Just wondering, has anyone actually bought a new Chapman guitar from the new range?

Musicman20

They seemed to attract a lot of attention with the announcement, but I've yet to see anyone talking about owning one...

Legionreturns

I think everyone's waiting until they get discounted back to the previous price point in bargain bins. Seriously overpriced

thegummy

They do seem too expensive.

Seem like something people into guitars would go "hmm looks interesting" but less so something someone would actually buy.

One problem might be that, even though on Youtube he makes out that the pickups are "Chapman branded" rather than OEM, I don't think many people are convinced that the pickups are in the same league as Duncan etc.

A thought I had last night about Chapman Guitars is, man, that CAP 10 model must be one of the ugliest guitars I've ever seen lol

poopot

Not sure why anyone would buy a guitar with an “8” on the 12th fret.... seems confusing...

adamm82

Legionreturns said:

I think everyone's waiting until they get discounted back to the previous price point in bargain bins. Seriously overpriced

I always thought before that Chapman brands appeal was to be good quality affordable guitars. but at £800 to £1000 not sure I would go for one of their Tele or Strat style guitars, or over a grand for their LP type guitar. I think i'd rather go for a Fender, PRS, and for that budget you can get a whole lot of Ibanez.

They won't hold much value in the resale in my opinion which is another factor. 

Legionreturns

Exactly! You'd lose a boat load and at that price point you can buy a guitar that will hold value and has heritage. 

adamm82

poopot said:

Not sure why anyone would buy a guitar with an “8” on the 12th fret.... seems confusing...

Can actually tell me what a 'Ghost Fret' is. he talked about it so many times.

Apart from being Explorer shape what's the difference or is it just a name?

thegummy

I don't know if a small company really could make affordable guitars cause they don't have the scale to save money without sacrificing something

Fortheloveofguitar

I really liked the look of the Bea sig models until I saw the price. Chapman prices have got ridiculous 

Seriously over priced for what it is and resale value is dead in the water. 

Another thing I’ve noticed is that Anderson’s hardly ever have anything in stock 

adamm82

thegummy said:

I don't know if a small company really could make affordable guitars cause they don't have the scale to save money without sacrificing something

I still think they'd be suited better in the £400-£600 range, I know they have a unique situation with having andertons to sell them.I think there is some internet loyalty.

I don't know how bigger Thomann are in comparison but their Harley Benton range must fly off their shelves. But I have no idea really. 

Legionreturns

Fortheloveofguitar said:

I really liked the look of the Bea sig models until I saw the price. Chapman prices have got ridiculous 

Seriously over priced for what it is and resale value is dead in the water. 

Another thing I’ve noticed is that Anderson’s hardly ever have anything in stock 

Andertons have shit loads in stock now...because nobody will buy them new lol. I predict that their >£1k models will be on sale for about £600 by June to clear them out. Which of course will screw anyone who pays full price in the mean time, as used value will bomb to about £350. The budget models they have in at around £400 might sell, but then again you can get a PRS SE for not much more. 

rico

I actually quite like his ethos regarding the guitar design approach - it's all done 'collaboratively' which I think is an interesting way of designing guitars people actually want to buy (cough, Gibson...) but they are quite overpriced. Last time I was in Andertons I had a quick look but the reverse headstocks put me off and I felt dirty after looking at them. 

Musicman20

Legionreturns said:

Fortheloveofguitar said:

I really liked the look of the Bea sig models until I saw the price. Chapman prices have got ridiculous 

Seriously over priced for what it is and resale value is dead in the water. 

Another thing I’ve noticed is that Anderson’s hardly ever have anything in stock 

Andertons have shit loads in stock now...because nobody will buy them new lol. I predict that their >£1k models will be on sale for about £600 by June to clear them out. Which of course will screw anyone who pays full price in the mean time, as used value will bomb to about £350. The budget models they have in at around £400 might sell, but then again you can get a PRS SE for not much more. 

This is what I've noticed. Lot's of stock. Not a lot of movement. Surely over in the USA it would be even more expensive to buy one of these guitars?!

Legionreturns

I'm not sure that's true. I think they give the illusion of collaborative design, but I think they still build what they want to build. Otherwise you'd end up with a Franken-guitar! 

Philtre

At that price I'd buy a proper guitar.

adamm82

Perhaps I am a overly sceptical. But I do find it a bit suspicious that most of the main youtube guitar personalities seem to have a Chapman in their collection.

I'd love to see some impartial reviews on these guitars.

Musicman20

Just to clarify, I bought a Gibson SG Standard 2017, with a hardcase, for £900 this year, brand new. I'm just wondering what the deal is or whether I'm missing something.

Octafish

Even ignoring the price, can't say any of the models appeal to me, all a bit too anonymous generic Nu-Metal looking plus they've got that blokes name on them

Modellista

thegummy said:

I don't know if a small company really could make affordable guitars cause they don't have the scale to save money without sacrificing something

They just give a massive factory in Indonesia some instructions and they're made on the same production line as loads of other brands.  I guess there would be a bit of a discount for making a large order but it's not as if Rob Chapman is getting his files and bandsaw out every time.

thegummy

adamm82 said:

Perhaps I am a overly sceptical. But I do find it a bit suspicious that most of the main youtube guitar personalities seem to have a Chapman in their collection.

I'd love to see some impartial reviews on these guitars.

You're right to be skeptical, the whole Youtube scene is all about paid promotion as well as self promotion (you scratch my back).

I remember on Andertons this random girl started being in every video they were putting out then I started to see her making the rounds on all different popular guitar channels. Made me wonder if her management went down the route of promoting via Youtube.

thegummy

modellista said:

thegummy said:

I don't know if a small company really could make affordable guitars cause they don't have the scale to save money without sacrificing something

They just give a massive factory in Indonesia some instructions and they're made on the same production line as loads of other brands.  I guess there would be a bit of a discount for making a large order but it's not as if Rob Chapman is getting his files and bandsaw out every time.

Exactly, and making relatively small orders at a factory isn't going to allow as much saving as a massive company can make with orders many many times the size or even more so if they run their own factories.

I've actually heard Lee Anderton talk about how Chapman don't have the scale to offer prices that bigger companies could offer.