Chapman Guitars at NAMM

Fretwired

thegummy said:

Budgie said:

Fretwired said:

PukiBusuk said:

3.5k - 4k for a Chump Man. The "British Standard" ..LMAO, Should be called  the "British Elite" because the regular income  spotty face fanboys/girls/transgender millennials cannot afford them. "British Standard" indeed ..HAHAHAHAHA

Yawn.

From what I've read they'll be selling very low numbers and buyers will be able to spec much of the guitar. And as far as I am aware I haven't seen any prices, so not sure where the £3K to £4K comes from. I know some luthiers making good money building high quality guitars in small numbers. I had a Tele made to my own spec by one .. great guitar.

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.

Rob's laughing all the way to the bank .. I think he and Rabea are top blokes.

Wiz’d

The last sentence of your second paragraph is how I tend to view this place too... 

Don't really see the point of that kind of post, it's like going on a football forum and on every thread saying "at least he's actually a footballer/manager, you just work in an office"

It's British disease. Anyone who does well gets knocked down and insulted - we just can't accept success and anyone who does well needs to be kicked off their pedestal. Look at all the negative posts on here. I could start a Joe Bonamassa thread which would quickly descend into bitching about him, his tone, the fact that he's always in the magazine Guitarist. It gets tiresome.

Musicman20

I prefer to call it cynicism. 'Don't believe the hype'..... hahahaha

Philly_Q

Fretwired said:

It's British disease. Anyone who does well gets knocked down and insulted - we just can't accept success and anyone who does well needs to be kicked off their pedestal. Look at all the negative posts on here. I could start a Joe Bonamassa thread which would quickly descend into bitching about him, his tone, the fact that he's always in the magazine Guitarist. It gets tiresome.

So "success" should be applauded for its own sake, regardless of whether or not we like or admire what the person actually does?

p90fool

All that is irrelevant in this case. He's selling something, we are all potential customers and therefore entitled to an opinion, whatever our day jobs or his dreamy rockstar lifestyle. 

Philtre

Why don't we ask Slaven Bilic what he thinks about them? He's a guitar-playing football club manager who also worked in an office as a lawyer.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/33069209

Bucket

I'm not getting involved in debating the business side of things, just dropped in to say that I hope these are better guitars than the import ones, because every single import Chapman I've ever played has been shit.

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.

fields5069

I don't get the "people are just jealous" thing, like no one is allowed to have an opinion on someone and voice it, when that person is successful. Ridiculous. I wouldn't like to do what he is doing, because I would be embarrassed.

There's no denying that he has worked very hard, but for me that's all it is - a hell of a lot of hard work. I find it all totally bland though.

steer

fields5069 said:

 I find it all totally bland though.

If everyone found it bland there would not be 7 pages of debate over a range of guitars that no one has even laid hands on. 

thegummy

Fretwired said:

thegummy said:

Budgie said:

Fretwired said:

PukiBusuk said:

3.5k - 4k for a Chump Man. The "British Standard" ..LMAO, Should be called  the "British Elite" because the regular income  spotty face fanboys/girls/transgender millennials cannot afford them. "British Standard" indeed ..HAHAHAHAHA

Yawn.

From what I've read they'll be selling very low numbers and buyers will be able to spec much of the guitar. And as far as I am aware I haven't seen any prices, so not sure where the £3K to £4K comes from. I know some luthiers making good money building high quality guitars in small numbers. I had a Tele made to my own spec by one .. great guitar.

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.

Rob's laughing all the way to the bank .. I think he and Rabea are top blokes.

Wiz’d

The last sentence of your second paragraph is how I tend to view this place too... 

Don't really see the point of that kind of post, it's like going on a football forum and on every thread saying "at least he's actually a footballer/manager, you just work in an office"

It's British disease. Anyone who does well gets knocked down and insulted - we just can't accept success and anyone who does well needs to be kicked off their pedestal. Look at all the negative posts on here. I could start a Joe Bonamassa thread which would quickly descend into bitching about him, his tone, the fact that he's always in the magazine Guitarist. It gets tiresome.

It's not the case that you could start a thread about any successful guitar player and it would descend into bitching about that person so it's not that "anyone who does well gets knocked down" it's that some players are disliked by a lot of people and their success doesn't make them immune to criticism.

fields5069

steer said:

fields5069 said:

 I find it all totally bland though.

If everyone found it bland there would not be 7 pages of debate over a range of guitars that no one has even laid hands on. 

Yes that's true, some people obviously don't find it bland. Or maybe it causes outrage because a lot of people don't see how the hell Mr Lord has managed to make a success of it. It defies logic in one sense, although then again I am personally mystified how a crowd-designed guitar could turn out like that. So it causes consternation precisely because it is so bland.

steer

Yes, there is plenty of outrage. It's like people who get angry over a TV program they do not like - Just ignore it and find something you do like instead and leave the program to its fans. 

fields5069

steer said:

Yes, there is plenty of outrage. It's like people who get angry over a TV program they do not like - Just ignore it and find something you do like instead and leave the program to its fans. 

But surely that's down to personal choice?

digitalscream

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.

Fretwired said:

I think he and Rabea are top blokes.

Having actually met both, I'll agree with half of that statement and put a qualified "Hmmm....maybe" against the other

Corvus

Something and nothing.

If he sells a few, all good.

If he doesn't there's probably no real loss. Unless the builder's bought more tooling & space (but if they're clued up they probably haven't). And still a halo effect on the brand which might get more of the usual ones shifted especially in the US.

It's an unexpected move and like, hate or don't care it'd seem likely to be noticed and generate noise & publicity. I mean 8 bleedin' pages here. Isn't there an exciting new relic replica signature Strat or something to talk about.

While it feels a bit mad in one sense, opposite the usual brand releasing a cheaper range than the posher ones, and could be a side effect of delusions of grandeur, it also could be quite a shrewd move either way.

BigBearKris

I think he will sell some of those, as there are people who will pay any price to be a part of the whole Chapman experience, probably appear in one of the yt videos etc.

For the guitar itself - I like the look of them. The red Tele and Explorer type look great! 

Price is ridiculous though... For someone who has that kind of money for an instrument making ''british standard'' their choice would be a poor one.

Philly_Q

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). 

p90fool

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. 

chrishill901

Hmm I'm sceptical about the point in this range, and the 'British' marketing but wish all at Chapman guitars the best in this latest endeavour. For me he can't lose; as a business model its fairly safe. I can't see him losing out on much money if this range doesn't sell well and having his brand name eventually mentioned in the same breath as Gibson Custom Shop, PRS, Suhr etc... can only do the brand and sales at all levels a favour.

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...

digitalscream

chrishill901 said:

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.

Teetonetal

Bucket 

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.

Agree. One of my students bought one last year - it's one of the best guitars I've ever played.