Thoughts on the Southern NiteFly

[vjmanzo]

I’m curious if anyone here has owned/played the Southern NiteFly, and, specifically, I’m curious about how it compares to a Telecaster in terms of tone.

My guess is that it has all of the stability and feel a NiteFly with a Telecaster sound. Has anyone owned/tried one?

[jb63]

Just like the Nitefly was called the Stratkiller, I'd say the same for the Southern as Telekiller.

I was able to get all the Steve Cropper stuff out of mine straight into a Roland JC100 with no pedals. I haven't even taken it out of the case in over a year but if anyone wants to play some otis redding albums I guess I'm ready!

[vjmanzo]

Just like the Nitefly was called the Stratkiller, I'd say the same for the Southern as Telekiller.

Exactly what I thought!

[JJ]

Never played one to those, but always wanted to! they're great guitars!

[vjmanzo]

I’ve been keeping an eye out—they don’t seem to come up for sale very often; I suppose a swamp ash Nitefly with the right pickups might be a close equivalent, though I do recall reading an article sometime ago about how the bridge plate is an important factor in achieving that “telecaster tone“.

[jb63]

I've never been able to get my nitefly to sound EXACTLY like its a tele, but I've been able to use Modeling settings on the GP10, Gr55 & VG99 to do it.
Even the VG8 that Joni mitchell took on tour would do that. As far as plug'n'play goes, that tele "sound" really only seems to come from that particular slab of wood with the right amp. I'd never read about the bridge plate but I would totally go with that theory.

[vjmanzo]

Good to know, @jb63! For me, the main allure of a Southern NiteFly over an actual Fender Telecaster is the role that a carbon fiber reinforced neck and fingerboard plays in tuning stability; the stainless steel frets and conical radius fingerboard are also pluses for me over a Fender Telecaster.

I have a ‘52 Reissue Telecaster from the early 1980s and, when I play it, I’m reminded that that neck profile is just not for me; I’m also reminded that, despite frequent pro setups, it doesn’t really stay in tune.

I can mess around with my amp sounds to dial in a more authentic twang sound, but intonation issues are really hard to work with.

[jb63]

You could try swapping in locking tuners. I know for me, living in the desert, I need to crank a truss rod twice a year, even in a carbon-wrapped neck. Its like it was in a trunk in 100° weather sometimes. So setups are way too often. But without a trem, I'd think that a telecaster would be less of a headache. Sell it. Move it on. Buy more Parkers!

[vjmanzo]

Sell it. Move it on. Buy more Parkers!

Now you’re speaking my language!!

[Patzag]

I had a Southern for a while.
Great guitar. Not my bag.
I keep trying to find a single coil tone that I like to PLAY and fail.
I LOVE to listen to it. I even love to listen to what I played, I just can't get used to the feel of Single Coils - whether in a strat or tele.
So I sent it to a better home.

That being said, the quintessential tele tone for me is Robben Ford's Life song. And I was able to duplicate it perfectly with the Southern and my Axe FX.
I wanted to keep the guitar just for that sound!

[CryptCat]

I recently got myself a southern nitefly and I'm still figuring it out. Been a fan of teles forEVER, and I've had a Parker Bronze Fly for the longest time. When I learned that the southern existed, I figured it'd be the best of both worlds. I'm still wrapping my head around the controls. Having three knobs on the control plate and that extra piezo on/off (?) switch on the bottom bout is giving me a lot to play around with. I'm not totally sure I understand what everything does! Maybe this is the place for a newbie to ask a pro for a simple breakdown?

[vjmanzo]

I'm not totally sure I understand what everything does! Maybe this is the place for a newbie to ask a pro for a simple breakdown?

I think the controls are similar to other NiteFlys in that the knobs are mag volume, tone, and piezo volume, and the toggle is mags only, mags + piezo, piezo only. I don’t own one of these instruments so I can’t confirm, but it should use the Fishman Powerchip, which means that if you use a TRS to dual TS cable, you can send mag pickups to one amp and the piezo to another if desired.

[CryptCat]

but it should use the Fishman Powerchip, which means that if you use a TRS to dual TS cable, you can send mag pickups to one amp and the piezo to another if desired.

If that's true, that'll be a whole new frontier for me. I'm going to have to try that!

[Piplodocus]

Yes, that's the controls above, although like most of my Parkers my SNF wiring is modded. So I have a push-pull piezo volume pot instead and with the push-pull out it's standard (works as above), with the push-pull in it bypasses the preamp so I don't need a battery (since I seldom use the piezos) and the mag/pie switch then becomes a kill switch.

Yes, you can use a stereo cable.

Does it sound like a tele? Hard to say cuz I've never actually owned a tele to give a *true* informed opinion! But it definitely sounds more jangly and definitely noticeably more tele-ish than any of my other guitars, and seems to from just "listening to other people play teles". It's certainly tele-like enough I don't feel I need any other tele and (kinda unfortunately) that it won't be my go-to guitar for most stuff because normally I want something less vintage output and twangy. But I love it for what it's good at and also still sounds lovely and more raw/punky when given a load of high-gain.