That’s a nice bit of perspective. Still, I find myself wondering how many of those working musicians found themselves having to sell their Parkers in the first year of the pandemic, and what they ended up replacing them with.
Future interest in Parker - up or down?
Re: Future interest in Parker - up or down?
Summary of the Parker Guitars speculator market from 2020 onward: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory
Re: Future interest in Parker - up or down?
+1 what @Patzag said—a particular type of person, I think, becomes a contributor on a forum or other group, but it’s probably a very small sample of what’s out there.
I can understand why a person might feel that a guitar is an investment, but I don’t think any financial advisors would agree that a guitar (even a Fly) is a good way to tie up your money. I’d imagine that the “it’s an investment” justification/rationalization is not really the true reason someone buys a Fly; no judgement implied: it’s okay if people say “I just wanna own a lot of guitars!”, but I agree with Marc that the goldrush/hype/fanaticism is off-putting, and, since Flys were made to be played, it does seem like a missed opportunity to put them in a display case.
I’ll just add that I’m also mindful of people who get swept up in the discovery of the Fly who later have some form of buyer’s remorse because it ended up not being their thing or because the Fly itself was troublesome. I wanted Fly Clone to be a resource like the old forum that, of course, facilitated the “hey check this out!” thing as well as the “this is—for real—how you fix an issue with the frets”, ya know? Having Ken involved has also helped us assemble some of the wonderful history of the Fly story, which, even when I bought my first Fly, was being obscured with lore and wrong information. If nothing else, I like that Fly Clone tells a story about being innovative in a field where it’s not easy to innovate! That’s a story worth telling!
Some technical things about the Fly are really nuanced and difficult, and some descriptions about the manufacturing processes are difficult to verify for accuracy; in this regard, being able to ask Ken and Larry for information is incredibly valuable. Closed groups tend to circulate misinformation, which is troubling, which is, also, why Fly Clone content is (always will be!) viewable without membership—there are lots of players out there like the ones Pat described that just want to go find accurate information to get back to playing—they’re not necessarily looking to be a part of an online community, which is fine. As we move closer to providing physical materials, I’m happy that both the parts and the knowledge are housed under one roof that involves Ken and so many others that once worked at Parker Guitars.
I can understand why a person might feel that a guitar is an investment, but I don’t think any financial advisors would agree that a guitar (even a Fly) is a good way to tie up your money. I’d imagine that the “it’s an investment” justification/rationalization is not really the true reason someone buys a Fly; no judgement implied: it’s okay if people say “I just wanna own a lot of guitars!”, but I agree with Marc that the goldrush/hype/fanaticism is off-putting, and, since Flys were made to be played, it does seem like a missed opportunity to put them in a display case.
I’ll just add that I’m also mindful of people who get swept up in the discovery of the Fly who later have some form of buyer’s remorse because it ended up not being their thing or because the Fly itself was troublesome. I wanted Fly Clone to be a resource like the old forum that, of course, facilitated the “hey check this out!” thing as well as the “this is—for real—how you fix an issue with the frets”, ya know? Having Ken involved has also helped us assemble some of the wonderful history of the Fly story, which, even when I bought my first Fly, was being obscured with lore and wrong information. If nothing else, I like that Fly Clone tells a story about being innovative in a field where it’s not easy to innovate! That’s a story worth telling!
Some technical things about the Fly are really nuanced and difficult, and some descriptions about the manufacturing processes are difficult to verify for accuracy; in this regard, being able to ask Ken and Larry for information is incredibly valuable. Closed groups tend to circulate misinformation, which is troubling, which is, also, why Fly Clone content is (always will be!) viewable without membership—there are lots of players out there like the ones Pat described that just want to go find accurate information to get back to playing—they’re not necessarily looking to be a part of an online community, which is fine. As we move closer to providing physical materials, I’m happy that both the parts and the knowledge are housed under one roof that involves Ken and so many others that once worked at Parker Guitars.
Re: Future interest in Parker - up or down?
That seems to be what it comes down to. I share this hope that curious players and owners will continue to find their way to this resource and subsequently return to the echo chambers equipped with the knowledge that the guitar isn’t made from plastic, after all.
Summary of the Parker Guitars speculator market from 2020 onward: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory
