the Fly Clone Project

Hello Everyone.

I am new guy here - Just bought my first Parker - Transparent Red 1997 Fly.
Thank you to the guy who posted the Allen wrench vibrato arm project thread - my Fly didn't arrive with a whammy but I made my own from the wrench from the Amazon link.

I'm also in the process of getting the Fishman 1/4" jack replaced so this thing will split when using a stereo cable out. Again, Flyclone to the rescue here Thank you! Apparently, the part is still available from Stewmac too.
I purchased this '97 by way of Reverb from Jeremy out of Kansas. Been watching and learning a bunch from Ken's Archtoppery YT channel.

Question: Has anyone swapped the Gen1 Dimarzios out for Gen 2 or other? I really want a fatter, round jazz guitar sound out of the neck pickup. I see sets available for under $200....
So I guess the concern would be - Did the pre-amp change when Parker went to the Gen2s? And/or does anyone have another recommendation regarding upgrading the humbuckers?
It appears that Dimarzio will make a Parker compatible out of several of their humbucker offerings. I will probably call them.

Man, what a great neck! Wow.
Have a blessed day. cb

Oh yeah - the picture....

Oh and I AM reading this stuff....
viewtopic.php?p=8274#p8274

Welcome, @cbrenner. I hope you'll let us know how you're getting along with your Classic once you have everything refurbished and dialed in. You seem to be on the right track.

Concerning the pickups: I've found that getting a "fatter, round jazz guitar sound" out of a Fly is moreso a combination of amp and tone control settings, than pickup selection - Even the Fly "Jazz" model is essentially your exact guitar (with some gold hardware, and no trem). The Gen 2s are higher output; and more likely to distort your amp if you don't turn down the input gain. The iteration of piezo preamp won't affect your choice of magnetic pickup in the guitar.

You can buy a range of Fly pickups from Dimarzio, Seymour Duncan, and winders more firmly in the made-to-order market; such as Pete Biltoft or Bare Knuckle Pickups.

mmmguitar wrote: ↑Mon Mar 04, 2024 3:03 pm I've found that getting a "fatter, round jazz guitar sound" out of a Fly is moreso a combination of amp and tone control settings, than pickup selection

I agree with this—also, lowering the pickup height works for me (with 10s). Good luck and welcome!

Turn the tone down a smidgen and you’re golden.

cbrenner wrote: ↑Mon Mar 04, 2024 1:19 pm Hello Everyone.

I am new guy here - Just bought my first Parker - Transparent Red 1997 Fly.

Congrats, cbrenner. Yeah the Fly is an unreal player. The general population just doesn't know what they are missing.

Thanks for the reply Everyone - and the Welcomes.
I'm running D'Addario 1/2 rounds with a heavier e-string through either a Quilter Superblock or Mach 3 pro head - into a Egnater cabs that I have either offering of Celestion's Neodymium speakers - 12" creamback or the copperback - it doesn't sound bad just thinking it could use a bit more midrange. I may try some comparisons between the other guitars I currently own. Maybe I need some perspective - heh.

So I take it the pre-amp didn't change between the 97 (Gen 1 PUs) and the 98 (Gen 2 PUs) - can someone confirm? - the schematics on this website don't seem to betray any change to the pre-amp and therefore I should be able to simply do a direct replacement of Gen 2s if I go that route, eh?

This is a great site for info - thanks Manzo and everyone for the posts.

mmmguitar wrote: ↑Mon Mar 04, 2024 3:03 pm Welcome, @cbrenner. I hope you'll let us know how you're getting along with your Classic once you have everything refurbished and dialed in. You seem to be on the right track.

Concerning the pickups: I've found that getting a "fatter, round jazz guitar sound" out of a Fly is moreso a combination of amp and tone control settings, than pickup selection - Even the Fly "Jazz" model is essentially your exact guitar (with some gold hardware, and no trem). The Gen 2s are higher output; and more likely to distort your amp if you don't turn down the input gain. The iteration of piezo preamp won't affect your choice of magnetic pickup in the guitar.

You can buy a range of Fly pickups from Dimarzio, Seymour Duncan, and winders more firmly in the made-to-order market; such as Pete Biltoft or Bare Knuckle Pickups.

Ah yes, I have not tried this as yet. Thanks.

vjmanzo wrote: ↑Mon Mar 04, 2024 3:24 pm

mmmguitar wrote: ↑Mon Mar 04, 2024 3:03 pm I've found that getting a "fatter, round jazz guitar sound" out of a Fly is moreso a combination of amp and tone control settings, than pickup selection

I agree with this—also, lowering the pickup height works for me (with 10s). Good luck and welcome!

cbrenner wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2024 9:07 am So I take it the pre-amp didn't change between the 97 (Gen 1 PUs) and the 98 (Gen 2 PUs) - can someone confirm? - the schematics on this website don't seem to betray any change to the pre-amp and therefore I should be able to simply do a direct replacement of Gen 2s if I go that route, eh?

Because the pickup wires are soldered to the selector switch contacts and a pot ground, you swap their connections out as you would with any other guitar (aside from being careful working around the delicate ribbon PCB from the 1990s).

Just to be clear: The piezo preamp is later in the signal chain; and only buffers the magnetic pickup signal outputted from the volume pot enough to balance with the piezo signal when they're summed in mono mode - It's not a boost, or even necessarily colors the sound of the magnetic pickups beyond outputting a lower impedance signal.

Assuming everything else under the hood of your '90s Flys are stock, the only difference between those two years would be if the revision of the mechanical "parasite plug" component for the output jack had been installed in the '98. Either way, it won't affect pickup replacement.