the Fly Clone Project

Greetings,

I’m so glad to have found this wonderful forum! The Fly I’m discussing here was recently donated to the community music school where I teach guitar. This instrument is much too nice for renting out to a student, so I have been tasked with figuring out how much it’s worth. I have become very fond of this guitar. I may buy it for myself if it’s within my budget. If not, I’ll help the school sell it according to its fair market value.

I’ve been doing lots of online digging to find out about this particular Fly, but am not having much luck. It seems to be kind of an oddball. The serial number is 149012BMH USA. I believe that indicates a mahogany body (that part is obvious), basswood neck, made in 2002.

Some particular features:
=Unpainted, exposed carbon fiber back and neck. This is the most striking feature. I didn’t come across a single example like this anywhere on the internet.
=Satin finish like a Nitelfy, but it has the multi-finger neck joint and all the regular beveling on the top. It doesn’t even fee like a true satin/matte finish. It's more like a basic oil finish, with the wood grain clearly able to be felt.
=Hard tail bridge.
=Gig bag instead of case.
=Small control plate on back.
=4 knob lay-out and no coil-split function.
=DiMarzio pickups with the 5/8" logo (so the newer models?)

Any information would be most appreciated. This has been my first time playing a Fly, and I love it! Hopefully the five photos uploaded correctly.

Hi @ChrisB, and welcome!

Yes, you are correct in identifying the Fly Classic model and year and, by the look of it, it seems like a one-off finish—@Ken Parker is a creative guy, and through the years he did lots of different tweaks here and there, especially with finishes—this appears to be one of those. Flys usually have a solid finish on the back as opposed to a clearcoat. It’s also possible that it was leftover at the factory and finished after Parker Guitars moved from Wilmington—let’s see if Ken responds; I can ping him if not.

Very cool!

If you do decide to sell it, please let me/us know; I’m interested in the novelty of it. Thanks for sharing this!

Wow that is very cool! Love the back, never seen one like that either. Also it appears to be refined because it doesn’t have the visible wheel on the front, but the knobs are the pre-refined style. But I’m no expert, just a guy looking for a Fly . Plenty of experts on this forum, you’re in the right place!

colliderman wrote: ↑Sun Oct 22, 2023 12:31 pm it appears to be refined because it doesn’t have the visible wheel on the front

There's no trem to require the wheel

mmmguitar wrote: ↑Sun Oct 22, 2023 1:01 pm

colliderman wrote: ↑Sun Oct 22, 2023 12:31 pm it appears to be refined because it doesn’t have the visible wheel on the front

There's no trem to require the wheel

Excellent opportunity for me to test out the facepalm emoji

Yep, it works

vjmanzo wrote: ↑Sun Oct 22, 2023 12:17 pm Hi @ChrisB, and welcome!

Yes, you are correct in identifying the Fly Classic model and year and, by the look of it, it seems like a one-off finish—@Ken Parker is a creative guy, and through the years he did lots of different tweaks here and there, especially with finishes—this appears to be one of those. Flys usually have a solid finish on the back as opposed to a clearcoat. It’s also possible that it was leftover at the factory and finished after Parker Guitars moved from Wilmington—let’s see if Ken responds; I can ping him if not.

Very cool!

If you do decide to sell it, please let me/us know; I’m interested in the novelty of it. Thanks for sharing this!

NO! NO! Its mine! Mine!
*I* want a satin finish fly now, Daddy!"

(to be said in your best Veruca Salt voice)

I love the back of the neck like that!

Beauuuuuuutiful!!!

Thanks to everyone for the quick responses. Much appreciated! It's easy to see why people are so enthralled by these guitars. From one of you, it sounds like Mr. Parker sometimes sometimes chimes in here. It would certainly be fascinating to hear his take on this model.

Is it considered okay to post something in more than one place on this forum? It would be nice to figure out a ballpark value for this guitar. For now, it's fun showing it to students in lessons. Most have never heard of a Parker Fly, much less played one. They're all pretty blown away by its originality, elegance, and playability.

ChrisB wrote: ↑Mon Oct 23, 2023 10:45 am From one of you, it sounds like Mr. Parker sometimes sometimes chimes in here. It would certainly be fascinating to hear his take on this model.

Hi @ChrisB—happy to help. Yes, Ken Parker is a contributor here and a research affiliate in our lab, EGIL. You can learn a bit more about his involvement and Fly Clone in this post. He is very busy (building guitars!), but he does contribute when he can.

ChrisB wrote: ↑Mon Oct 23, 2023 10:45 am Is it considered okay to post something in more than one place on this forum?

We do try to keep similar topics grouped together here, so kindly just keep that in mind—we have some incredible moderators here at Fly Clone that can help keep things tidy. Regarding your interest in the market value, I’d like to recommend that you read some of what’s been discussed as of late in the “What’s This Worth Thread” first to see if that helps.

Thanks very much, I'll check those two links.