R.I.P. Parker Guitars and Forum

[Barry]

Any love for Parker?

Many years ago I picked up one of the Parker import models, a PM20 made in Korea, and I love it.
Beautifully made and a comfort to play.






I never did get too turned on by the iconic "Fly" model although it is quite a revolutionary design and has its supporters.

Ken Parker has been absent from the company he founded for quite awhile, and after a few changes of ownership the Parker brand has apparently now disappeared. I was a member of the Parker Forum and as I checked in the other day I was met with a "not found" error, so it too is now lost, along with years of valuable information. The web site is also gone.

It's a sad thing when this happens and a cautionary tale for we niche guitar lovers. To lose a forum and website is like erasing history.

[corsair]

They were never on my radar, as such, but I was a fan of Adrian Belew when he was playing for Bowie and he used a Fly, so I was interested....

A cautionary tale indeed, given the slowness of most niche forums these days, and allowing that this one is coming up for renewal shortly; we're going to need to either crowd fund it again, or sort out something else, chaps!!

Sad to see any information on specialist topics disappear, Barry! 

[challpa]

I agree that its sad to see a complete forum and all that info disappear. I had a Parker P38 (Korean) a few years back and loved it. It also had the piezo bridge. Cant really remember even why I sold it. 
I will certainly be up for helping financially again to keep this boat floating

[Barry]

Much appreciated.

But just so that we don't start a panic here, our Forums are not at risk, at least so far. They are a "free" service which is paid for via advertising (and Google tracking).

Our information website however, westoneguitars.net, is a separate issue. I designed it and have maintained it for about 8 years so that cost is covered, but it still requires a host server and a domain name, both of which cost money. It is this which will need support soon after Christmas sometime, February-ish IIRC.

No need to panic yet, but if you appreciate the resource keep some coins in the piggy bank eh?

[Barry]

Update

I was recently contacted by one of the original administrators of the old Parker forum who had smartly maintained some sort of email record of many of the members. He has established a new forum and is slowly attempting to rebuild as much of the knowledge base as possible.

If you are a Parker owner or just an interested fan, you can connect HERE

They have now found out what actually happened and why the site was lost. You a can read about the sad tale HERE

[corsair]

Once again, true fans save the day; well done, Parker fans!!

An oil company?! WTF?!

[Barry]

Talk about diversity eh?
Oiling yer fret board takes on a whole 'nuther meaning!

[Barry]

Just as we on the Westone Forums were delighted and honoured to have Tom Presley visit for awhile to give us his perspective on Matsumoku and answer questions about our instruments, the boys at the new FlyClone Forum have just been joined by none other than Ken Parker himself!

It's early days yet but I'm sure he'll eventually be met with a barrage of queries!
Ken Parker is a brilliant if somewhat eccentric designer, so if you're at all interested in connecting with him, here's the ANNOUNCEMENT LINK

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