Local Tech/Repair Resource:

[mmmguitar]

This gets asked frequently enough that I may as well try to pile it in one place:

We receive a fair amount of traffic from panicked Fly owners needing repair info. This invariably leads to soliciting local tech and repair person recommendations.

I’ve been wanting to post a list for the past two years or so. I haven’t because, frankly, no one seems to follow up in letting the community know if their issues were resolved by a particular tech or not. Aside from a very short list of people VJ and myself have firsthand experience with, I’m not all that comfortable with just caveat emptor copy-pasting some of the store names I see thrown around willy-nilly in the Facebook groups (e.g. Just because your buddy in Omaha has a guitar store, is no reason to tell a distressed Fly owner in Nova Scotia to mail him their guitar for a jack replacement). If there’s one ethical matter I feel should be stressed, it’s that doing one person a favor by means of doing someone else a disservice seems downright counterproductive to the premise of VJ’s little community knowledge base that we all get to share and contribute to.

There is no shortage of underhanded, lazy, exploitative, and incompetent guitar techs in the world. What no one tells you about working in that particular industry is that most of the business you get is from people who are unhappy with every other tech in the area. Hence, I’d like to see a particular tech or store get a minimum of two vetted, firsthand endorsements from Fly Clone users before I add them to the list in this post. If I’m going to be curating the topic, then I would prefer to not find myself complicit in steering vulnerable guitar owners toward unnecessary disappointments.

Pending/suggested stores and techs/luthiers may be submitted or referenced in subsequent posts.

Vetted Parker Guitar Techs/Repair Persons:

USA

Florida: Mick Donner (formerly of Parker Guitars), Tampa Bay (setup, repair, mods, electronics)
Tom Grose of Palm Beach Gardens has received endorsements, but doesn’t appear to have a site or page other than a LinkedIn.

Tom Grose can be reached at 561-662-0210. He doesn't answer numbers that he doesn't know, so please leave a message and he'll call back.

New Jersey: Eddie Hulse (setup, repair, mods, electronics)
New York: Patrick Cummings (setup, repair, mods, electronics)
Washington: Dayn Warren (mods, electronics)

UK

Baldock: Chris Andrews, former Parker UK specialist, now with PRS Europe (setup, repair, electronics)
Glasgow: Olly Warner, Fretronics (mods, electronics)

EU

Open Tech Requests
Austin, TX
UK
Hong Kong
US-based painter/refinisher [Too many people have claimed that Sharon Cline at Shazrock either doesn’t do Flys or turns them down due to her heavy backlog of work. VJ last confirmed with Shazrock in summer of 2020. I’ve heard mixed things about Marty Bell. Anyone recommending Patrick Simms is getting a disclaimer added to their post; due to him duping so many Parker owners who’ve been forced to pursue legal recourse just to get their guitars back.]

We need more endorsements for Chris Raposa and Dave Vogele, if anyone else has had them refinish their guitars.

October 2024 Update:

Chris Raposa (Parker Guitars painter from 1992-‘95, based in Massachusetts, can be reached at chrisrap388@gmail.com) and Dave Vogele (Vogele Custom Guitars, Granger, Indiana, can be reached at hoosierdadsmusic@comcast.net) are the only two commercial refinishers I’ve seen endorsed on this site who won’t leave you wondering if you’ll ever get your guitar back.

UK refinishing
Fly refinishing in Denmark/EU

[mmmguitar]

We have UK endorsements for Olly Warner of Fretronics in Glasgow, Scotland from users @Wheresthedug and @Dcd; so it’s added to the list.

Does anyone in UK have experience with Ben Crowe at Crimson Guitars, other than when he failed to reglue a Fly fret?

Has anyone had experience with Third Coast Guitar - Chicago and Palatine, IL?

How about Born Again Guitars - Raleigh, NC?

We have a regular poster based out of northern Georgia who has advertised Parker-specific repairs in the Facebook groups. I wish him the best in getting some happy customers who will hopefully endorse his business here.

[vjmanzo]

Great idea, Marc! I’ve made this thread a Sticky and linked it from the FAQs!

I love this whole premise and absolutely agree with what you’ve described regarding the vetting!

[Dcd]

Hi All. First post, only found this resource in last few week. I have just had a repair done by Olly at Fretronics in Glasgow. The service he provided was top notch. he kept me informed on the progress of the repair. it was the power chip that had gone. he also swapped out a pickup and re-soldered the internal wiring from a repair i had done in London about 10 years ago.

[vjmanzo]

Thanks for the post, @Dcd! And welcome!

I had not heard of Fretronics, but they look like a great resource for all sorts of electronics repairs! Glad to hear they got your Powerchip and wiring issues sorted out!

[NailCommunication]

For a while now I've been planning to take my Fly to 3rd Coast in Chicago but am wary of their big city prices. The Third Coast website has a special section of repair estimates just for Parkers, surprisingly. If I can get a quote from them that fits my budget then I will take it to them next month and post my impressions here.

I saw a Fly on eBay several months ago that mentioned having been serviced at Third Coast, but cannot recall the details. My impressions were that the seller thought of them favorably.

[mmmguitar]

Whatever you end up doing, @NailCommunication, please keep us updated.

[Musikron]

https://www.facebook.com/skyetheflyguy/

Just in case y'all don't already know. I've been a luthier specializing in repairs and restorations for the last 20 years. I've been a Parker enthusiast for the last 7 years and am more than comfortable handling nearly any repair or modification of a Parker Fly guitar.

In hopes of keeping our favorite guitars in circulation I've narrowed down my targeting scope to go after the Flys specifically. As you all know, many techs and luthiers get a glazed over look when you start talking Parkers with them. They either do not respect the instrument, or they have zero clue about how they work and differ from their beloved vintage dinosaurs.

If anyone anywhere needs anything, just reach out to me on my FB page.

https://www.facebook.com/skyetheflyguy/

[vjmanzo]

Thanks so much, @Musikron! This is great to hear. I couldn’t tell from the FB page: where are you based?

[Musikron]

Sorry VJ.
I'm in the metro Atlanta area, but honestly I've had people send me guitars from as far as Germany and Sweden for service before.
But locally if you are in the South Eastern United States, come see me!

[Laughinglarry]

I've never used Mick Donner, but he's at Guitar Repair of Tampa Bay. He was in production at Parker for years, but I don't know the details. I have his contact info if you get him vetted and need it.

I've spoken with him about various work, and would have used him, but he doesn't ship guitars. I'm over 4 hours from Tampa, and have a more local tech that I trust. But Mick really should be on a vetted list (SOMEONE has to have used him!).

Which brings me to Tom Grose, in Palm Beach Gardens. I've had Tom replace output jacks in 2 pre-refined Flys, do a complete re-wire of the preamp in a Stealth (the stereo/ mono switch didn't work, the pots for both volume and tone for the piezo actually worked BACKWARDS), and level frets on a 1994 Fly. (He ended up going to 14" radius from 15 up, as there were multiple high frets, and I don't think he could deal with the conical graduation, but the end result feels like my other Flys. He has the proper files for dealing with hardened stainless steel, and obviously ) He's currently doing the Sustainiac install I'd mentioned in a thread (THANKS EVERYONE for the tips!), and I'll post when I get the guitar back (just dropped it off last night and told him no hurry, so I expect it to take weeks).

I referred Tom Lanze to Tom Grose for replacement of an output jack (I think in either an Artist or Supreme), and I know that Mr. Lanze was very happy with the quality of Mr. Grose's work.

[vjmanzo]

I've never used Mick Donner, but he's at Guitar Repair of Tampa Bay. He was in production at Parker for years, but I don't know the details.

Yes! Mick Donner is on my “People That Worked in Wilmington” list (#StalkerVibes) @Laughinglarry is correct: Mick worked at Parker Guitars from 1996 to 2002 and, according to @Ken Parker, contributed significantly to the Fly Bass.

Great to hear that Mick is still doing work in Tampa and that you’ve chatted with him, Laughinglarry!

[TomL54]

I've never used Mick Donner, but he's at Guitar Repair of Tampa Bay. He was in production at Parker for years, but I don't know the details. I have his contact info if you get him vetted and need it.

I've spoken with him about various work, and would have used him, but he doesn't ship guitars. I'm over 4 hours from Tampa, and have a more local tech that I trust. But Mick really should be on a vetted list (SOMEONE has to have used him!).

Which brings me to Tom Grose, in Palm Beach Gardens. I've had Tom replace output jacks in 2 pre-refined Flys, do a complete re-wire of the preamp in a Stealth (the stereo/ mono switch didn't work, the pots for both volume and tone for the piezo actually worked BACKWARDS), and level frets on a 1994 Fly. (He ended up going to 14" radius from 15 up, as there were multiple high frets, and I don't think he could deal with the conical graduation, but the end result feels like my other Flys. He has the proper files for dealing with hardened stainless steel, and obviously ) He's currently doing the Sustainiac install I'd mentioned in a thread (THANKS EVERYONE for the tips!), and I'll post when I get the guitar back (just dropped it off last night and told him no hurry, so I expect it to take weeks).

I referred Tom Lanze to Tom Grose for replacement of an output jack (I think in either an Artist or Supreme), and I know that Mr. Lanze was very happy with the quality of Mr. Grose's work.

Yes, Tom Grose did a great job for me. I also have had great results with Mick Donner

[mmmguitar]

Thanks for the endorsements, guys. Does Tom have a page? The site shared on his LinkedIn seems to be down.

[Laughinglarry]

Tom Grose can be reached at 561-662-0210. He doesn't answer numbers that he doesn't know, so please leave a message and he'll call back.

Thanks!

[Ondoid]

Musicland in bel air, MD
JD at musicland has worked on some of my Parker’s. Does great work. Got a P series I owned sounding amazing after it had a bunch of messed up wiring was done by a previous owner. Very knowledgeable and has worked on Parker flys over the years including regular maintenance on my previous one. He’s my “go-to” Parker guy around here.

[NailCommunication]

Whatever you end up doing, @NailCommunication, please keep us updated.

I ended up going with a local repair tech at Dave's Guitar Shop in WI because the prices at Third Coast were thrice as high. It was a simple job, just a replacement of the USM-era pots and switches to the ones recommended on the forum, and the EP1111 to replace the USM mag/piezo switch. The tech did a fine job, no complaints.

[mmmguitar]

Thank you for contributing to the knowledge base, @NailCommunication. My hope is that we can eventually have enough repair resources pooled to be able to categorize them according to frugality. I thank Chris, as well - The more states and regions we have endorsements for, the easier this gets for all of us.

[Gregsaab]

Wanted to write a review on my experience with Patrick Cummings of iGuitar Workshop. I sent my Mojo to him earlier this year.

The nature of the repair was to correct fret buzzing and some dead frets. Patrick determined that most of the issues were related to the fretboard delaminating. Additionally, he performed some fret leveling and modifications of the nut slots.

Overall, I am extremely happy with the work that Patrick performed and would recommend him. The Mojo’s mojo has been restored and plays beautifully. The frets have a very fine polish and feel amazing.

Pros:
* Excellent work
* Prompt to respond
* Provided UPS shipping at merchant rate
* Very friendly
* Pricing
* Has had a lot of experience with Parker guitars
* Fixed issues with repair very quickly & paid for round trip shipping

Cons:
* timeline, paid Jun 7, shipped to Patrick on Aug 15, received Sep 30, sent back for corrections, received Oct 7. So 4 months in total.
* Few issues upon receiving first time: frets were quite rough, open E was buzzing
* Added a ‘satin’ finish to neck without confirming it with me. It was supposed to fade, but there are still streaks that looks more like blunt scratches along length of neck

Timeline:
* contacted Patrick on April 24th
* discussed on phone on April 28th & received quote & timeline
* confirmed on Jun 7th that I want to proceed & paid
* received shipping labels on Jun 8th, but told to wait a month so that he could process it immediately on receipt and send it back promptly
* reached out on July 28th regarding timing on sending Fly in
* Patrick requested that I have guitar arrive on Aug 16th
* after a few checkins, he started working in guitar on Sep 12th
* Fly shipped back and received Sep 30
* Oct 1 contacted Patrick about two issues, he promptly apologized and sent a free shipping label
* Oct 7 received guitar - both issues resolved

[vjmanzo]

This is such a helpful review, @Gregsaab! Thanks so much for putting the time into this!