Greetings from 1st Time Parker Owner

[Deke]

Greetings All!

Parkers came out when I was playing a Telecaster full time and the look really turned me off. Later on, realized I secretly always wanted one but by then the window had closed for owning one and gave up on the idea. Later on, decided to save up my coin and finally purchased a 1997 Fly Deluxe Plum specimen in early Sept 2022. Exceeded all expectations and is the best guitar I've ever owned. Thank you VJ for helping me get registered and look forward to reading and learning from all on the site who share their knowledge.

Best Regards and Best Wishes!

[Patzag]

Welcome!!
What a beautiful instrument. Gorgeous color and it seems to be in great shape. A testament to these amazing instruments.
Welcome to the forum too. Tight knit community of Parker lovers and source of lots of data and support.
And VJ is the perfect host!
Looking forward to clips and sharing of your experiences with your new Fly!

[Deke]

Greets Patzag,

I'm actually horrified of damaging it. It has no chips, dings, scratches...just pick swirls and patina. I'm afraid I'm going to do something to it..and at this price... I've played it every day since early Sept but I cannot get used to the Gen 1's. They aren't even "musical" to "my" ears. I bought it knowing about the Gen 1's but since I live in the boonies (no guitar stores), I figured I would resell if it didn't work. So far, the guitar outperforms wildest expectations. It's just the pickups I can't stand...anymore.

Question: Is it true that DiMarzio will still make pickups to fit? I only know Seymour-Duncan pickups, but I think I want something like a Lil '59 (Single-coil humbucker) "Andy Timmons sound" in the Neck and a Super Distortion in the bridge..or something a bit warmer. Full humbucker Cruiser style in neck and AT-1 in bridge perhaps?

Anyone who reads this ... would you have any suggestions for DiMarzio pickups that sound like the SD options above? I would be grateful for any feedback/ideas.

Thank you very much in advance for any guidance and Best Regards

[vjmanzo]

Hi Deke! Welcome! That is one fine Italian plum!! Smokin'! Congrats!

I'm prepared to lovingly advocate for the poor Gen 1's! Sure, they may sound like icicles to some people, but with a little adjustment they'll warm right up Before you go swapping them, Deke, have you tried lowering them all the way? Some people set 'em high and let 'em fry, and, IMO, that's not really so flattering for a Fly. The manual explains how to adjust the pickup height in case that process is unfamilar.

There's a main pickup thread linked in the FAQ section that you may find helpful as well as #PickupPreferences. I guess one important takeaway is that your beloved pickups might not be so beloved in a Fly. Having said all of that, yes, there are lots of pickup companies that will wind a new pickup to your liking including DiMarzio—I've personally had a good experience ordering pickups for my fly from Vintage Vibe; they can wind something custom to your liking.

Also, thanks for the kind words Deke and Patzag Glad we're all here!

[mmmguitar]

I think I want something like a Lil '59 (Single-coil humbucker) "Andy Timmons sound" in the Neck and a Super Distortion in the bridge..or something a bit warmer. Full humbucker Cruiser style in neck and AT-1 in bridge perhaps?

Anyone who reads this ... would you have any suggestions for DiMarzio pickups that sound like the SD options above? I would be grateful for any feedback/ideas.

The AT-1 is supposedly based on the Duncan JB that Timmons used in Danger Danger. If you email Dimarzio, Steve will have a recommendation for which full sized neck humbucker is closest to the Cruiser. I use the Bluesbucker in the neck for what I think you're describing (it's essentially a fat single coil with a hum cancelling dummy coil mounted next to it; so there's close to zero output drop when you coil-split it). The novelty of its design allows it to cover Les Paul PAF and Strat Texas Special ground pretty well.

As far as I know, Dimarzio will still make any of the mentioned pickups for the Fly. Let us know what they say. In the worst case scenario, I know you can modify the regular versions of those pickups to fit.

[billy]

Congrats! Italian plum ftw!

Fwiw you can fit sd pups (not high output) in your fly but it takes some careful doing and an extra threaded wood insert (which is not commercially available). I made some myself using 4-40 inserts, drilling and retapping to 5-40 dimensions. Thread pitch is the same, just diameters are slightly different.

Agree 1000% though that you will be well served to play with pickup heights and eq knobs on your amp first.

The settings that work for your tele will sound not so good with your fly- the fly is more evenly balanced and ends up sounding trebly and thin with eq used with other guitars. Start there, pup swap as a last resort.

[Gregsaab]

Welcome! Was this the Fly that was in Texas? I was following one on Reverb - seller had pictures of it outside in a driveway.

[Deke]

Greetings All,

1. @VJmanzo. Hi! . Yep. I checked them before I posted. They are already completely down . But good to ask I had a chuckle at "icicles". . To "me", they sound like a hand grinder on metal I have hearing loss so ....
2. @All - I emailed DiMarzio yesterday. Will post what I find out.
3. @billy - Yeah, I've spent three weeks twiddling volumes and tone and going through all the presets on my GT-1000 and S-Gear. "Sometimes" I can make it sound like I like, but not completely...and that gets into my brain after a while. Don't want to do any surgery in case I sell...
4. @Greggsaab - Nope. It "was" a Reverb listing though... from Indiana. Bought it on the 4th of Sept.
5. @mmmguitar - Thanks for the tip about going darker than I might think. Good to know. Yeah I like the "hollow" PAF tone I get from SD Cool Rails and Lil 59's. I gave that info in my email so waiting to hear back from them. I emailed sales@dimarzio. You mention a "Steve". Have an email address for him in case sales does not respond in a timely manner?

Really appreciate the feedback and great info. Truly. I gratefully all the help I can get Will post again when I have heard back from DiMarzio.

Best Regards/Best Wishes!

[mmmguitar]

@Deke, I used to reach Steve Blucher at [email protected], but haven’t needed to for a few years, now. Here’s a post elaborating a little more. You can order through a dealer, too - Though any order backlog on Dimarzio’s end can make it a crapshoot as far as how long you wait for the pickups to be wound.

Just in case you didn’t know/check: You can remove the mounting screws of the pickups, pull them out of the routs, then remove the foam spacers adhered to the bottom of the pickup baseplates before remounting them. This backs them off a little further from the strings. I have different pickups in each of my Flys, and they’re all mounted without foam; flush with the bottom of the rout (as low as they can go).

[Deke]

Hey All,
DiMarzio sales just got back to me. Text Below. I tried to find a thread to post this update but could not find one. Please someone do so if there is one and this is new/relevant. DiMarzio agreed with you @mmmguitar Much, much cheaper than I ever had dared to hope!

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I am sorry it’s taken so long to get back to you. Parker replacement pickups are available, although not to the exact models you listed. The construction of the Fly will cause an AT-1 to be much brighter-sounding than in a standard solid-body. I think you may get better results with a Gen 2 bridge pickup, which is warmer and a little louder than the first-gen bridge pickup. The model number is PHWP2.

There is no full-size humbucker with performance similar to the Cruiser, but you might get good results with the Fly version of the PAF Pro. The model number is PHW151. It will also be considerably brighter in a Fly than in a more standard guitar.

All Parker replacements can be ordered directly from us if you are in the US. MAP price in the US is $79.99 each plus shipping.

DiMarzio Inc.

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[mmmguitar]

DiMarzio agreed with you @mmmguitar

Thank you very much! I’ll quote/link to your post in the Dimarzio PSA thread.

[vjmanzo]

I’ll second that—thanks so much for sharing this info, @Deke! Very great to hear that DiMarzio is still doing this!