the Fly Clone Project

Hey all. I just spoke with a guy who owns a number of flys who said he had a fly where the truss rod would not turn any farther and was forever slightly bowed. He says it's the only one he put heavier springs on and says he thinks that is what may have caused it. Also causing finish cracks where the neck meets the body. Do you think that's at all possible or more likely coincidence?

Sidenote and maybe this is wishful thinking but...I wonder if the trem springs last s bit longer than we think? After talking to at least 20 sellers of flys, only one said he didn't have the extra 10 spring that came with it. Do you think it's likely that they are pretty durable or more likely it's just because 10s were never used and they just fail to mention the 9s they had been replacing? I know it's still unlikely that anyone but vjmanzo can help with the springs but I'm still searching for.metal stamping company to see if they can help at all.

Hey @InsideInfo,

I don’t think the string tension is an issue even with heavier strings; we did a lot of testing on the truss, wood compression, and the composite reinforcement when we did the 12-string Fly mod a few years back, and the added tension from a set of heavy strings isn’t going to cause issues. @Ken Parker has a post in the “Ken’s Corner” section of this site about some potential fixes. I’ve encountered issues with the truss twice before with bad neck bowing and horribly high action—in both cases, my techs were able to get them back with super low action using the approach Ken described.

The wood does move a little hear and there and, on those early Flys in particular, the finish is known to crack when this occurs. It’s generally not a sign of something slipping or failing (other than the paint!).

I think it’s more likely that 1) people never read the manual and also 2) never understood that the spring in their guitar was rated for a set 9s, and 3) that the thin piece of metal in their case with a “10” on it was a spring

FYI—according to Ken, Guitar Center and other retailers used to routinely dump all of the case candy for the Flys in a drawer and sold many (if not most) Flys without these things.

The springs are eventually all going to go kaput, but, yes, you’re right that some last longer than others depending on use. We’re making headway simulating the failure points of the springs and, in general, gaining a thorough understanding of what the springs should be doing as well as which materials can be used to make improvements to the springs (if possible). I’m feeling good that we’ll be able to design a spring that meets or exceeds the functionality of the original ones, but you raise part of the main problem: we have no way to assess where a spring sits in its life-cycle.

Cool that's all great information! I am looking at a used one with those cracks you mention and now that you say that happens on earlier ones I don't flinch quite as much when I see that.

You just refuse to give me warm and fuzzy feeling about these springs!!!

As I buy more Parkers I feel like I'm bound to get one where the action is not good so I'll read up on the post you mentioned. As always thank you!

InsideInfo wrote: Fri Nov 13, 2020 9:41 pm You just refuse to give me warm and fuzzy feeling about these springs!!!

Hahaha Hey—I’m in the same boat you are so, come Hell or high water: we’re gonna find a solution that works well, is accessible to everyone, and ensures that we’ll never run into this issue again!