This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
I got this as a Christmas present and was very pleased overall by the look and feel of the guitar.. Just a heads up that it does NOT look as dark as the picture on the web. Finish is lighter than what's in the picture. However it does have a nice tobacco burst finish and the flamed maple veneer on top compliments that well. On the back of the body is all black with the control cavity plate, which covers the electronics and tremolo springs. Mahogany body is still lightweight and the body is thin and low profile. Very comfortable to play and strap on. The neck is thin the way I like it with a flatter radius ebony fretboard. It came strung up with daddario 9's, which I liked. I have DR black beauties on it now. Mine had a few rough spots on back of the neck near the headstock, and also on the headstock itself. Problem quickly solved with 2000 grit sandpaper. Baby smooth now. This pdf 80 came with generic locking tuners. I am upgrading to sperzel locking tuners. I noticed when installing new strings the high E tuner won't hold the string tight unless you wrap it around the post before locking it in. When I first pulled it out the box, I noticed the high E string wrapped a few times around the post.. Hmmmm... No biggie though.. The Duncan USM pickups are pretty decent and will get you through most, but I like tinkering with other pickups so these will be replaced soon. I do like the fact that the tone control is also a push/pull coil splitter to get that twang and single coil tone.. This is really all I need in this axe, along with the 3 position toggle switch. For the price, it's is a great axe and with an upgrade to the tuners, will make it even better. It also comes with a parker deluxe gig bag with the parker logo on the outside bottom in white.. Nice! It has a outer smaller and larger pocket to put your strap, cables, picks, tuner, etc. It plays great out the box with the action set low, just the way I like it.. It also comes with allen wrenches for the bridge and a black tremolo, which when I used, noticed the guitar went slightly out of pitch.. The sperzels will fix that... Even though it not a $3000 US Parker, it definitely gives you that parker vibe with it's looks, weight and feel. If you have an extra $100 grab the pdf 100, That one comes with U.S.A Seymour Duncan pickups and sperzel locking tuners. I didn't grab that one because I wanted the flame tobacco finish. Overall, thee lightest guitar I own.. It's a keeper!
