With his vast experience and knowledge as a luthier Joe Parker has been building an incredible reputation for himself in the world of high-end electric guitars one instrument at a time.

Joe graduated from the Roberto Venn School of Luthiery and later worked at Collings Guitars for over five years building fine stringed instruments and honing his skills. He is now a one-man operation building out of his Eugene OR workshop. 

The Skylighter is one of many models Joe Parker has created since starting his own brand. The body shape and appointments of the Skylighter look familiar especially upon first glance, however this guitar has so much more to offer than what can be seen on the surface. 
 
First off this instrument is incredibly well balanced both seated or standing with neither neck nor body dive. The body bevels and unique contours create an astoundingly comfortable playing experience. The tremolo on this instrument is highly touch sensitive and setup to float with a max pull-back currently set at a half step, though it would be easy to setup the trem for a bit more pull-back if so desired. You'll notice that even with heavy tremolo use the Skylighter stays in tune beautifully.

When looking at the instruments appointments the attention to detail is remarkable throughout the entirety of the guitar. From the German Carve top with Tortoise pickguard, to the cream binding and B/W/B body purfling, all the way to the carved back with both tummy and forearm contours; the work is fluid and precise. This Skylighter features a one-piece mahogany body. We also love the color scheme of Oly White, Tort, natural Mahogany and Birdseye Maple. The red headstock decal looks especially slick since it matches the pickguard so well. Fretwork, setup, tone and playability are all top tier. 

The electronics and pickups are also unique to this particular guitar. Wound to Joe's specifications, you have three hand-wound Gemini pickups. Two single coils and one splitable humbucker in the bridge position. The 6 position "Freeway" switch adds tons of versatility with only exceptionally usable pickup tones. The single volume and tone control layout is clean and optimal for players who like to use their volume and tone controls to do swells. The tone control is a push-pull which gives you the option of splitting the bridge humbucker (in all positions) into a very Strat-like single coil. Lots going on here. Last but not least this guitars body is chambered for a more organic tone which still retains insane amounts of sustain.


SPECS:


• MODEL: SKYLIGHTER
• 
SERIAL #: 2131
• 
FINISH: OLYMPIC WHITE / RED MAHOGANY (PURE NITRO)  
• 
BODY WOOD: CHAMBERED MAHOGANY I-PIECE 
• 
NECK WOOD: BIRDSEYE MAPLE
• 
FRETBOARD. INDIAN ROSEWOOD
• SCALE LENGTH: 25.5" 
• FINGERBOARD RADIUS: 12"
• 
FRETWIRE: MEDIUM STAINLESS STEEL
• 
NECK INLAY: MOTHER OF PEARI
• 
NUT MATERIAL: COW BONE
• 
TUNERS: SPERZEL LOCKING TUNER
• 
BRIDGE: GOTOH TREMOLO 
• 
PICKUPS. GEMINI ALNICO V HSS
• 
POTENTIOMETERS: CTS 500K, PUSH/PULL TONE FOR BRIDGE COIL SPLIT
• 
SWITCH: FREEWAY 6-POSITIONS: 1 NECK, 2 NK+BRIDGE, 3 BRIDGE, 4 BR+MID, 5 MIDDLE, 6 NK + MID
• 
OUTPUT JACK: SWITCHCRAFT 
• 
WEIGHT: 7.5 lbs.