what GUITAR is this?

It's a Parker Fly.

 

Parker Fly... http://www.parkerguitars.com/

richard bona uses one, i have seen several guitarists on DVDs and tv performances use them. Marcus Miller's guitarist on the Master of all trades used one.

 

they weigh something like 3-4 lbs.

 

They have a glass composite fingerboard, too! They're very cool guitars. Too bad the bassses didn't come out as visually pleasing...

 

guy i know owns a recording studio, but also plays alot of gigs. he was using one and the whole thing just bent in half, completely ruined. I guess instead of a conventional truss they use a metal plate that acts as a spring. He called up parker and they wouldnt do anything for them, they probably knew it happened kinda often and just blew him off. sucks.

 

^^ I've heard Parker actually has AWESOME customer service.

David Isen from HORSE the Band uses them.

 

Actually, the neck and the back of the Fly guitar body is a one-piece layer of composite material and takes all of the stress from the strings. The wooden top of the guitar body is there just to resonate, and is too thin to contribute any stiffness. It's that construction scheme that makes Parkers light and resonant, but I imagine that if there's a flaw in the composite material, the guitar will just "fold in half," as you said.

Parker makes conventional all-wood guitars, which are heavier, but probably more resistant to abuse.

 

This was a bass forum the last time I looked.

 

The above is simply not true. Parker guitars have conventional truss rods - the tremelo uses a flat leaf spring. The necks are made of wood, as is the body. The back of the neck and body are stiffened using a sort of woven glass composite which in effect adds density to the body without the weight.

I owned a Parker for 10 years, and it was one of the sturdiest instruments I've ever had. Brilliant design, with only one serious flaw in my opion: the upper strap horn. As I started getting older and more mature in my playing, I started raising the guitar higher and higher. Once it was at "proper" playing height, the upper horn kept jabbing me in the ribs.