From Our Research Team:

Parker's First Acoustic Is Something Decidedly Different!

Have you noticed that any time Parker Guitars designs a product, it always ends up looking like nothing anyone ever built before? Not even a little. Those who like the unique looks combined with light weight and an extensive feature set love them. Those searching for a distinctively traditional instrument might want to look elsewhere. Or should they? Because plenty of guitarists say that a Parker isn't for them - until they sit down and play one. Hmm. Suddenly those unusual curves seem to be a logical complement to the light weight and the superb playability. Chalk up another convert! Honestly, it's not a big surprise. And now we have Parker's very first acoustic guitar, the P8E. Well, actually, it's an acoustic-electric with a built-in Fishman Acoustic Matrix undersaddle pickup and a little something else up its "electric sleeve." As you'd expect, it's still a nonconformist design-wise. However, everyone can agree that the choice of materials simply can't be beat.

The Parker P8E starts with a solid Canadian cedar top for a big, well-balanced sound and rosewood binding. The back and sides are built from American flame maple (solid on the back, laminated on the sides). The neck is constructed of three pieces of choice Indonesian mahogany with an African ebony fingerboard and the Mexican abalone oval sound hole rosette adds just the right touch of class. Say, now that you look at it, this acoustic-electric has sort of an inspired Baroque look to it, and that's before you ever play a note or plug it in. Once you start playing, you'll really fall in love with the way it balances on your knee and the way each note has just the right combination of fundamental and harmonic. Plugged-in, the Fishman Acoustic Matrix pickup system delivers a surprisingly authentic acoustic sound with tight lows, complex midrange and a smooth, glossy high end. For a raw, more aggressive electric sound, simply switch to the specially-designed Fishman hum-canceling neck pickup. Now it's another guitar altogether. Sweet, eh? Yeah, we knew you'd love it all along. After all, if Parker didn't believe they could do the whole acoustic-electric thing just a bit better than anyone else - and yes, a bit differently - well then, why bother?

Parker P8E Acoustic-Electric Features at a Glance:

• Distinctive Parker design with Canadian cedar top and rosewood binding
  
• American flame maple back and sides with Mexican abalone rosette
  
• Three-piece Indonesian mahogany neck with African ebony fingerboard
  
• Fishman hum-canceling neck pickup plus Acoustic Matrix undersaddle system
  
• Includes deluxe plush-lined hardshell case

Distinctive Parker design with Canadian cedar top and rosewood binding
Like all Parker Guitars, the P8E Acoustic-Electric doesn't follow any trend. Like all their products, they chose the best materials; then they built their own uncompromising vision of what a guitar should be. For superb tonal balance, they started with a piece of select Canadian cedar for the top, because that's where the magic begins. From there, all the pieces must work in total harmony, so for the binding, Parker decided that the best possible material was not plastic, it was rosewood.

American flame maple back and sides with Mexican abalone rosette
The next step is choosing a tone wood that would resonate perfectly with the cedar top, and so the finest American flame maple was selected for the back and sides. This gives the Parker P8E an amazingly clear voice, rich in both fundamentals and those all-important harmonics. And honestly, is there any other wood that has the rich history of flame maple? It's been used for over a century in some of the finest instruments, making it the perfect choice for this brand new acoustic-electric for a brand new century! But we wouldn't be fair to the Parker P8E without mentioning the beauty of the Mexican abalone rosette, which surrounds the decidedly different oval sound hole. Inlaid by hand, this adds just the perfect touch of elegance.

Three-piece Indonesian mahogany neck with African ebony fingerboard
Indonesian mahogany is some of the densest wood on the planet, yet it also contributes in a very distinctive way to the sound of the P8E. By using it in a three-piece design, Parker has actually made the neck even more stable (as any woodworker will tell you). And since they've gone to this much effort, you can bet that only the best fingerboard will do, so they chose African ebony, which has long been called "the king of woods."

Fishman hum-canceling neck pickup plus Acoustic Matrix undersaddle system
Sure, once Parker got the P8E to this point, they could have considered the instrument to be perfect. But knowing that many musicians require an amplified acoustic guitar sound, they hand selected a Fishman Acoustic Matrix undersaddle pickup system for the most accurate reproduction of this guitar's tone up on stage, or alternatively, when used in the studio, where nothing less than the best will cut it. For those times when an accurate acoustic sound simply isn't what the doctor ordered, there's a specially-designed Fishman neck pickup with Neodymium magnets. The combination is guaranteed to blow you away!

Includes vintage-style plush-lined hardshell case
Naturally, any guitar this good deserves a deluxe, vintage-style plush-lined hardshell case at no additional charge. This will protect your investment when traveling to gigs across town or across the country.


Parker P8E Acoustic-Electric Features:

• Color: Natural
  
• Body Type: Custom-designed acoustic
  
• Finish: Gloss
  
• Neck Wood: Indonesian mahogany
  
• Neck Shape: Custom
  
• Top Wood: Canadian cedar
  
• Back Wood: Solid American Flame maple
  
• Side Wood: Laminated American Flame maple
  
• Machine Heads: Grover Sta-tite
  
• Scale Length: 25"
  
• Fingerboard: African ebony
  
• No. of Frets: 19
  
• Position Markers: Microdot
  
• Pickups: Fishman magnetic neck pickup plus Fishman Acoustic Matrix system
  
• Controls: Master volume, Mag/Piezo blend, active bass and treble controls
  
• Pickup Switching: Blend control
  
• Bridge/Tailpiece: Solid ebony with compensated saddle
  
• Hardware: Gold
  
• Case: Vintage-style hardshell

The P8E is acoustic-electric done the Parker way!

Specification Detail Manufacturer Part Number P8EN

What Does "Special Order" Mean? A special-order product is one that we don't normally keep in stock. We order it from the manufacturer as soon as you order from us. We have great relationships with all the manufacturers we carry, so we can get your special order to you as fast as or faster than anyone else. Remember that special orders are non-returnable and non-cancelable, so make sure the item is right for you. A Sweetwater Sales Engineer can help you decide - call (800) 222-4700 for assistance!