the Fly Clone Project

My heart is broken...

We're having some house renovations done and my beloved '97 Parker Fly Deluxe sat in its soft padded case in a pool of water about 10cm deep (in a shower tray) for around 24 hours... I'm devastated as I've had this guitar for 25 years with barely a ding! The case soaked up most of the water but as you can see in the attached photos, the wood or carbon fibre must have swelled at the bottom (the guitar was upright) and cracked the finish. The inside electrics are pretty dry, the mostly wet area was where the 9V battery was, the rest of the electrics seem dry.

Underneath where the paint has peeled off is a grey material? Is that the carbon fibre? Even on the front of the body?

Any advice on what I should do? I'm in the UK so any recommendations for somewhere to go to have her refinished and electrics checked / repaired would be great. Preferably someone who has worked on Fly's before as presumable it's a tricky process with the carbon fibre etc?

Thanks in advance...

Alex

Tough news, @AlexanderBUK—I'm sorry to read this. Others may have specific recommendations for a finish shop in the U.K., but I'll just offer a note of encouragement that all is not lost: whatever moisture has been soaked up will eventually find it's way back out and, by this point in time, that body may not be likely to warp. If you can keep the Fly in a room with 40 - 50% relative humidity, it should find it's way back to normal, and all you'll have to reconcile is the finish.

How are the frets and the fingerboard? They should be fine, in principle, because of the nature of the epoxy resin. Is that the situation as you see it?

What you see on the back is likely the fiberglass exoskeleton or a layer of paint primer. Either way, a good paint shop should be able to fill those cracks and get your Fly back on track. Here's a rundown on what's happening on the back of the Fly:
As long as the finish shop doesn't use any kind of chemical strip or process to eat through the existing finish, they won't damage the Fly, but I'd definitely take it to a pro. Hopefully others can chime in with recommendations for someone local to you.

Thank you for your reply and information and words of encouragement!

Thankfully the neck all looks in good shape, as do the frets and fretboard so I think (hope) you're right in that it's mainly just damage to the paint finish. I've filled the electrics with rice and will test those in a week or so, fingers crossed there!

Thanks again and I'll keep you posted - but yes, any UK recommendations for a spray shop would be much appreciated!

Alex

Saw this on Facebook, super sad.

Look for a PPG auto paint store nearby. Give them a call, describe the issue (you need a carbon fiber/wood guitar refinished), and ask if they can recommend anyone.

With luck, they might say they know “just the perfect person” without any hesitation. Worst case, they will say they don’t know anyone.

You want someone who paints custom fuel tanks, helmets, jet skis, etc. with 2k urethane clears. They are used to dealing with those paints and composites. If they have questions about Parkers, we can help answer the questions they might have.

Unfortunately I’d probably avoid the typical guitar people who specialize in nitro or lacquer. They most likely won’t know what to do about the fretboard and composite back.

My condolences! I lost a blue deluxe in a basement flood years ago. I'm still not over it...