Ken Parker Archtoppery: Series Introduction
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- About the Archtoppery series:
Archtop guitars began as prototypes in the mid 19th century, and became available to musicians in the early 20th century through the innovative work of Orville Gibson. They evolved, but were slow to catch on until the late 1920’s, when they were embraced by virtuosos such as Eddie Lang, used as accompaniment by folk heroes such as Maybelle Carter, and widely adopted in early jazz bands, displacing the banjo as the preferred rhythm instrument. The one - two punch of the Great Depression in 1929 and the first successful electric Archtop in 1936, the Gibson ES-150, all but ended the development of the acoustic archtop guitar.
Ken Parker, designer of the groundbreaking Parker Fly guitar, has returned to his first love, the acoustic archtop guitar, with the goal of bringing the history and future of instrument making together to create instruments of unprecedented power and versatility.
Archtoppery is a video series that shows Ken in his shop, explaining his designs and innovative problem solving approaches, and demonstrating the tools and methods he uses to create his guitars. Often, the tools required need to be devised and built, so tool design and toolmaking will be fully explored as well.
Ken has always been enthusiastic to share with other builders and is looking forward to producing these etudes and participating in the explorations and dialog from the viewers that is sure to follow.
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This video is part of Ken Parker's Archtoppery series. We recommend you check out his Archtoppery page on his website: kenparkerarcht...
What a righteous man !!! No hiding secrets to the grave !!! 💯🇺🇸⭐
High praise indeed, Thanks! "I'm not dead yet!"... Monty Python
Ben from Crimson guitars recommended your channel, I am glad I took his advice! Subscribed and looking forward to more videos.
Awesome! Thank you!
Ben Crowe sent me here and he wasn't wrong about me needing to subscribe! 🙌
Recommended by Ben Crowe at Crimson Guitars and now I’m hooked - fantastic craftsmanship!
Building archtop guitars is a dream of mine. I'll definitely be watching if only to live vicariously through the videos.
Dream of mine, too!
As someone building their first guitar from scratch, watching you work is kind of amazing.
Cool. Glad you're tuning in!
I'm a big fan of Ben Crowe, but the algorithm recommended this video to me, not Ben. That said, it's like UA-cam is reading my mind. I'm an amateur guitar and mandolin builder, and every instrument I build is designed to get me another step closer to my eventual goal of building one an archtop. I've been thinking for the past few months that it's time to start that particular journey. This series is incredibly well-timed!
Go for it!
Yes - well done Ben... good to be here Ken!
As an aspiring luthier (who especially appreciates your work and style of problem solving and thinking) I really appreciate you opening up and sharing your process.
It's my pleasure. Guitarmaking is a wonderful way to spend you life, it offers so much variety, and no end to discovery. A grand romp!
Craftsmanship and innovation at its finest 👍🇺🇸
Thanks!
I need to see that second piece he plays. Outstanding.Strong rhythm.
Definitely check out more of Adam Miller, quite a wizard, he!
Thank you!! Have a look through my channel!
FAbulous series of videos and teh soundtape of this introduction is just beautiful, the sound landscape is amazingly rich
Many thanks!
"Parker guitars" las mejores guitarras de la historia. Saludos desde Puerto Rico.
Gracias, amigo!
Ben Crowe brought me here, and I'm glad he did!
+1
Ben Crowe sent me here and already I can see that you are goldmine of ideas
I love your philosophy
Thanks! Kant or Hegel?
Happy you are back, Mr Parker! I’m truly fan of your innovations:)
Thank you kindly!
Astounding craftsmanship!
Aw shucks, just one foot in front of the other, plus stubbornness.
Looking forward to learn the craft. Another in sharing the craft is Ben Crowe from @crimson guitars. He point me and his UA-cam subscribers to this channel. I'm excited to learn and then put that into practice.
Welcome aboard!
I own one of the original parker fly's. It remains a revolution in craftsmanship.
Thanks, nice to hear this!
A headstock that has made me smile since 1995.
Thanks! i spent 15 years designing ones I hated, then...
This coming year I'll get into neck design, and show the construction details of my current design. Thanks for your smile!
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 here's a quick story as to how we are having this conversation now. When the lockdown came, I as so many others, decided to crank up my home studio again and clean up my guitar collection so that I would have lots of sounds available. I leave my Parker at our studio for our weekly jams and it is my main guitar for gigs and band stuff. As I started cleaning up and messing with the set-ups of my other 20+ guitars, I also purchased some near 60 year old guitars as I had become fascinated with the unplugged tone of these things. I built a few parts and kit guitars and really enjoyed the sound of natural finishes like Tung oil and other woods like Okoume and Philippine Cedar. I started to become interested in the Gibson Firebird and it's unique construction and pickups so I decided that I would go play one and check it out. Like so many people, I did not fully grasp the difference between set neck and neck through construction as so many "experts' use the terms incorrectly. So I go down to Jimmy Wallace Guitar which is close to where I live outside Dallas to check them out. Jimmy also happens to be a big Firebird player. I figured that while I was there, I'd see about how difficult it would be to put pickup covers on my Fly as I am always catching strings on my neck bobbin. The luthier there Spencer Deaton just so happens to have a 1959 Les Paul Holy Grail on his workbench that he was documenting, but when I show him my Fly he starts turning it over in his hands and marveling at the construction literally right next to a '59. It was at this point that he told me of your video series and asked me if I had watched it yet. Then he reminded me that I have already been playing a neck-through guitar for 27 years!!!! Sometimes we have to go around the world before we realize that there's no place like home. Thanks for all that you do!
Enlightening.
A unique & personal approach to the art of guitar making, from concept/design up to a finished piece of singing art.
This is sure to help anyone interested in honing ones thought process.
Thanks! The thought process is what it's all about. Stay curious!
Ken! I can't tell you how much I am grateful to you for opening your workshop to us. I have been an admirer your work on the archtop for years and I have been trying to incorporate some of your ideas to the classical guitar.
I will dissect your videos frame by frame. Your tools are a work of art in themselves! Thank you so much!
Thanks so much. I love doing this.
came over from ben crows site crimson guitars so have subscribed and clicked the bell and will give all videos a thumbs up looking forward to watching your videos all the best john from rugby UK.
Thanks, John! Be well and prosper.
Bonjour and thanks Ken for your sharing. as an occasional woodworker watching your videos was / is so rich that i can't believe it. As you say, a complex object making is a lot of simple things and your are a master. Watching your videos have been a great moment and a great source of inspiration. Wonderful moments ... Regards and congratulations for your research
Thank you very much! I'm very happy to share, and very grateful to Archtoppery which makes it possible.
Adapting what appears to be a Bridgeport 3d milling machine to your guitar making is very clever. You can drill a hole in the “top” of a neutron with one of those things
Ain't nothin' like a Bridgeport, the Swiss Army Knife of the machine shop!
As a guitarist I say thank you for your guitar innovations. Keep going.
Thanks, Andy! You're welcome, and WILCO! (AKA "Will Comply")
Seeing you shave off tiny tiny tiny bits for what you wanted was crazy. Very cool to see
Thanks, I love doing that
Thank you so much for sharing your inspiration and vision.
You are so welcome! I love doing this.
I am a great fan of Parker's work. It's a shame that I cannot effort to buy one but I hope to have the opportunity to try one of these beautiful archtop guitars someday! Very inspiring and fashinating.
Incredible lovely guitars...
Thnks for teaching us and big hug from Madrid Spain...
Glad you like them!
Very interesting blend of classic archtop style and modern building techniques/materials. Sounds great, too.
Many thanks!
Came here via Ben Crowe @crimsonguitars recommendation on his upload.. 👍
Amazing looking forward to the series
Oh man I own a Parker electric and I love it. Love your archtops, sound stunning. Glad to see you here.
Thank you!
This is a gold mine. Thank you for such beautiful design
Glad you like it!
Beautiful work! If I win the lottery one of these is on my "wish list"! After all, it already has my name on it! Seriously, well done sir, well done.
Please do! Win that baby! Thanks for your praise!
Absolute master … I was fortunate to meet Kenny 48th Street many decades ago … fantastic craftsman and designer …
I went upstairs to his workshop, he showed me a CNC mill … I asked Kenny “what’s that?” … he said “the future”
Marino! Good times. My mill at that shop was an old offbrand WW2 vet, and CNC wasn't a thing then, but it surely was the future!
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 true, I just didn’t know what else to call it … lol … I’ve picked up a CNC as well as other woodworking tools and am trying to transition from graphic designer to wood hobbyist / enthusiast … always enjoyed all your work, keep it up, you’re an inspiration!
All of these things are magical for me too !!!!
Crimson guitars sent me, looking fabulous!
Thank you KEN!❤❤❤❤
It is my profound pleasure!
I played a Parker almost 20 years ago and it’s still the best guitar I’ve ever played.
Thanks!
These videos are an amazing insight into your methods; I've already learned so much! Can't wait to see how the tailpiece is made
Tailpieces are so fun to make. Lots of methods and materials to choose from. Too bad they don't have much effect on the sound, but they don't! The silver lining is that they can be almost anything so long as they don't break or get too heavy. The length of the tailpiece has a big effect on the feel of the strings, though. Shorter tailpiece = longer afterlength = lower tension "feel", even though the tension of the standing string is unaffected.
Ken, This whole Archtoppery thing is fantastic, I have watched every episode in the series so far. This has given me much confidence and inspiration to continue with my love of both playing guitar, and working in my wood shop. I have been an artist, designer and woodworker for over 50 years, and I still feel like I can still learn something new every day. Your tool tips, building methods, and explanations are super helpful. Thank you for inviting us into your magical and inspirational world. If you ever need anyone to come and sweep up the shop after you, just ring me up, I am available. (haha) And yes, I gotta customize one of those gouges you showed, I know I have a few in my tool collection that will do the trick)
Hey Scotty! Thanks for your kind words and encouragement. Learning something new every day still seems like it might be the best thing ever. I'm fascinated that you went adventuring with the Gougeon brothers. I want to hear the stories! Unfortunately, I somehow fumbled your comment, and instead of approving it, UA-cam trashed it, and it's unrecoverable. Post again?
Yes to free help in my shop, by the way, at least in theory.
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 I can expand more later, but, years back a bunch of us would meet up the second week of September every year at Killbear Provincial Park, on Parry Sound in northern Ontario for an annual paddlers rendezvous organized by our friend John Hupfield. It was a week long paddling, camping, sailing, discussing, sharing and eating hang.... my boat designer/builder friend Hugh Horton (writer for Small Craft Advisor magazine) was longtime buds with Meade and Jan and he invited them along for a couple years... The three of them were working on a sailing canoe design and their building stories, sail types/rigging discussions, and hull designs and so forth were amazing. We all got to see and try (if we wanted) their prototypes experiments, and so forth - really light-weight builds (similar to what you mentioned in your talks here "You don't win a race in a heavy sailing canoe"), West System epoxies, reinforced carbon graphite, Kevlar, white cedar, etc., etc... People would come for miles around, from the US and Canada for the rendezvous -- even though, really, it was a very small gathering -- not more really than about 35 people in our group. But, these were some of the top builders and designers in the region meeting to exchange ideas, and just plain sail, and relax. Parry Sound is bloody amazing the second week of September no matter the weather, after the camp grounds close to the public for the season - the park staff gave us the run of the beaches and the waters, we are the only ones in the whole park. Anyway, I have photos, so, someday I can share.
Anyone else here because they were sent by Ben from Crimson Guitars?
So sorry!
Yep!
Me!
Awesome work, amazing art! Ben Crowe also sent me here
Wow. Looking forward to all of these videos. Impressed already though.....beautiful work.
Glad you like them!
Thanks Ken Parker for great video audio and content...
Glad you enjoyed it! Stay tuned!
A Genius building the best guitars in the world ... blessings master !!
How very kind. Thanks!
I have loved your work, Ken, from way back when you launched the original Parker Fly.
A dream guitar full of ideas that I still adore today, even though I may never end up owning one.
I'm thankful that Ben Crowe sent me over.
I'd read a couple of articles about your adventures in archtop acoustics and the application of the paradigm-smashing Fly philosophy into these amazing instruments.
Now I can see and hear about this in your own words.
Instant sub and notifications on, sir.
Wow, thanks!
These guitars have such a special voice , I would love one
It would, I feel sure of it, love you back
Ben Crowe said I would not be disappointed coming here, Ben Crowe is not a liar.
I've heard that, not only is he not a liar, he's a really great guy!
Fantastic to see that true passion!
Thank you kindly!
I’ve had the pleasure of playing two Parker Fly’s. Unfortunately I couldn’t afford either at the time. They were both special instruments. I hope Ken starts making them one day again too. I will probably never be able to afford one of these arch top guitars, however I will keep watching these videos. Very interesting stuff here. Amazing work.
Thanks! Parker Fly guitars are available on EBay, I won't be able to build another guitar factory in this lifetime, though.
I made 30,000 guitars, isn't that enough???
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 Certainly!
fantastic work and creativity
Thank you! Cheers!
Holy cow. Ken Parker is still in business?? That's so awesome. I'm a huge fan!
As Monty Python famously said, "I'm not dead yet!!!"
The same genius who engineered the Parker Fly? You are a very important innovator in the seven centuries of luthiery history. Glad I found your channel.
Ken, this video is just awesome!
Wow, thanks!
I had no idea you had a background in tool making as well, very interesting for me as somebody new to luthiery but as a guitar player also.
Wow that neck joint!!! Great innovations!
Yeah, around 12 months of experiments and head-scratching, but, wow, it's bulletproof!
Yet again been sent here with best wishes from Ben Crowe
Best wishes right back!
Well done Ken! I look forward to following the series.
Thanks for watching!
Hi Ken, I’m so excited to have been directed to your channel. I’m going to enjoy making my way through the series. I think you might owe Ben from Crimson Guitars a beer, as there appears to be a bunch of new subs come across from his latest video
I'd be delighted to buy Ben as many beers as he feels he needs. His work is playful and exceptionally executed, a rare combination, to be sure. Please note that the Etudes are not ruined by ads, so, this is not a profit gig, it's all about craft and strings love. Love the BenInstigated flood of subs!
One of the greatest luthiers of our time !
Thanks!
I've always admired these archtops. I agree that the acoustic archtop is such a versatile instrument. I would love to own one of Ken's but I am lucky enough to own one by Erich Solomon and I just love it. I do have a Fly though.
Fly Guy!
I love Erich's work. A fine builder, and a great guy.
I didn't know you had a UA-cam channel ! I've been following your work for ages now, and you're a huge source of inspiration for my instruments design. Glad you're sharing your knowledge :)
Welcome aboard!
Parker Fly gang here!
So happy to find this! Your work has been a great inspiration to me over the last five years.
I love your modular take on the guitar. Keep on keepin' on!
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 thanks so much Ken!
Hello mr Parker! For some weird reason I just now stumbled on the series... even though you told me about it :(
Absolutely fantastic! I also spotted some cute lining clamps... one with the machine, one with the machine!!!
Max! Howcum they're not gold plated?
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 only one!
So beautiful
Thank you so much
Wow! Blown away by your amazing work
Thank you! Cheers!
Ken, you are my hero :D
Aw shucks. Wanna pay off my mortgage?
Really enjoyed that Ken. Thanks.
Thanks, Brah!
Fantastic!
Many thanks!
Im one of Bens! Wonderful ty 💖
Thanks!
Best guitars ever....(i Have budget model myself PDF, but stilll pretty damn good) love them
Thanks!
Ben Crow sent me! Thank you soooo much....!
Welcome!
Genious!
Aw shucks, just the usual obsession.
6:30
love the playing
Adam Miller! Isn't he wonderful? Austrailian, tours the US from time to time. Stunning musician, great friend.
Look for him at the
Fretboard Summit in Chicago, late August,
fretboardsummit.org/
or the RMAF,
www.archtopfestival.com/
Or the Woodstock Invite,
www.woodstockinvitational.com/
How come that the algorithm took this long to send me here!?!? You Mr Paker are, along with Somogyi, the biggest influence in my guitar making. From your philosophy about the shape of your instruments, to your openness to the use of modern materials. I hope someday be a 10th of the craftman you are. And rest assured, one of the 1st things after winning the powerball will be ordering one of those :D
AllHailPowerball! Now waiting for your commission.
I love how guys like this incorporate new materials and technology into the guitar. Nothing wrong with conventional processes, but designs and processes need to advance with time as well. I like some of the newer guitars now days over older methods of construction. Just subscribed as well.
March of progress is unstoppable. Thanks!
8:38 Look at that beauty in the middle Fly on by....
That's a mini-Fly...
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 custom ordered by Bilbo Baggins? 😁
I love that the head on the archtop resembles that of a Fly. BEAUUUTIFUL!
Heaven
Crimson Guitars sent me!
Right on!
Beautiful
Thank you! Cheers!
seem s to sound amazing
Love these vids Ken! As an aspiring archtop maker your guitars are my biggest source of inspiration. Fantastic to see some of your methods!
Thanks, Oscar, stay tuned for the long haul!
Ben says hello😉 and I'm subscribing.
Still watching?
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 of course!
Crimson guitars sent me 😁👍
Yes hollow bridge I want try it
A light bridge is a happy bridge, a grinning athlete ready to sprint!
Until this series, I thought Adrian Belew was the best advertisement for Parker guitars. He may now have been surpassed. Just.....
Great stuff! Any chance of giving us a tour of some of the specialty tools you've built?
Gonna happen. Long haul here. I love making tools, can't wait!
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 Awesome! Looking forward to your upcoming videos. I've already binged on all the existing content. Great and gracious thanks for sharing. 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Ben from Crimson Guitar sent me here and I'm looking forward to see what he spoke highly about.
I have always enjoyed Ken's genius. How exactly is the neck constructed?
Great question, really long answer. Right now I'm focused on making and tuning plates, and when that's done, I'll explain my understanding of necks, and what my unique process entails.
I've loved the look of your guitars for many years but I've never seen one or run into one to play it. Who sells your guitar in Austin, Texas? also what is the price for your archtops? Thank You.
Hi Leon,
I suggest considering a visit to the www.archtopfestival.com/ in late September. I'll be shooting my mouth off, as usual, and will have a bevy of guitars for you to play. Hope you can make it! I don't really have a retail dealer network, that's for folks with factories, it's just me and one brilliant co-conspirator!
The Leland Sklar of the Luthier world!
High Praise, thanks!
Wow
Who is doing the fabulous playing in the background?
The Amazing, One-Off Adam Miller from Down Under! Check our his new release!!
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 Thanks. (And I did see his name when I actually watched the video. I was just listening initially.) Yes, his channel is great.
And thank you for everything you've posted and shared here. I've been a player and aware of you for decades, but just discovered your channel. I'm an engineer and shop tinkerer (in the electronics repair domain) and take pride in the work I do, but your level of craftsmanship is just in its own galaxy. You take it to an almost spiritual level, with the analysis, choices, and level of meticulousness. From one creator to another, it's just impressive and beautiful to watch. Thank you for taking the time to document and share, and I look forward to spending a lot more time with your extensive video library.
Ben Crowe sent me glad he did
Some serious guitar playing going on here.
Who's the musician?
ADAM MILLER! ain't he great??
Thanks again!
Over from Crimson
Hello Ken, would you recommend me to study formally(3 year "degree") the construction of bowed instruments if my intention is building archtops? How much do you think could be really applied to an archtop guitar?
Also regarding J. D'aquisto, i can't find much information about his work, do you know if someone has written about him?
Thanks for these videos, hope you don't stop making them
This sounds like an excellent idea! The good thing is that you will connect with the ancient field of lutherie, and study the same methods used to produce the early violins that we prize so highly.
The archtop is so very different in how the strings are energized, that is, without a bow. But the parts are created the same way from the same group of materials, and I would say that cello to archtop is way closer than D 28 to archtop, bows and frets notwithstanding.
Jimmy didn't really write anything, but his process was written up admiringly in modest detail by Irving Sloane in his 1975 book "Steel String Guitar Construction".
The last chapter is titled "D'Aquisto Makes an Archtop Guitar", and I can assure you that as I built my first archtop I read this chapter 753 times, and looked at every photo with my magnifying glass 11,356 times before I traveled to meet him for the first time that same year.
Every once in awhile I think there might be a good book of stories about Jimmy that could still be written by we who came to know and admire him.
Wanna be that guy? You'd certainly get your question answered.
Some information about Jimmy d’Aquisto work can be found in GAL publications. I have read hundreds times the article “Variables in Archtop Design”, which was based on Jimmy’s lecture and later published in GAL Data Sheets #131 in 1979. It was reprinted in another GAL publication, “Lutherie Woods and Steel String Guitars”. In Data Sheet #49, Tim Olsen writes about the way Jimmy carves soundboards. It is reprinted in vol.4 of “Big Red Book of American Lutherie”.
In vol.5 of BRBofAM Jeffrey Elliott writes about Jimmy D’Aquisto’s archtop guitar design evolution.
Ken is my biggest inspiration and source of many “Aha!” moments. He nailed most, if not all, deficiencies in traditional archtop design. But Jimmy was another guy who’s giving me a lot of thinking!