the Fly Clone Project

I was playing with the newcomer Classic, I changed the strings and did a basic setup yesterday.

I bend a lot and my bends can be up to 3.5 tones on B and 2.5 tones on E, all my guitars are set up to do these.

So, I was playing and I did a 2.5 tone bend on the B string. I heard something like the string being caught on something. I put my glasses on, the string stays in the groove but it catches in the groove. I don't get it. My other Fly doesn't do that.

Here's a quick video:

https://youtube.com/shorts/CrrlXDI_Qjk

Maybe I should lube the grooves?

Darn, I am upset, I need my guitars to do that with no issues at all, if they can then they must go...and I REALLY like this Classic, for some reason it sounds "better" than my Deluxe...

Any ideas?

Thanks in advence,

Nick

Hey Nick.
Sounds like a burr in the saddle. Remove the string and check it with a magnifying glass. Possibly the result of some mishandling.
Options:
1. Carefully polish the groove of the saddle.
2. Find a spare saddle to replace it.
3. Send me the guitar.

Edit: You might want to swap saddles between say your A string and B string???

Patzag wrote: ↑Fri Jun 23, 2023 2:54 pm Hey Nick.
Sounds like a burr in the saddle. Remove the string and check it with a magnifying glass. Possibly the result of some mishandling.
Options:
1. Carefully polish the groove of the saddle.
2. Find a spare saddle to replace it.
3. Send me the guitar.

Edit: You might want to swap saddles between say your A string and B string???

Pat my man!

1. I am not bloody doing that, I am waiting my guitar tech to return from his vacation to take over. Any suggestions on how to do it, what to use etc? Is it dangerous?
2. Oh, come on now, you know I can't do that, lol...we are talking about Parker guitars here, it's not like you can enter a store and buy the components...
3. That could work...NOT, lol

Actually, swapping saddles is brilliant! Still, how dangerous is this, is there any video, guide, something? The piezos are underneath the saddles, right?

Thanks Pat.

Nick

Are these the correct ones for my pre-refined Fly?
https://reverb.com/item/34232138-parke ... 0-s-pewter
https://www.ebay.com/itm/224594029082?h ... R6qSgp-dYg

Alternatively:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/275908908903?h ... R6KSgp-dYg

Thanks!

EDIT: Naaaah, none of these seem to be piezo saddles or the right era...darn...I guess if none of the suggestions work, I can always swap saddles between the Deluxe and the Classic...

Jupiter wrote: ↑Fri Jun 23, 2023 3:02 pm Actually, swapping saddles is brilliant! Still, how dangerous is this, is there any video, guide, something? The piezos are underneath the saddles, right?

Each saddle is held on with a single 8-32x3/8 button head hex screw. If you remove that screw, the saddle will be hanging by its delicate piezo element wire which runs through the bridge baseplate - So maybe just loosen the screw or tape the saddle in place before you turn the guitar over to unsolder the element lead from the underside.

With the rear cavity cover off the guitar, you can get to the underside of the trem where the saddle element leads are summed in a long track of solder running the length of the saddles. If you have enough room to touch the tip of a soldering iron to the piezo wire connection, the wire should come loose as soon as the solder melts. From there, they're very straightforward to remove or swap and replace.

Note that, if you have insufficient clearance to get a soldering tip to the summed piezo leads on the underside of the bridge, you'll need to remove the entire bridge as well as sever/unsolder the summed piezo lead wire going from the bridge to the control cavity.

My tech will be back in a couple of days, question, what material are the saddles made of?

Asking because my tech and I will have to figure out what's the best and safest way to polish the saddles grooves.

Thanks in advance,

Nick

Jupiter wrote: ↑Mon Jul 03, 2023 2:25 am
what material are the saddles made of?

The original saddles are made of stainless steel.

The Graphtech ones are made of some sort of proprietary material.

vjmanzo wrote: ↑Mon Jul 03, 2023 12:45 pm

Jupiter wrote: ↑Mon Jul 03, 2023 2:25 am
what material are the saddles made of?

The original saddles are made of stainless steel.

The Graphtech ones are made of some sort of proprietary material.

Thanks, then steel it is!

So, I spoke with my guitar tech, I'll leave it with him on Thursday.

Meanwhile, I was taking a close look at both my Parker guitars...

I noticed that on the Classic it's like all the strings are kinda aligned towards the thinnest strings (towards the right when you'are facing the fretboard) so the the thin E string is closer to the end of the fretboard, while the distance between the thick E string and the end of the fretboard (on this side) is greater.

Following the strings across the fretboard, I also noticed that the nut seems to be just a bit misaligned, it's protruding a bit on the thin E string side, and it's a little deeper placed on the thick E string side.
Finally, I noticed that the gap between the bridge and the boody wood at the left side is a little bit bigger on the Classic (the bridge works just fine, I've been playing with the Classic since the day it came) and the same goes with the back of the bridge. I guess no Parker guitar is identical, and tolerances apply in this case, I just want to be sure that it's not an issue.
So, is there any of these an issue? I got 2 days to make a list of what my tech should take care of, so please do chime in and let me know what you think.

Thanks in advance,

Nick

For what it's worth, @Jupiter, you seem to know what you like and what to look for. As you said, production tolerances can account for everything you've noted; and the plink of the e and B strings during bends seems to be the only thing amiss. As described in this thread, you have a little wiggle room to realign the strings to your preferred distance from the edge of the fingerboard. And those old Fly nuts are held in place by a few small dots of glue I've found to eventually wear away. You can easily check whether it's come loose by detuning and pulling the strings out of the nut slots: If the nut is unglued, it will move easily; and can be glued back down wherever you prefer it to be.

Note that, for all my speculation, these matters are really only an issue if something *feels* off.

mmmguitar wrote: ↑Tue Jul 04, 2023 4:52 am For what it's worth, @Jupiter, you seem to know what you like and what to look for. As you said, production tolerances can account of everything you've noted; and the plink of the e and B strings during bends seems to be the only thing amiss. As described in this thread, you have a little wiggle room to realign the strings to your preferred distance from the edge of the fingerboard. And those old Fly nuts aren't held in place by anything stronger than a few small dots of glue - You can easily check whether it's come loose by detuning and pulling the strings out of the nut slots: If the nut is unglued, it will move easily; and can be glued back down where you prefer it to be.

Note that, for all my speculation, these matters are really only an issue once something *feels* off.

Thanks for chiming in @mmmguitar!

Truth to be told, I rarely take a close look at my guitars unless something doesn't feel or sound right. Since I've been playing it for more than ten days, I noticed that it's easier on the Classic for the thin string to accidentally slip off the fretboard than on my Deluxe. Again not a dealbreaker since my ex #1 and #2 are two CIJ/MIJ RI '68 strats (modded to the bone, especially their necks) and those have probably the narrowest guitar necks in production (just 40mm nut width). So, I've been dealing with that stuff since forever.

I think I'll tell my tech to properly align the nut as well, although the most important thing is to fix the plinking issues on the three thinnest strings (yeah, it happens on the G string too but it's not as frequent, talking about bends that make the string go all the way to the edge of the fretboard, but I am a bend psycho so, yeah).

And of course he will align the birdge two, thanks for the link and the info (the gif is very useful).

Nick

ΟΚ, tomorrow "she" is going to my tech!

Now, I just came across another problem...

A few minutes ago, I grubbed her and started playing, sitting on my couch. Straight Sommer cable.

Then the sound got cut off, then it came back. After a brief inspection, I think the output jack is failing (darn!). Turns out since I was sitting the jack was being mildly pushed on and off by the couch. Pushing/pulling (mildly, not with excessive force of course) the cable while in the output jack, cuts off the sound in two specific cases (shown in the pic).
(everything is OK in the other directions)

The cable works just fine, I also checked it with my other Parker, everything works as expected.

Now, how to solve this? Why I have the feeling that this type of output jack can't get repaired?

I checked the parts in the respective thread, so are these direct replacements?

https://www.stewmac.com/electronics/com ... dpin-jack/
https://www.switchcraft.com/1-4-stereo- ... nish/152b/

Once again, ideas? Suggestions?

Thanks in advance brothers.

Nick

Hi Nick.
Check this post:

viewtopic.php?p=7000#p7000

This might be the simple fix you need ...

+1 to Pat’s suggestion, @Jupiter. Being as VJ sourced those replacements, I’ll defer to him or whoever will vet one over the other.

In the event that you do need to repair or replace the jack, the ease of either job comes down to whether or not your Fly was built utilizing the “Parasite Plug” battery switch at the jack. I think they’d been phased out by 1998 (A look at your Classic’s electronics cavity will confirm it).

download/file.php?id=550&mode=view


And in the event that your Classic indeed utilizes the parasite plug, It still may not be necessary to replace the jack. The owner in this video was able to bend the jack’s internal contacts back into place:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=1PB21kWuEb8

Here’s an article about replacing the original PP jack; which involves cutting the new jack casing and transplanting the battery switch over:

https://www.strangeguitarworks.com/repl ... arker-fly/

The American music store Flippin' Guitars has also produced several replacement PP jacks for '93-98 Flys.

My classic definitely has the parasite plug, but you guys RULE!!!

Thank you so much for the info, well, I guess we are gonna fix this too!

Jupiter wrote: ↑Wed Jul 05, 2023 2:46 pm My classic definitely has the parasite plug

Thanks for confirming that. My cursory search of the site only pinned the jack revision down to “late ‘90s”; so that’s production data we can reference as more of these jacks show their age.

So, I got the guitar a few days ago, the saddles issue has gone.

Regarding the alignment, the problem was on the nut which was obviously misaligned (I bet NOT from the factory), so that's that.

Now, the output jack continues to behave.

When I went to my tech to leave the guitar with him, he asked me to show him what the problem was with the output jack. So, he gives me a cable, everything was OK. He gives me another cable, all good. WTF? Classic "ghost issue" right? He goes to me, these have Neutrik jacks...well, OK, my Sommer cables have Neutrik jacks as well (different though), go figure, right?

So, I still have to deal with this issue.

Question, what kind of glue should we use to glue back the switch to the output jack?

Plain superglue?

Thanks in advance,

Nick

Still bet it's the way the plug sits in the body of the guitar - as per my post above.

I think I recall an issue with certain plugs/cables not seating correctly- especially the ones with a “kill” switch built in to avoid noise when connecting.

Epoxy is probably a good choice for glue.