Just joined!
Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 8:20 am
I thought I'd say Hello and have copy / pasted the email I was about to send to Ken, just before I read his advice to try you guys, for all matters relating to his famous solid-body guitars - so here's the text of said email !! (Important bits emboldened.)
As you can see, I've just taken on a Parker-orintated restoration project, after years of not working on guitars, so will almost certainly need some guidance from you guys, now & then... if anyone has any information about the hardtail bridge - not the vibrato version, I will be grateful. In particular, a cross-section diagram would be invalueable - or else a verbal description of how it mounts and adjusts. The project and the included hardtail can be seen below, as well as a piccie of an (utterly gorgeous!) Parker Fly Jazz, which clearly shows that the hardtail adjusts from the back, in a manner similar to the vibrato bridge. regards, BF, Bristol, UKDear Ken, I'm writing to you with a modest request for some information. A summary of the background is as follows.
Ever since I heard Adrian Belew play those 2 blistering and outlandish-sounding solos on the Talking Heads track The Great Curve, I've been interested in his playing and thought him exceptional in a world of I-can-play-the-blues clones. Imagine my envy when I learnt that my very own cousin has shared a stage with him! Keeping an eye on Adrian's career, I obviously spotted the Fly when he adopted it and have always wondered what they were like to hold and to play, without being able to justify a purchase - I am not a good guitar player!
Approaching retirement, I thought about rejuvenating an early hobby of working with solid guitars and so bought a much-abused Parker single cut recently. It came with a Parker hardtail - see photo - but without mounting bolts. The internet has revealed great photos of a Parker Fly Jazz, but of course they only show the outside. Can you tell me please who I could ask about the exact way this piece of hardware attaches to the guitar body and how it is adjusted? I thought I'd start the hunt by asking your advice - I know you must be busy as I'm aware that you work at your arch-top business - but when I sat down to think who to ask, I thought who better than the man himself??
kind regards,
Simon,
Bristol, UK