Anyone tried a Parker Fly

[molan]

Just wondered if anyone out there had played a Fly bass at all?

I tried one of their guitars when they first came out and thought they made even my rudimentary guitar skills sounds surprisingly OK!

If anyone's played one I'd be fascinated to know what they thought about the feel, handling, playability etc. as well as the sound.

[matty589]

[quote name='molan' post='186894' date='Apr 27 2008, 11:46 PM']Just wondered if anyone out there had played a Fly bass at all?

I tried one of their guitars when they first came out and thought they made even my rudimentary guitar skills sounds surprisingly OK!

If anyone's played one I'd be fascinated to know what they thought about the feel, handling, playability etc. as well as the sound.[/quote]
The ones I have played are awful. The body is made of about 30 laminates of what seem to be plywood, and almost every setting sounds crap.
Don't sit well on a strap and sitting down the bottom horn digs right into your leg.
Strange as the guitars are rather nice... apart from that top horn digging into your ribs!

[BigRedX]

A guitarist friend of mine had one of the early guitars (with the wheel thing behind the trem) and I found it light and easy to play and very ergonomic. When the bass model came out I tried a top-of-the-line 5 string. It had what was probably one of the best playing necks ever, but the body was just a disaster. While being made of what looked like very nice wood, the shape was completely uncomfortable whatever I did. Sitting or standing with the bass at different angles there was always some bit of the body digging in or otherwise adversely affecting my playing. It's as though Parker never bothered to make any prototypes; they simply scaled up the guitar body drawing to match the increased length of the neck and went straight into production. If money was no object I'd consider buying one simply for the neck and either have the existing body reshaped or replaced with something more comfortable, but as it stands you need to try one before buying. Also be aware that in recent years both the guitar and bass ranges have been diluted down with cheaper versions. The original instruments were truly innovative in design, construction and features. Some of the newer ones are just cheap guitars with wacky body shapes. Choose carefully.

[Kiwi]

[quote name='matty589' post='186918' date='Apr 28 2008, 12:17 AM']The ones I have played are awful. The body is made of about 30 laminates of what seem to be plywood, and almost every setting sounds crap.
Don't sit well on a strap and sitting down the bottom horn digs right into your leg.
Strange as the guitars are rather nice... apart from that top horn digging into your ribs![/quote]
I found the body shape also to be very uncomfortable. The sound of the bass I played (a red 5 string at the Bass Centre) to be very brittle and glassy. It was like they'd taken the same ideals from a guitar and just decided to make a bass version without giving enough thought to what sounded good to bassists.

[molan]

Doesn't sound very positive!

I see they have a mahogany bodied version so maybe that has a fuller sound?

It's quite a bit heavier than the original version though which seems to be getting away from some of the "Fly" concept.

NB - My baby Zon only weighs 7.5 lbs and has a very full sound if required so the simple weight argument can't really be why the Fly doesn't sound that great (obviously mass is pretty important here!).

[BigRedX]

As CK says too many concepts copied directly from the guitar without seemingly thinking if they'll work on a bass.

Also the heavier version are the cheaper all-wood ones. For me the whole point of the Parker basses (if you can live with the uncomfortable body shape) is the wonderful carbon fiber/wood composite neck.

TBH and at the risk of sounding like a stuck record if you're looking for a carbon fiber/acoustic tone wood bass with original features and an unusual yet comfortable body, you should check out [url="http://www.gusguitars.com"]Gus Guitars[/url].

[tauzero]

I wasn't that impressed by the guitar, TBH. Didn't find it all that wonderful to play. I've certainly played quite a few better for quite a lot less.

[bnt]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='187064' date='Apr 28 2008, 11:12 AM']As CK says too many concepts copied directly from the guitar without seemingly thinking if they'll work on a bass.[/quote]
The thing is... the bass came first, a 5-string made for Steve Swallow, the one on his 1991 solo album cover:

The guitar was scaled down from that and simplified, and was so successful that Parker didn't follow up on the basses until much later, and (if the Wikipedia article is accurate) because it was in their contract with Korg. Steve, with this bass, was the one who clued me in to the benefits of High C on the 5-string.

[BigRedX]

Interesting stuff! Looking at that picture the body shape of Steve Swallow's bass is much more like the original guitar than the actual Fly Basses that followed. The bodies on the production model basses that I've played have been oversized, uncomfortable, angular lumps. If the body was more like the one you've shown there's a good chance the bass would be more successful. Having said that Steve Swallow has strange ideas about basses even by my standards - just look at his Citron Signature model!

[Russ]

I've tried a few... on the plus side, they're light, the necks are great and, if you dial out the piezo (way too thin sounding), they sound surprisingly punchy. Like everyone else has said though, they're not very comfortable instruments - there's very little body contouring, no appreciable forearm chamfer, and yep, the bottom horn digs into your leg. A brave, but flawed exercise in progressive bass design, in my opinion.

I loved the old model they made for Steve Swallow when I first saw it in BP years back, and was pretty gutted when it finally came to market, and looked nothing like his model.

[Kev]

theres a lot of negativity, arnt they quite expensive too?

[gafbass02]

[quote name='Russ' post='187266' date='Apr 28 2008, 02:53 PM']I loved the old model they made for Steve Swallow when I first saw it in BP years back, and was pretty gutted when it finally came to market, and looked nothing like his model.[/quote]

Yup...it looked ace, and then years later it was like...oh!

[Kiwi]

[quote name='Russ' post='187266' date='Apr 28 2008, 02:53 PM']I loved the old model they made for Steve Swallow when I first saw it in BP years back, and was pretty gutted when it finally came to market, and looked nothing like his model.[/quote]
I understood he played a prototype. There could have been all sorts of changes made between his and what ended up being produced for the mass market.

I think they should produce something with dual humbuckers to warm the bass up a bit (plus with coil tap options if really needed) and a wooden fingerboard.