In part one a cardboard template was made and fitted to the guitar but now it was time to make the real thing.
As I had some brass sheet on hand my first thought was to use that to make the bracket.
After some cutting and filing, the template had been cut from the brass sheet, but it seemed quite heavy.
At this point I realised that the brackets that Roland supplied were, in my opinion, quite over-engineered for the amount of stress they would have to take in normal use, and there was really no need to secure the bracket to the back of the guitar as well as the end pin. Removing the back legs would reduce some weight but it still seemed like overkill for what was actually needed.
I decided to think about it for a bit…
Many months later I acquired a 3D printer and after printing some interesting gadgets I decided to start developing my own designs. The dormant Parker project sprung immediately to mind – after all this would solve the weight problem and printed parts can be surprisingly strong.
First, measurements for the flat control mounting surface were taken from the original cardboard template and transferred into the 3D modelling software as a 2D sketch…
From there it was extruded into a solid and the tab for the endpin mounting was added…
With the addition of a slot for the end pin mounting, a couple of mounting holes for the controller and a bit of cleanup the final model was completed…
… and printed…
… then the pickup controls were mounted on the bracket…
… and finally attached to the guitar…
All in all a very successful project – the Parker Fly is still perfectly balanced but the controller and pickup are securely attached to the guitar – everybody wins!
