Featured review by:
UG Team, on september 26, 2008
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
Features: The Parker PB61's design is just about as modern as the sound that it sports. Weighing in at nine pounds this bass utilizes a 24 fret maple neck-thru design. The fretboard is a solid chunk of ebony. The top is made of a spalted maple that is complimented beautifully by the mahogany back. The EMG humbuckers that this bass is endowed with really seem to make the sound thick and rich. However that being said on a bass in this price range usually one would expect some kind of coil tap, but on a bass that sounds as phenomenal as this one, it's not really necessary. The pickups on the PB61 are tamed by four controls, two volumes (one for each pickup) a bass and a treble control. Both the bass and treble controls seem to add and subtract the perfect frequencies from the mix of the bass. This makes for smooth adjustments and accurate control over the sound. Everything about this massive bass screams of the modern era of luithering, right down to the gold colored graphite nut. The rest of the hardware is done in matte gold finish that perfectly compliments the tone of the spalted maple top. However it is in the hardware where my only problem with this bass lies. The tuners are open gear, and hence rather unstable. When trying to bend a note one can literally feel, and hear, the tuner slipping. // 8
Sound: As beautiful as this bass may look, all of that is quickly pushed into the background as the bass is plugged in. The sound is rich, deep and resonating, yet clear, punchy, bright and brilliant. While almost any sound you can dream up is attainable on this bass, it does have more of a bias towards a brighter, more clear, ringing sound. This is accentuated by the bridge humbucker. With some careful tweaking and use of the neck pickup, a deep, lush, boomy sound is also at your fingertips. Overall the dual EMG's allow for an infinite range of sonic possibilities.
// 10
Action, Fit & Finish: This bass is beautifully crafted. The fit seems to be done perfectly, and finish applied flawlessly. The action shipped from the factory as I like it, low and buttery. This combined with a small nut width makes for a bass that pratically plays itself. While the black battery and electronics compartments on the back are a rather stark break from the beauty of the rest of the bass, it is something // 10
Reliability & Durability: This bass is built like a tank, from the rock solid maple top, to the two piece thru neck design, to the graphite nut. However the same can not be said for the hardware. Due to the unusal shape of the horns, the strap button is located on the back of the top-most horn. While this seems like a good design, with a slight amount of movement, or downward pressure on the bass (ie; resting your arms on the bass) your strap will simply fall off. While this bass is built to be able to handle such drops, I would definately recommend upgrading to a set of strap-lok's as soon as possible. // 7
Impression: Despite some minor setbacks in reference to hardware, the Parker PB61 is a masterfully designed, perfectly crafted and because of the low action and small string spacing, incredibly easy to play. In addition to this, this is the best sounding bass that I have played in a long time. It has punch, but yet subtley, boom, but yet clarity. A perfect yin and yang of tone. However there is no five string model yet, this is probably the most needed improvement to this bass. But that being said, I haven't found a bass that plays or sounds better that is in this price range. // 9
- Nicholas Cole-Klaes (c) 2009
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