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Chapman Guitars at NAMM

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  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    p90fool said:
    I live fairly near Rob Williams. He's done some work on a couple of my guitars, and builds some of the finest guitars in the UK, if not the world, he's right up there anyway. 

    When I play one of his guitars we totally nerd out over details, why this pickup works best in this guitar, how these two pieces of wood are chosen, you get the idea. He's passionate, knowledgeable, driven by impeccable standards and is deeply and justifiably proud of his guitars, while constantly striving for improvements.

    That is my experience of dealing with a UK maker in this price bracket, and it's no less than you'd expect when ordering a once in a lifetime bespoke guitar.  

    Whatever the quality of Chapman guitars, what the hell are you going to ask him about them? They're not even revealing who is making them, let alone pickup specs or any other important details. 

    Sorry, but "Hey, I'm kind of almost a bit famous, you'll have to take my word for it" just doesn't cut it at this level. 
    You make some good points. My understanding is they will announce who is building them and I suspect that might be part of the appeal. People on the internet are throwing all sorts of names about - I'm sure Lee and Rob are being cute. It keeps the name buzzing on social media and generates interest. And there are people who want something different and are willing to pay for something different. I have a unique Tele made by a guy in the UK from scratch .. I'll never get back what I paid for it but I don't intend to sell it.

    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11413
    If he has 600k subs, how many more would be needed to get him in the jungle?  They put that other YouTube bloke in the jungle.  Would be quite funny seeing him do some of those challenges!
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  • Musicman20Musicman20 Frets: 2296
    crunchman said:
    If he has 600k subs, how many more would be needed to get him in the jungle?  They put that other YouTube bloke in the jungle.  Would be quite funny seeing him do some of those challenges!

    I NEED THIS TO HAPPEN.
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  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    Fretwired said:

    Lee and Rob are smart. Rob's carved a great career for himself as a YouTube celeb, band leader and owner of a guitar brand which is sold all over the world. I'm trying to work out where it's all gone wrong for him ... but I can't. He was at NAMM launching a new guitar line while most of those criticising him on here were off to work at their dead end boring office jobs, and probably see ranting on here as the highlight of their mundane day - very sad.
    The problem with this - and the whole "jealousy" angle - is that it writes off perfectly valid (and specific) reasons people might a) be pissed off, or b) think this is a bad idea. In terms of the former, for example, I've seen the way he's treated people with whom he's tried to do this (and other poor ideas) before, and I don't like it one bit; for the latter, a bit of success with one idea doesn't make all subsequent ideas "good", and this particular idea has already been a spectacular failure twice for CG.

    But people tend to play the man not the ball. By all means criticise the guitars and tell people why you don't like them, but too often all we get is the shouty I hate Chappers thread/comment which smacks a bit of jealousy. It's not just music .. you get the same reaction in sport, politics ..

    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24579
    Fretwired said:
    Fretwired said:

    Lee and Rob are smart. Rob's carved a great career for himself as a YouTube celeb, band leader and owner of a guitar brand which is sold all over the world. I'm trying to work out where it's all gone wrong for him ... but I can't. He was at NAMM launching a new guitar line while most of those criticising him on here were off to work at their dead end boring office jobs, and probably see ranting on here as the highlight of their mundane day - very sad.
    The problem with this - and the whole "jealousy" angle - is that it writes off perfectly valid (and specific) reasons people might a) be pissed off, or b) think this is a bad idea. In terms of the former, for example, I've seen the way he's treated people with whom he's tried to do this (and other poor ideas) before, and I don't like it one bit; for the latter, a bit of success with one idea doesn't make all subsequent ideas "good", and this particular idea has already been a spectacular failure twice for CG.

    But people tend to play the man not the ball. By all means criticise the guitars and tell people why you don't like them, but too often all we get is the shouty I hate Chappers thread/comment which smacks a bit of jealousy. It's not just music .. you get the same reaction in sport, politics ..
    In this instance, it’s not the man, it’s definitely the Ball. 

    Ignoring the “I hate Chappers” comments, the key points are:

    - Anyone who launches a guitar for over £4K with no history in this price bracket is going to get some robust questioning on here
    - Not stating the makers, the designers or anyone involved will always arouse suspicion
    - Mystic “handwound” pickups will also arouse suspicion.

    I personally have no problem with Chappers having his own guitar range - they seem reasonable for the money up to now.

    However, decide to play with the expensive boys and you have to expect a degree of scrutiny well beyond the usual.. just look at the stick Gibson gets for the truer than true truest most historically accurate and true range.
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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11413
    edited January 2018

    Some people are just annoying though.  Chappers is one of them.  Other examples include Robbie Savage, Piers Morgan, and Jedward.

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  • antifashantifash Frets: 603


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  • antifashantifash Frets: 603

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  • I wonder if there is indeed a niche market for these... Look at it this way. You're in a band that are beginning to break through, you've had some good big club support slots and want to cut your teeth as a headliner and you want to spend some serious cash on a great guitar to serve you well. Spend £3.5k on a Gibson and Gibson won't notice. You'll have a good guitar but they won't care. Same with Fender, PRS... Buy a Chapman and the guy will probably make you an endorsee - he has already proven questionable choice in what it takes to get endorsed by the guy but those guitars probably come with a strong possibility of an endorsement providing you are in a situation similar to above. Suddenly that guitar becomes a little more worth the money you spend on it because you have a guy with over 600k subs mentioning you in a video and the hordes of 14 year old bedroom guitarists who make up the lower end of their market suddenly know who you are. If you play the style of music associated with that brand and you're wanting to progess AND you want to buy a new guitar then the British Standard might be worth considering... I doubt thats too many people though... I'd probably have a decent guitar before I hit that stage in my career...
    Endorsement by CG doesn't actually do a lot for a band, and barely does anything for solo guitarists; I don't know why, but the folk who've had endorsements with them don't seem to have really seen any benefits (Bea and Dave don't really count, since they're already part of the crew), and I speak from experience when I say that being mentioned by Rob in a video would likely barely have any effect at all since being in a video with Rob and plugging my band resulted in about 20 people visiting our band page back when he had about 120k subs; now that he has 600k, that percentage will likely go down rather than up.

    I'm almost certain you could spend £3.5k better than to buy a guitar as a differentiating factor for your band.  To me that's not a great reason to buy an expensive instrument.

    The whole 'decent guitar' for a successful musician thing... I'm not convinced by it as a concept if I'm brutally honest.  Any mid range guitar is more than good enough these days to be used for live or recording, maybe you change the electronics or get a fret dress, but fundamentally there are very few instruments that are genuinely poor these days from the major manufacturers once you get above their beginner/entry level guitars.

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  • Musicman20Musicman20 Frets: 2296
    Fretwired said:
    Fretwired said:

    Lee and Rob are smart. Rob's carved a great career for himself as a YouTube celeb, band leader and owner of a guitar brand which is sold all over the world. I'm trying to work out where it's all gone wrong for him ... but I can't. He was at NAMM launching a new guitar line while most of those criticising him on here were off to work at their dead end boring office jobs, and probably see ranting on here as the highlight of their mundane day - very sad.
    The problem with this - and the whole "jealousy" angle - is that it writes off perfectly valid (and specific) reasons people might a) be pissed off, or b) think this is a bad idea. In terms of the former, for example, I've seen the way he's treated people with whom he's tried to do this (and other poor ideas) before, and I don't like it one bit; for the latter, a bit of success with one idea doesn't make all subsequent ideas "good", and this particular idea has already been a spectacular failure twice for CG.

    But people tend to play the man not the ball. By all means criticise the guitars and tell people why you don't like them, but too often all we get is the shouty I hate Chappers thread/comment which smacks a bit of jealousy. It's not just music .. you get the same reaction in sport, politics ..
    In this instance, it’s not the man, it’s definitely the Ball. 

    Ignoring the “I hate Chappers” comments, the key points are:

    - Anyone who launches a guitar for over £4K with no history in this price bracket is going to get some robust questioning on here
    - Not stating the makers, the designers or anyone involved will always arouse suspicion
    - Mystic “handwound” pickups will also arouse suspicion.

    I personally have no problem with Chappers having his own guitar range - they seem reasonable for the money up to now.

    However, decide to play with the expensive boys and you have to expect a degree of scrutiny well beyond the usual.. just look at the stick Gibson gets for the truer than true truest most historically accurate and true range.

    The above. Having a Brit involved with lower budget guitars whilst he demos etc, is pretty cool. Not my style, and I would have liked one of the Pro range to be, but they are too metal orientated. But, 3.5-4k....it's a whole different ball game.
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  • fields5069fields5069 Frets: 3826
    Fretwired said:
    Fretwired said:

    Lee and Rob are smart. Rob's carved a great career for himself as a YouTube celeb, band leader and owner of a guitar brand which is sold all over the world. I'm trying to work out where it's all gone wrong for him ... but I can't. He was at NAMM launching a new guitar line while most of those criticising him on here were off to work at their dead end boring office jobs, and probably see ranting on here as the highlight of their mundane day - very sad.
    The problem with this - and the whole "jealousy" angle - is that it writes off perfectly valid (and specific) reasons people might a) be pissed off, or b) think this is a bad idea. In terms of the former, for example, I've seen the way he's treated people with whom he's tried to do this (and other poor ideas) before, and I don't like it one bit; for the latter, a bit of success with one idea doesn't make all subsequent ideas "good", and this particular idea has already been a spectacular failure twice for CG.

    But people tend to play the man not the ball. By all means criticise the guitars and tell people why you don't like them, but too often all we get is the shouty I hate Chappers thread/comment which smacks a bit of jealousy. It's not just music .. you get the same reaction in sport, politics ..
    It's a bit of both for me. I'm uncomfortable around people who seem to have absolutely no self-awareness.
    Some folks like water, some folks like wine.
    My feedback thread is here.
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  • BucketBucket Frets: 7751
    Philly_Q said:
    Bucket said:
    Though I will say that anyone questioning Eggle's relaunch as a really high-end builder needs to play one of the new ones. Wow.
    Slight diversion from the main topic, but I was watching a video clip on the Peach website last night of Patrick Eggle talking about the new guitars Peach have acquired from him at NAMM.  They look fantastic (although I'm not sure about the scratchplates on the Strat-like models). 
    They do look a little odd - I think that's a common thread among his current range, but to me it's a bit like James Tyler's stuff - you have to look past the aesthetic quirks and what you find is a genuinely amazing guitar. Tylers and the new Eggles are head, shoulders, lungs, colon and bollocks above any Suhr I've played - and quite a few Andersons, which have always been a favourite of mine.
    - "I'm going to write a very stiff letter. A VERY stiff letter. On cardboard."
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  • I personally have no problem with Chappers having his own guitar range - they seem reasonable for the money up to now.

    However, decide to play with the expensive boys and you have to expect a degree of scrutiny well beyond the usual.. just look at the stick Gibson gets for the truer than true truest most historically accurate and true range.
    Well, bear in mind that I just bought a brand new Jaden Rose guitar (with a Floyd) for less than any of the guitars currently in the Chapman Guitars Pro range. "Reasonable for the money" is kinda in the eye of the beholder ;)
    <space for hire>
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24579

    I personally have no problem with Chappers having his own guitar range - they seem reasonable for the money up to now.

    However, decide to play with the expensive boys and you have to expect a degree of scrutiny well beyond the usual.. just look at the stick Gibson gets for the truer than true truest most historically accurate and true range.
    Well, bear in mind that I just bought a brand new Jaden Rose guitar (with a Floyd) for less than any of the guitars currently in the Chapman Guitars Pro range. "Reasonable for the money" is kinda in the eye of the beholder ;)
    True. I was being kind, in as much as I was saying they were playable and not overpriced or poorly built - but reasonable for their price ;)
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  • thegummythegummy Frets: 4389
    I think being a "YouTuber" is making yourself a product so it's fair enough for people to give their opinion on his personality.

    Incidentally, my opinion of him as a person falls between indifference and liking him.

    The captain, on the other hand, I started out liking then the like got lesser then when he ruined the Danish Pete lesson with his ego I can't stand him lol
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  • dindudedindude Frets: 8534
    If this "just" the British Standard range, think how much the British Professional Range will be!
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  • EricTheWearyEricTheWeary Frets: 16253
    dindude said:
    If this "just" the British Standard range, think how much the British Professional Range will be!



    I'm holding out for their Sub Standard range. 
    Tipton is a small fishing village in the borough of Sandwell. 
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  • darthed1981darthed1981 Frets: 11673
    edited January 2018
    I know I keep coming in here making stupid jokes, but I bet the conversation between Chappers and Lee "Call me Captain or go get your f**king P45 no not really I'm a cool guy but where's my coffee" Anderton might have gone something like this...

    LEE:  I just sold my 10,000th Les Paul of the year, a True historic - I uploaded that video of Pete playing it and it sold ten minutes later..

    CHAPPERS: What are you going to buy Lee?

    LEE:  I've no idea, probably the souls of talented session musicians who have mortgages I suspect..

    CHAPPERS: What if we launched a range of super-expensive guitars, make all the "coated in unicorn cum" statements all top brands use, Gibson even talked about using accurate glue for gods sake and PEOPLE SWALLOWED IT, Gibson would be raking it in if they were a guitar company not a slush fund for asset stripping electronics companies... we would then get ALL the £2000 margin on a £4000 guitar for us!!

    LEE:  Bit of a risk surely?

    CHAPPERS: Why?  We can use the channels to plug them, and we only need to order 15 at a time, our risk is at most £30k, and I already have more than that in Chapman guitars in cash AND we can both get custom guitars made for us and they would be DEDUCTABLE Lee!  If we don't spend that cash we will have to pay TAX on it!

    LEE: What's the catch, seems a great idea?

    CHAPPERS: Well, some people on the internet won't like it, but in expressing their displeasure, they will be talking about us and our new venture, so all the publicity will also trickle down into sales of the rest of the range, and get more footfall in Andertons!

    LEE: OK, I'll call some guys I know, line up some luthiers, phew, thought we would have nothing to announce at NAMM this year!
    We have to be so very careful, what we believe in...
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  • PlectrumPlectrum Frets: 494
    Does anyone know of any luthier in this country who has an operation large enough to build 15 high-end guitars per month? That's presumably in addition to the commissions they get under their own name.
    One day I'm going to make a guitar out of butter to experience just how well it actually plays.
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  • mbembe Frets: 1840
    15 guitars per month is do-able if all parts and materials are available and everything is farmed out to specialists. Luthier, finisher, assembler, packer. Job done.
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