Fly headstock findings

[MadMac]

hello,
while setting up my two fly's i'll found that the classic has classic printed on the headstock...
the deluxe has guitars... under the Parker name...
did some research and only found that the Classic has Classic standing on...
interesting this extra approach...
are there any other fly's with there name on?

Fly Artist 95'

Fly Supreme 95'

Fly Deluxe 95' - Hipshot tuners

Fly Classic 98' - Graphtech tuners -> best

happy flying'
M.

[vjmanzo]

Hi @MadMac; cool, right?!

Yes, a few models had that; we had a thread on the Classic going not too long ago.

The Classic and Supreme had this for a short while. Maybe others? Mysterious!

[jb63]

Interesting question:

What do you like more about the Graphtech tuners? I've never seen them.

[MadMac]

What do you like more about the Graphtech tuners? I've never seen them.

@@jb63
well to make it short... the perfect build quality & different speeds ratios for the strings...
that is engineering... where people think about the needs of the user and not what the creator likes to see....
i‘ll love perfect engineering and if it‘s god i‘ll have no problem to pay some extra money for it... because often it holds a lifetime... and you have a lifetime fun with it... like with the Fly‘s...
all other from Sperzel to Hipshot are half baken... it‘s not worked to the end... where is the ratio... ? why are those two are so hard to turn...
these are the first machine heads that are worth the price.... hence the mention of those...
to me the best on market and if you change... than have a look ... no new holes ... just fit .. comes with all tools and plates you need...
Hipshot was good but Graphtech is killer...
don‘t like to have a expensive super guitar and important parts are not up to date... like the machine heads or the nut ...

A right handed set of Ratio Calibrated Machine Heads for electric guitar that use 6 in-line tuners. It has a two pin casing that can be used as is, or with our InvisoMatch mounting plates. 4 Sets of InvisoMatch mounting plates in brushed aluminum are included to make installation on most guitars fast and accurate by using your existing screw mounting holes.

Ratio - Tuned Machine Heads incorporate different string gauges into the tuning equation. From Low E to High E 39:1, 24:1, 20:1, 35:1, 20:1, 12:1. We balanced the gear ratios to each string simplifying the tuning process. With Ratio, a half turn is a semi-tone! Every string reacts the same to any tuning adjustment. Predictable, precise tuning, on every string.

https://graphtech.com/collections/ratio ... 9589722135

[MadMac]

had to repost here too @ @vjmanzo

FYI—I spoke with @Ken Parker earlier today and, in passing, asked about the “label” differences on the Classic through the years, and he said “I have no idea”.

To me, it sounds like an idea that was championed more so by the marketing team at Parker Guitars during those early years than by Ken and Larry, but I don’t think we’ll ever know for certain.

do we have any old Parker workers who maybe know?
it's interesting... because it needs some extra work...
and why than only for "Classic" ...
no "Artist" nor "Supreme" ... was thinking those expensive and not often build lines will have the name there...
but no only the Classic...
my theory:
the classic is the real master fly ... the wood... the shape ... it's the perfect combination...
a master piece ...
all other ... and if they are more expensive... are copy's of the classic...
the "Classic" is the real deal...
go get a Classic now... these are the true Parker wonders hehe
they play by themself... you only have to put your fingers on and bam...
the Fly wonder happen...

well the differences between my two fly's are:
the classic has a smaller neck !
the classic smells better...
the classic sounds fatter...
but i'll love also my deluxe ...

thx
M.

[vjmanzo]

Haha I’m loving your various theories, @MadMac, and, as I mentioned, the one person who I’d trust to remember this, @Ken Parker, said he has no record of why that logo was done on some guitars and not others.

Now...regarding your theory about the archetypal “master Fly”...Ken has confirmed on numerous occasions that the Fly he intended to mass-produce was the Fly Deluxe with a redwood neck and a poplar body...that was the first production Fly from 1993. He made the first batch of around 60 Flys and, when the next batch was made without him selecting the redwood pieces, when the Flys were finished, there were certain Flys in that batch that produced wolf tones, which is not uncommon for redwood. Sadly, you can’t really tell if redwood will produce wolf tones until you finish the instrument! Ken must have intuitively been selecting “better” pieces of wood for he first batch of Deluxes, but when that job was given to others in his team, according to Ken: some of the Flys had the strangest, unearthly sympathetic vibrations. Those Flys with wolf tones were destroyed, and Ken decided that redwood was too much of a variable for a production line so he switched to using basswood for the necks. Parker Guitars almost went out of business in 1993 over that!! Regardless: if there is a “master Fly”, in Ken’s book, the redwood-neck Deluxe is probably it!



To further debunk your theory (which...again: I love!), Ken did not want to call the Fly Classic “the Fly Classic”; he wanted to reserve “Classic” for the Fly Nylon “Classical” model that was introduced shortly thereafter. It was, unfortunately, one of those situations where Ken’s opinions were subordinated to those responsible for marketing. There are some notable examples of this, sadly; for example, Ken wanted all of the Fly finishes to be textured like the “Fly Hardtail” model (a.k.a. Stealth”), and, for a time, wanted to use denim as a finish (according to Ken, roughly half the cost of a Fly and potentially all guitars was/is spent on the finish). Did you know that Ken never wanted to name the Fly Mojo “the Mojo”, but “Fly Mojo” it is! Ken also wanted to call bolt-on neck Flys the “Bolt” instead of the NiteFly (e.g. “I gotta Fly...I gotta Bolt”)!

By the time some people are done trying to wrap their head around one of Ken’s ideas, he’s already moved on to a few more ideas! And you probably already sensed this: Ken has strong and well-reasoned opinions, but he’d much rather spend his time improving the instruments/tooling than arguing with administrators and execs about details like that. So, every now and then, we come across some unique aspect of the Fly (like the Classic headstock logo!) and have to wonder if that was “a Ken and Larry’s idea” or if it was an idea that a marketing consultant suggested...Parker Fly Luggage Tag anyone?!

[MadMac]

Haha I’m loving your various theories, @MadMac, and, as I mentioned, the one person who I’d trust to remember this, @Ken Parker, said he has no record of why that logo was done on some guitars and not others.

Now...regarding your theory about the archetypal “master Fly”...Ken has confirms on numerous occasions that the Fly he intended to mass-produce was the Fly Deluxe with a redwood neck and a poplar body...that was the first production Fly from 1993. He made the first batch of around 60 Flys and, when the next batch was made without him selecting the redwood pieces, when the Flys were finished, there were certain Flys in that batch that produced wolf tones, which is not uncommon for redwood. Sadly, you can’t really tell if redwood will produce wolf tones until you finish the instrument! Ken must have intuitively been selecting “better” pieces of wood for he first batch of Deluxes, but when that job was given to others in his team, according to Ken: some of the Flys had the strangest, unearthly sympathetic vibrations. Those Flys with wolf tones were destroyed, and Ken decided that redwood was too much of a variable for a production line so he switched to using basswood for the necks. Parker Guitars almost went out of business in 1993 over that!! Regardless: if there is a “master Fly”, in Ken’s book, the redwood-neck Deluxe is probably it!

To further debunk your theory (which...again: I love!), Ken did not want to call the Fly Classic “the Fly Classic”; he wanted to reserve “Classic” for the Fly Nylon “Classical” model that was introduced shortly thereafter. It was, unfortunately, one of those situations where Ken’s opinions were subordinated to those responsible for marketing. There are some notable examples of this, sadly; for example, Ken wanted all of the Fly finishes to be textured like the “Fly Hardtail” model (a.k.a. Stealth”), and, for a time, wanted to use denim as a finish (according to Ken, roughly half the cost of a Fly and potentially all guitars was/is spent on the finish). Did you know that Ken never wanted to name the Fly Mojo “the Mojo”, but “Fly Mojo” it is! Ken also wanted to call bolt-on neck Flys the “Bolt” instead of the NiteFly (e.g. “I gotta Fly...I gotta Bolt”)!

thank you!
so happy that you know all this info and share it here...
love it... those insider info...
if you're in love with your guitar... you want to know it all...
well after reading your info twice... i'll see the answer in it...
you confirmed it... the first where amazing but still not the finished line...
and when the classic was build first time... all was coming together...
the mahogany wood the basswood neck ... the mechanics and finally the master tone...
no disharmonies anymore in the wood... the perfect synergy ...
after the first build ... all involved noticed ... that's the perfect guitar the perfect fly the classic fly
now it makes sense ... why they named it "Classic" secretly ...
without notice to Ken...
it's this insider sign on a guitar... once you know ... you recon it...
and you know that is one of this master build guitars...
you have to own...
when i'll open'd her first time... i'll felt the magic ... the mahogany wood smell... the energy...
and when i'll touched her... she respond with a warm vibration...
after cleaning her and setting her up proper... she was so thankful that someone removed the dust & dirt from 25 years using her...
she respond with a magical warm long sustain when touching the strings...
you could feel the happy vibration going through the wood...
a true Fly Classic it is... hence her name...

and as it looks like ... not many transblue classics are made...
because the magic ocean blue paint was gone...
and the new wasn't magic anymore...
without magic ... no true classic...
so they switched to transred...
and the "Classic" was gone...
never mind ... but this transblue is magic...

how it change the color with the light...

i'll love my Fly's ...
M.

[mmmguitar]

I think I can safely say that you like your Fly Classic. Mine is also the best Fly I’ve owned, out of six. Let’s hope my guitars don’t see your posts and become jealous.

[MadMac]

YES @ @mmmguitar
my wife is jealous... share the bed with a Fly

but there some others with the classic ... vibe...

0F10203D-6FAE-47AB-99E2-602DA75381E6.jpeg (103.46 KiB) Viewed 12711 times

[vjmanzo]

... all involved noticed ... that's the perfect guitar the perfect fly the classic fly
now it makes sense ... why they named it "Classic" secretly ...
without notice to Ken...

great...now we have “Parker Fly Fake News”!!

Love it, @MadMac!! And how wonderful to discover that both da Vinci and Jimi Hendrix had Flys!!!

[MadMac]

another....
Nitefly ... only seen the first 3 years?
1997 -2000

thx
M.

[vjmanzo]

Great, @MadMac; I can confirm that my 1997 NFVM3 has this logo as well.

[MadMac]

hello,
well another finding...
the Fly Supreme above from 96' has Guitars...
while the 97 and a 99 have Supreme on headstock
interesting...
so looks like it got used from 97 to 2000-2003?
Supreme 97'

Supreme 99'

M.

[Barry]

Just as an addendum to this thread and to further illustrate the Marketing interference in the brand, my 2005 PM20's head stock carries the "Hornet" designation, which appears to have been dropped shortly after it was introduced. So it looks like it was to have been a campaign of some sort, which fizzled out:

[MadMac]

many thx @ @Barry,
also very interesting finding!
many thx for sharing it...
love those details...
thx
M

[flyguy99]

What do you like more about the Graphtech tuners? I've never seen them.

@@jb63
well to make it short... the perfect build quality & different speeds ratios for the strings...
that is engineering... where people think about the needs of the user and not what the creator likes to see....
i‘ll love perfect engineering and if it‘s god i‘ll have no problem to pay some extra money for it... because often it holds a lifetime... and you have a lifetime fun with it... like with the Fly‘s...
all other from Sperzel to Hipshot are half baken... it‘s not worked to the end... where is the ratio... ? why are those two are so hard to turn...
these are the first machine heads that are worth the price.... hence the mention of those...
to me the best on market and if you change... than have a look ... no new holes ... just fit .. comes with all tools and plates you need...
Hipshot was good but Graphtech is killer...
don‘t like to have a expensive super guitar and important parts are not up to date... like the machine heads or the nut ...

A right handed set of Ratio Calibrated Machine Heads for electric guitar that use 6 in-line tuners. It has a two pin casing that can be used as is, or with our InvisoMatch mounting plates. 4 Sets of InvisoMatch mounting plates in brushed aluminum are included to make installation on most guitars fast and accurate by using your existing screw mounting holes.

Ratio - Tuned Machine Heads incorporate different string gauges into the tuning equation. From Low E to High E 39:1, 24:1, 20:1, 35:1, 20:1, 12:1. We balanced the gear ratios to each string simplifying the tuning process. With Ratio, a half turn is a semi-tone! Every string reacts the same to any tuning adjustment. Predictable, precise tuning, on every string.

https://graphtech.com/collections/ratio ... 9589722135

@MadMac Which graphtech set did you use?

1) The staggered head posts:
String post length to string hole: 5 AND 6, 0.827” (21mm) - 3 AND 4 0.787", (20mm) - 1 AND 2, 0.748" (19mm)
https://graphtech.com/products/ratio-el ... 9728986135

or

2) The all the same length head posts:
string post length to string hole: 0.910” (23mm)
https://graphtech.com/products/prl-8721 ... 9715485719

[MadMac]

Hello,
well i‘ll use the staggered once…
working very well and i‘ll changed all tuners on my other guitars too…
to me the best tuners out there… great engineering … worth every penny…
thx
M.

[flyguy99]

Thanks for quick reply. I just ordered a set of the staggered posts. Cheers!