I bought this guitar from Brockton Music Brockton MA for $849. . I was actually out looking for a neck for my Tele but well you know how these things happen if you're a guitar nut.. (And what are you doing here if you AREN'T?!) I have about 12 other electric guitars. I got this one 2 months ago and haven't played one of the others since. I've been playing since 1963 and this is the best guitar I've ever played. Stays in tune; you can play a barred F chord and it's still in tune without resorting to Buzz Feiten or Earvana madness; the piezo sounds as good as my Ovation collector's series; the 2 humbuckers (by DiMarzio) get the job done; the control layout is just about perfect-only niggle is that the toggle to select mag/piezo/both is between the piezo volume knob and the mag tone control and with my big fingers a little cramped but if THAT'S the biggest complaint... The NiteFly is a bolt-on mahogany body and neck guitar. This differs from most Parkers but it mates nicely with the humbuckers.(there's some other guitar that has mahogany neck and body with hummers isn't there??!!!) Usually with a new guitar you start out playing it exclusively wondering what you ever saw in those others that are stacked in the corner. Then after a week or two you start noticing things that you HAVE to change! Whether its pickups controls tuners (the Parker comes with Sperzels-hallelujah!) or whatever you know what I mean. The Parker is still #1 and will remain so. Another great feature is that the bridge height adjusts with only two screws for the entire assembly. Not that insane 12 screw nightmare that is the Fender-style bridge. This feature makes action tweaks a breeze: The string radius ALWAYS stays the same as the neck. Look at YOUR bridge: Even as a Redneck's teeth ain't it? Nothing I could go on but I've gotten myself in the mood to play writing this review!!! I like most everything: See what I like section for minor quibble.Construction is first rate. Only thing that bothers me is that the 2 E strings aren't the same distance from the fingerboard edges; they lay parallel to the edges but... The Parker bolt on neck can't be ajusted in the skew direction like other bolt-ons because the surface that mates with the guitar remains curved like the rest of the neck. This however privides the benefit of eliminating those transition shoulders that get in your way playing up high on Fender-style necks.As for value I'd say the above review pretty much says it all. I believe that the list of this guitar was around $1450 I got it for $849. (I tried it out and said Hmmm? if this sucker's under a grand I'm buying it. Thinking that no way was it less than fifteen hundred. Store guy says Eight-forty-nine... I say Uh-oh! Here's the gold card...) Bottom Line: If you want an instrument that stays in tune all night (I use a Jim Dunlop 3 millemeter pick and strike the strings with one of the round corners not the pointy one-BTW try that its the best technique advice you'll ever get! Particularly for chords.) Great neck sound and ergonomics (did I forget to mention that that silly shape is very comfortable to wear and the thing is LIGHT unlike that other mahogany guitar! Get one if you hate it I'll buy it! This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com
USA made Mahogany body, basswood bolt-on neck Parker Carbon-fiber fretboard Parker Carbon-fiber coating on the back of the neck 22 Stainless Jumbo Frets Sperzel locking tuners Parker custom vibrato system Seymour Duncan Jazz and JB pickups Fishman active piezo with stereo/mono smart jack Push pull coil tap Magnetic volume Magnetic tone Piezo volume 3 way switch for magnetic pickup selection 3 way switch for mag, mag and piezo, piezo And a partridge in a pear tree! UTILIZATION I've marked the other Fly models as a 10 here. The Nitefly should be a 9.9, but I'm only marking off because they are slightly (and only slightly) less incredible than the Fly. The Nitefly weighs about 6.5 pounds, which is pretty light for most guitars, but not in comparison to the Fly. The Fly also has 24 frets and a set-in neck with no heel, whereas the Nitefly has 22 frets and is bolted on. The extreme high frets on a Fly are just slightly easier to get to. Even with it weighing a bit more than a Fly, this guitar is still very ergonomic. Of course, the vibrato system is to die for. It is very smooth, can get radical, and still stays in tune very well. SOUNDS Here's where a Nitefly shines in comparison to a Fly. The sounds are richer, deeper, more full - a lot like an SG or a Les Paul, only with the capability to split the coils and also use the acoustic sound of the piezo. I think the piezo actually sounds a touch better on my Nitefly. The guitar loses a touch of clarity as compared to the Fly, but makes up for it in ballsiness. I love that the output jack is a smartjack, so it knows whether you are plugging in a stereo or a mono cable, and adjusts output accordingly. If the cable is mono, magnetic and piezo outputs both go to the same amp - one can get some great blended tones that way. If the cable is stereo, one can split the signal to two seperate amps, and that sounds otherworldly good and full. I am a piezo fan for life. OVERALL OPINION Of course I'd buy another one - I already have! My rave about the Nitefly concludes here with reiterating how good the guitar sounds. It plays 99.9999% as good as a Fly, but sounds a bit better. There's a bit of a trade off, but I'm glad I have at least one of each to choose from. I'd really recommend anyone else doing the same - getting at least one of each. These guitars are honestly (in my humble opinion) the best guitars in the world. They are certainly the most advanced, technologically.
