood and spray painted a metallic bronze color. I will definitely try to return all the cosmetics like the knobs, switches and backplate to stock, as I do not share the taste of the previous owner. It would still be cool to make it an Adrian Belew signature if a Sustaniac fits into the neck routing and RMC saddles are still available. If not, I will just have my favorite DiMarzios installed and clean up the wiring. Can anyone here recommend a luthier in Germany who knows how to work on Parkers and especially the piezo electronics?

@vaya I can’t agree more with @mmmguitar !! So jealous about this one ! I’m in Europe too and if you ever sell this one just hit me up! By the way do you keep a Parker df alert on eBay ? I think I’ll start doing this for European Union. Congrats again on wining this beauty and welcome to the forum !

vaya wrote: Wed Sep 18, 2024 12:33 pm It would still be cool to make it an Adrian Belew signature if a Sustaniac fits into the neck routing and RMC saddles are still available.

That can all be done; with the switching tone pot able to be reproduced - You'll just have the two extra switch holes leftover; which could be mag/mix/13 pin and S1/S2 for the hex side of things. You'll also have to mount the PolyDrive I to a plate as the Graph Tech one is. Hopefully some German users here and in the FB groups (if you ask there) can recommend someone for the job. In the meantime, it seems like you have most of the Graph Tech parts necessary for getting the magnetic, piezo, and 13 pin circuits working on the guitar.

I can't clearly see how the pickups are mounted: Does the neck pickup sit significantly lower in the rout than the bridge does? If it does, or if there's a shim or anything to suggest that the factory rout was deeper, then that would more strongly confirm the guitar being a DFAB842 which someone conspicuously removed all the original electronics from. Again: This is one of the coolest Parker finds I've seen someone come across; and I am very happy that you shared it with us.

mmmguitar wrote: Wed Sep 18, 2024 12:47 pm Does the neck pickup sit significantly lower in the rout than the bridge does?

The neck pickup sits at about 3mm from the top of the pickup to the body, the bridge is about 6mm. I took some pictures of the routing. The mounting screws go straight into the wood without any thread inserts. You can also see the imprint of the pole pieces from the previous ones.

I found something interesting. A similar custom-order DF822? in pearl white was sold on a Singaporean classifieds site 2 years ago. It has a Sustaniac pickup and the knob and switch layout of the Adrian Belew model.

https://www.carousell.com.hk/p/parker-g ... ap_index=8
This is becoming a real rabbit hole haha!

vaya wrote: Wed Sep 18, 2024 1:47 pm This is becoming a real rabbit hole haha!

Agreed. The original routing under each of the pickups appears to be for the double fillister pole piece arrangement Parker was using for the last two years or so of production; in which Seymour Duncan replaced Dimarzio as the OEM pickup supplier. It looks like the routing for the Lace Deathbucker set's mounting tabs (which appear to have been mostly cut off, with the holes re-drilled and tapped closer to the main housing) was done later on. So it would now *seem* that the guitar was originally ordered as a stock DF842, with the exception of the Belew control arrangement being spec'd, and then subjected to mods which either weren't completed, or which had random parts removed at some point prior to this most recent sale.

Because the US-built Parkers had been relegated to build-to-order purchases through the retail dealer network in this final era of production, I think we can expect to see a few other odd ducks from the time periodically turn up.

Man, I wish I had the means back then to take advantage of the custom shop. Looking through old Facebook uploads, there were some really cool ones like a 7-string with the regular Flys body or the HSH Dragonfly that was posted here not too long ago. In Philip McKnight's video he said there were a bunch of things they could do for a relatively small upcharge.

@mmmguitar I have questions about parts for a DF842AB build. I have parts for the graphtech hexpander and ordered a sustainiac kit. I found a backplate with a cut-out for the battery box and switch. I know about the modified push-pull and octave pots. What else would I need?

What type of screw is used to hold the selector switch and 13-pin jack on the Adrian Belew Parker Fly? The silver Phillips screws don't go with the other black hardware, and the hex drive screws look better and last longer.

vaya wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2024 8:49 am I have parts for the graphtech hexpander and ordered a sustainiac kit. I found a backplate with a cut-out for the battery box and switch. I know about the modified push-pull and octave pots. What else would I need?

Because you're not using a PolyDrive kit, it comes down to whether you want to reproduce the PolyDrive's controls exactly with a mag/piezo blend pot and master volume pot (which will need to be dual gang in the case of the Acousti-Phonic), if you wish to include a 13 pin volume (which the Belew models lack), and what you want to use your guitar's extra switch holes for. Otherwise, you seem to have everything in mind.

Please let us know when you get started on that project; so I can tag in other posters with pertinent experience. I got really lucky with my first Fly installation and then, later on, realized I had sabotaged my future self with overlapping wire runs when I decided to revise the switching scheme (I ended up having to reincorporate segments of Sustainiac wires I had shortened - Thankfully, I had saved the clippings). I don't intend to frighten you when I say that the extra lengths of wire Graph Tech uses in their quick-connector harnesses invites signal noise problems in Sustainiac installations (you'll simply clip them to length once you've settled on your runs, while trying to arrive as close to zero overlap in wire runs between the Graph Tech and Sustainiac circuits as you can).

vaya wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2024 8:49 am What type of screw is used to hold the selector switch and 13-pin jack on the Adrian Belew Parker Fly? The silver Phillips screws don't go with the other black hardware, and the hex drive screws look better and last longer.

If it's indeed a US Oak Grigsby/Fender switch, the selector switch mounting screws would be 6-32 x 5/8". It may be worth checking with any guitar stores local to you to see if their techs keep a parts box which may have a pair of black ones. You could also always go the DIY route of experimenting with painting your chrome hardware screws, nuts, and washers (which I've resorted to at various times for personal projects; when the cost of sourcing them in black included shipping which was more than the parts).

The Belew's 13 pin jack is mounted in a recessed hole of diameter sufficient to accommodate the cable plug housing, via a pair of countersunk H1.5 hex screws, without a metal plate - and the PolyDrive jack is actually unthreaded for those screws (they screw into a pair of plastic nuts which force the jack against the mounting hole - I actually greatly dislike how it's mounted; because the assembly makes it impossible to service easily). However, those screw dimensions don't apply in this case; because your guitar has a big hole drilled in the body for the Hexpander mounting plate, in which the Hexpander's jack casing is threaded. But it seems you're only wanting to replace the screws with black, hex head ones? If I'm not misunderstanding, you can confirm the screw size and threading by emailing Gray at [email protected]. I unfortunately no longer have any Hexpander-equipped guitars on hand I can take measurements from.

Belew 13 pin jack mounting, vs yours:

mmmguitar wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2024 11:42 am it comes down to whether you want to reproduce the PolyDrive's controls

I think I would go for a replica as close as possible without RMC components as the saddles are not available and the Poly Drive I would have to be imported to Germany for an unreasonable amount of money (30% of what I paid for the guitar!)

mmmguitar wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2024 11:42 am the selector switch mounting screws would be 6-32 x 5/8"

I just measured the current screws and that checks out.

mmmguitar wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2024 11:42 am you can confirm the screw size and threading by emailing Gray at [email protected].

This is a good idea.

mmmguitar wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2024 11:42 am Please let us know when you get started on that project.

It depends on when I have all the parts ready, but as soon as I am ready I will post.

vaya wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2024 1:02 pm I think I would go for a replica as close as possible without RMC component

Alright. So with a Graph Tech setup, you'll need a dual gang, center detent 250kΩ blend pot for the piezo volume-output pins on the Acousti-Phonic board and the magnetic signal output from the selector switch, and an additional dual gang 250kΩ volume pot to act as a master volume for the magnetic and piezo signals outputted from each gang of the blend pot (which is actually functioning more as a pair of reverse-wired volume pots, in this case). The reason for the stacked pots because the controls for the magnetic pickup signal in the Acousti-Phonic signal chain are all pre-conversion to a low impedance signal; whereas the output for the piezo volume pot is post-conversion (which Graph Tech went with so that you could use a common and more versatile 250kΩ pot value in different wiring schemes) - So the signals have to remain electrically isolated until they're both converted at the output stage of the preamp.

For comparison: The RMC PolyDrive kit comes with 5, 10, and 20kΩ pots to be used as blend and master volume/tone pots between the buffered mag and piezo signals in the manner of an active pickup setup; and both Belew models use this.

The two main differences you'll experience are

1. There will be more treble frequency loss using the 250kΩ pots for the magnetic pickup signal. Stacked 500/250kΩ pots exist - but I don't know what your availability in Germany would be. You may also end up experimenting with high pass filters between the input and output lugs of the volume pot gangs to mitigate the loading effect of using two volume pots in tandem.

2. The piezo signal won't be affected by the magnetic circuit tone pot (which is pulling double duty as a Sustainiac mode switch). If it's any consolation, I never use the piezo "tone" knob on my Belew; and wouldn't miss it. Another option would be to use one of your guitar's extra mini switch holes to control the harmonic mode of the Sustainiac; which would free the second gang of the push-pull pot for use as a piezo tone control, and not require disassembly for the mod I posted.

mmmguitar wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2024 1:44 pm 1. There will be more treble frequency loss using the 250kΩ pots for the magnetic pickup signal. Stacked 500/250kΩ pots exist - but I don't know what your availability in Germany would be. You may also end up experimenting with high pass filters between the input and output lugs of the volume pot gangs to mitigate the loading effect of using two volume pots in tandem.

Would this 500/250K pot I found on Thonmann do the trick?
https://www.thomann.de/intl/allparts_ct ... 9&reload=1

mmmguitar wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2024 1:44 pm I never use the piezo "tone" knob on my Belew; and wouldn't miss it.

I also set the piezo in my other Flys to a sound I like and never really change it. The Bourns 500k Stereo Dual Gang Push/Pull Pot is also available in Germany.

So that's two 500/250K pots and the 500k dual-gang push/pull pot. Am I correct, and do you happen to know the SKU's?

vaya wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2024 3:18 pm Would this 500/250K pot I found on Thonmann do the trick?
https://www.thomann.de/intl/allparts_ct ... 9&reload=1

That concentric pot is for stacked controls (like the piezo volume/tone knob on pre-refined Flys). It also looks as though the pot shaft might not be long enough to fit through the guitar's top and have the pair of knobs fit onto the ends.

The mag/piezo blend pot would be a product such as this; with a single shaft/knob controlling both signals.

The "master" volume pot, however, would be listed as "dual gang" or a single shaft "blend" pot without a detent, such as the Alpha 250k blend pot linked here. In this case, "blend" refers to one wiring possibility in which the center output terminal of one gang is soldered to another - But if you keep each gang isolated to a single signal input/output/common ground, it allows you to attenuate two signals simultaneously with a single knob.

The Fender/CTS 250/500kΩ split shaft pot I see listings for unfortunately has too short a pot shaft to fit through the top of your guitar without using a forstner bit to thin out the top from inside the control cavity - Hence, I don't recommend it.