<\/p>\n
Ken Parker, a legendary guitar maker known for his design for the Parker Fly, has died.<\/p>\n
He was 73. <\/p>\n
His death came just days after he revealed via a GoFundMe<\/b><\/a> that he was battling cancer.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been building guitars for as long as I can remember,\u201d Parker wrote in that post. \u201cThroughout my life, I\u2019ve done something that I love and am proud of \u2014 making guitars that advance the art, science and craft of building far beyond traditional methods. Most importantly, it has been a true joy and especially gratifying experience to see my guitars in the hands of all of you gifted and aspiring players, and I thank you for that opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n That is when he got into his fight.<\/p>\n \u201cIn early 2023, I was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that has slowly been debilitating me,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIt hasn\u2019t been easy living with this nasty disease, having chemo treatments that zapped my energy and slowly took away my ability to earn a living. Now, I\u2019m on a breathing machine 24\/7 and I\u2019ve started to lose the use of my left arm. I humbly ask for your support to reduce the medical and personal debt that I\u2019ve incurred and to help with my family\u2019s expenses. I know times are tough for all of us and I sincerely thank you for any support that you can offer.\u201d<\/p>\n The GoFundMe has raised more than $140,000. <\/p>\n A follow-up post noted that he \u201cpassed away peacefully at his home in Gloucester, MA on October 5, 2025 with Susan Kolwicz by his side.\u201d<\/p>\n A statement shared by Parker to his Ken Parker Archtops site thanked fans for their support and said the company would continue on with Sam Krimmel.<\/p>\n \u201cMy time here is about to close down and I won\u2019t be part of the show anymore,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWhat I have done with all my heart and soul is to put together a situation where my work can continue unabated and begin to bring some serious fruit to the things that I\u2019ve been working on for the last 50 years. My deepest and heartfelt thanks to all of you. It\u2019s been the experience of my lifetime being able to share my life\u2019s work and knowledge with each of you through my instruments and via Archtoppery, and see that you get it. <\/p>\n \u201cMy hope is that you all build on what I\u2019ve learned and shared, and take everything to the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n Musicradar.com said that the Parker Fly<\/b> <\/a>was launched in 1993 and featured a wooden body with a carbon fiber and epoxy exoskeleton. The site noted that the guitar also had \u201ca double-cutaway shape that still feels cutting-edge with its minimalist six-in-line headstock and trademark horns.\u201d <\/p>\n The site said the guitar\u2019s \u201cfuturistic profile\u201d made it a favorite of the likes of Eddie Van Halen and Joni Mitchell. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.pennlive.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ken Parker, a legendary guitar maker known for his design for the Parker Fly, has died. He was 73. His death came just days after he revealed via a GoFundMe that he was battling cancer. \u201cI\u2019ve been building guitars for as long as I can remember,\u201d Parker wrote in that post. \u201cThroughout my life, I\u2019ve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[364035,24442],"class_list":["post-2087350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-musical-band","tag-stage"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2087350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2087350"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2087350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2087351,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2087350\/revisions\/2087351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2087350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2087350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2087350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}