Parker P38

March 21, 2019

Parker P38

I first noticed the Parker brand when I saw Adrian Belew using a Parker Fly.
Lots to be said about the technical innovations brought by Ken Parker, so read it all here:
https://www.uberchord.com/blog/10-guitars-to-know-parker-guitars/

The P38 model, apart from its shape, seems to dwell on more familiar territory, with a hint of Strat thrown in:

Well, not really... According to the user manual:

"The Parker P-38 is equipped with custom voiced Parker alnico magnetic pickups along with Fishman®piezo transducers mounted in a Wilkinson®licensed vibrato bridge. These piezo transducers, or acoustic pickups, are integrated into each bridge saddle and respond directly to the acoustic energy of the guitar's strings, providing a full-range acoustic sound quality.

On their own, the piezo pickups produce a subtle and intimate acousticguitar-like sound, but the true power of the P-38 is the ability to blend the piezo and magnetic signals together. A special Fishman®active circuit allows you to mix the two types of signals right on the guitar! You can blend the piezo pickups with clean magnetic sounds to create bright percussive tones or with your favorite distortion settings for fat, two-guitar-like, mixes. You can even send the piezo and magnetic signals to two different amplifiers for an amazingly lush split sound."

So, the P38 is, like all Parker guitars, a technological juggernaut. Maybe not suited for the muscular rock type, but definitely a good choice for the tinkerers, the experimental geeks or those seeking to stand out.