“She said, ‘Looks like you found it on a beach. But then it also looks like it came from outer space’”: Ken Parker, visionary luthier behind the Parker Fly, has died, aged 73

The legendary luthier Ken Parker in his workshop with one of his groundbreaking archtop designs.

Guitar has lost one of its great innovators as Ken Parker has died, aged 73. Parker was the luthier who designed the Parker Fly, an electric guitar that was truly ahead of its time – and still is – and brought a similarly fearless design sensibility to his archtop guitars.

Parker passed away peacefully at home in Gloucester, Massachusetts on October 5, following a battle with cancer.