Parker Fly

The Parker Fly is a type of electric guitar built by Parker Guitars. It was designed by Ken Parker and Larry Fishman, and first produced in 1993. The Fly is unique among electric guitars in the way it uses composite materials. It is notable for its light weight (4.5 lb; 2.0 kg) and resonance. It was also one of the first electric guitars to combine traditional magnetic pickups with piezoelectric pickups, allowing the guitarist to access both acoustic and electric tones.

Inspired by earlier musical instruments like the lute, Ken Parker began experimenting with hardwood exoskeletons to provide rigidity to the instrument but hardwood was too difficult to work with and did not achieve satisfactory results. Inspired by a friend who used carbon fiber to build speed boats, Ken Parker started experimenting with the material. Today, Flys are built with an exoskeleton along the back and around the neck of the guitar. It is made from a carbon fibre/glass/epoxy composite material that is thinner than the paint finish. The same composite also comprises the fretboard material.

The exoskeleton provides the guitar with strength and rigidity, as well as increasing the guitar's sustain. It also gives the added benefit of allowing a smaller, more efficient body. One of Ken Parker's primary goals in designing the Fly was to build a guitar with less mass than a traditional electric guitar but with the same or even more rigidity. The composite exoskeleton is one of the primary reasons why such a design is possible.