ShaunB Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 ...wot I wrote at the top... Anyone actually own/played one of these? I know they're drop dead ugly, but I recently heard a guy playing the guitar version, solo at a gig and it was awesome - piezos and all. Like an acoustic on steroids. Just wondering... cheers Shaun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 I have played the guitar version, superbly made, wafer thin and flawlessly set up. Never played a bass though, and the upper horn does stick into yer' chest a bit... Cheers ped Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShaunB Posted January 23, 2009 Author Share Posted January 23, 2009 hmmm, I reckon the upper horn is a Marmite thing... but I love Marmite! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Yeah I think it is a cool design, just not THAT comfortable for playing seated. Lots of innovative features on the guitar which is good to see. I seem to remember the bass being made of lots and lots of laminates with sound chambers in. Interested to hear how they sound, too. Cheers ped Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 The guitar version is perfect. If I was a gtrist I'd have one without question. The bass is an ugly bastid though. I wish it looked like Steve Swallow's prototype. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russ Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 I've played a couple. Comfortable, very light, slick neck, well balanced. I found the sound a bit lacking though, very mid-shy. All boom and click, but no oomph, if you know what I mean. Some people like that type of sound though, so give one a try if you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Rich has summed it perfectly. I can't believe that the bass version that went into production is so horrible especially since the Steve Swallow prototype pre-dates even the guitars. A guitarist friend of mine had one of the original guitars (the one with wheel thingy behind the bridge). A beautiful instrument and so light and comfortable to play. When the product version of the bass was announced I couldn't wait to try one. The neck is great, prehaps one of the best I've played, but the body is the nastiest thing ever. no matter how you hold it some part of the bass is digging into so part of your body. I couldn't comment on the tone because I was trying at Music Live so was competing with 1000000 shedding guitarists, although there is a possibility that I found it so uncomfortable that I never got around to plugging it in. Also if you do find that you can live with the ergonomics of the body shape make sure that you get one of the proper Fly Basses with the wood/carbon composite neck and not the cheaper PB series instruments that IMO are simply copies in shape only without any of the constructional innovations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBod Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 I played on for ten mins in a shop - the body digs into your chest, but otherwise it was pretty good feeling and pretty light. I had an inkling you could get used to the body shape and even get comfortable if you played it for a while? Sound was ok, but hard to judge even in a quiet shop...but I liked it straight away. From what I saw on the interweb the current basses have little in common with the ones they made a few years ago. Seems like a waste of a lot of design work to me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7string Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 I wonder why the shape changed so drastically from the guitar to bass? The bass has a great neck, but the body got beaten with the ugly stick :wacko: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twenty Six Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 I've picked up a couple over the years when I've seem them in stores. They have a really comfortable neck on them, and are light, but the design is so strange I just can't get into them. As far as the sound went I felt it was lacking a bit..... I'm sure if I spent enough time playing one I would have eventually been able to dial in a tone that was pleasing. Still not for me though as the design is far too radical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4000 Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 [quote name='Russ' post='389936' date='Jan 23 2009, 07:32 PM']I've played a couple. Comfortable, very light, slick neck, well balanced. I found the sound a bit lacking though, very mid-shy. All boom and click, but no oomph, if you know what I mean. Some people like that type of sound though, so give one a try if you can.[/quote] Absolutely +1. To me it sounded very similar to the various Statii I've owned & played, which in my hands suffer from the same (to me at least) problem. Of course that may be exactly what you're after. Oh, and +1 on Steve Swallow's version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Jones Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 I've played two. Both were an acquired taste, visually. Both were nice and light, if a bit pointy. Both sounded very 'clicky', with little midband. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golchen Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 I have a parker fly classic guitar and it is totally amazing. The feel is brilliant, most uniform fretboard ever, it is superbly light and I love the shape. (Actually there's a couple of vids of me playing it in my link below) I haven't tried the bass version, but boy did they get the shape wrong - it just looks like a great big fat arse to me! If anyone wants to try one there was one in the Gallery a couple of weeks ago (5 string I think) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 I've played the bass version and didn't like it at all. I really don't understand why they even bothered putting it into production. As has already been mentioned, the body shape is very uncomfortable, the whole instrument feels stiff rather than rigid and the sound was full but extremely clattery and unforgiving. I found the neck profile was too flat as well, my hand cramped up after a few minutes. I would have needed to put it through a compressor or valve amp to cut back the transients a little, I think. Seems to me they just decided to make a bass version of the guitar and didn't think it through properly. BTW I was looking at getting a Parker P42 guitar at one point but got put off by reports that the wooden necks sometimes warped on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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