Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I received my Parker P-36 (Natural) yesterday from Amazon, via my credit card company's rewards program. It's a gorgeous instrument--looks better than in the pictures. The electronics all work as expected (and, for Parkers, those expectations are high... given all the cool stuff they have). It sounds great, the tuning hardware is outstanding, it feels great when wearing it with a strap, and my fingers just love the neck.
So why am I not a happy camper? The pickguard is not mounted correctly on the guitar. It bows up toward the strings, so close to the strings that the guitar is impossible to play. I called customer service at US Music Corp (the parent company for Parker Guitars) and was told the following:
* this is a common problem on this model of guitar
* this guitar is discontinued
* they do not offer a replacement pickguard that fits correctly
* the only solution that they do offer is to add two screws in an attempt to hold the pickguard down
They quickly emailed me a photo showing where they add the screws. If I press down on the pickguard in those spots, pressing it all the way down to the wood, the pickguard still bows up in an unacceptable way... so I probably won't be sending it back to them.
There's another, although less show-stopping, issue that disappoints me for a guitar that lists for over one thousand dollars: there is no manual for the guitar, either included with it or available online. The customer service agent confirmed this for me. The one online manual that seems to apply--namely, the "P-Series" manual--doesn't. Specifically, the bridge hardware on the P-36 is different from any described in the manual. If you need to adjust the action of a string, as I do, there's no documentation available on how to do that (according to US Music Corp customer service).
I chose the P-36 because it appeared to be an amazing value, but the flaws are a serious downer. I absolutely would not recommend this guitar model to anyone.
Bleh.
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Parker P-Series Electric Guitar (Natural)Carved Ash body, Maple Bolt-on neck, pickguard, single coil bridge-soap bar neck pick ups with Fishman Piezo
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