Chapman is partial owner of Guitarmory/Cerberus guitars now

[Chri]

I don't care enough about Chappers to love or hate him, but this guy has receipts.

I hate him for purely because he's annoying to listen to and look at.

Also he needs to stop clinging to those scraps on the front portion of his head and either shave it all off, or use whatever version of Rogaine claims it works best in the UK.

 

[hensh!n]

Was it second-hand or direct? Things are extremely standardized as of last year so it could have been an old builder's work or a one-off for someone with weird routes. One of my own sets was off-spec that was made around 2017 or 2018 but it went into an Agile so I'm not sure who was to blame for that. Soapbar routes have been inconsistent across guitar manufacturers. Pretty sure Harley Benton was one of the worst offenders. Ended up needing to have customers measure their routes exactly to ensure fit or to make them completely custom-fitting pickups. Usually, the wonkiest routes (not even just soapbar) have been from manufacturers who you have no way of contacting and getting a response from with actual route dimensions. There were a few guitars/models that we couldn't even make pickups for but they had to send in the stock pickups and we then rewound them to our specs so that we could use their baseplates and bobbins.

I recently moved away from having any guitars with soapbar routes partially because of this but I still get guitars with "normal" routes and other brands' bobbin sets that are just something different than the norm. I just wish everything was as easy as the pickup swap system Relish guitars have.

Direct. It was during their Black Friday Sale of 2021. Not only was the sizing completely off, but it took ages for Guitarmory to take care of it for me too. Since they're built to order, it wasn't like they could just ship me one within the next week. It was quite an ordeal actually since I had to wait 4-6 weeks for the set to be made, then a week of back and forth before getting PayPal involved. I had to get PayPal involved unfortunately because their responses became sporadic while I was stuck without a guitar after my tech pulled the pickups out to place these in (before noticing the size discrepancy).

I know some companies (Bare Knuckle for example) have non-standardized (meaning a drop-in replacement for an EMG 707) sized soap bars. Other manufacturers vary a bit a few mm's here or there as well. I had to start emailing the dimensions of the stock Fluences that came in my guitar just to avoid any headaches. But even my Tech said he didn't know any 7 or 8-String guitar that the Guitarmory's would fit into because of their odd dimensions. Wider and deeper than most 7-String routes he's worked with. It seemed like Guitarmory were flying by the seat of their pants on that one. It's unfortunate because I really wanted to try their Red Stone pickups. But that experience soured me quite a bit.

 

[LeviathanKiller]

What part of Texas as I also live there. Being an Oni owner, I would like to at least take a look for science. The guitars themselves aren’t my bag. I’m more than happy with the Oni stuff and will likely stick with that for future guitars. We also have a spectacular luthier in Austin for ERG stuff.

Location isn't being made public just yet but I expect with there being events there in the future, that it will be revealed around that time.

Direct. It was during their Black Friday Sale of 2021. Not only was the sizing completely off, but it took ages for Guitarmory to take care of it for me too. Since they're built to order, it wasn't like they could just ship me one within the next week. It was quite an ordeal actually since I had to wait 4-6 weeks for the set to be made, then a week of back and forth before getting PayPal involved. I had to get PayPal involved unfortunately because their responses became sporadic while I was stuck without a guitar after my tech pulled the pickups out to place these in (before noticing the size discrepancy).

I know some companies (Bare Knuckle for example) have non-standardized (meaning a drop-in replacement for an EMG 707) sized soap bars. Other manufacturers vary a bit a few mm's here or there as well. I had to start emailing the dimensions of the stock Fluences that came in my guitar just to avoid any headaches. But even my Tech said he didn't know any 7 or 8-String guitar that the Guitarmory's would fit into because of their odd dimensions. Wider and deeper than most 7-String routes he's worked with. It seemed like Guitarmory were flying by the seat of their pants on that one. It's unfortunate because I really wanted to try their Red Stone pickups. But that experience soured me quite a bit.

Okay, we've switched builders since then so standard-size stuff should be standard-sized now.
My sincerest apologies for you getting a messed up set. I really don't expect you to try to get something from us again because of the hassle you had to go through on that order, but if you ever wanted to, please PM here on SSO and I'll ensure that we have you set up correctly and are well taken care of. I want everyone to have a good experience with the brand and even more so if they had a bad one with us in the past seeing as we are in a much better state running things now. There are plenty of brands and companies I've gotten really screwed over by so I understand anyone's reluctance to go a 2nd round.

 

[ElysianGuitars]

Location isn't being made public just yet but I expect with there being events there in the future, that it will be revealed around that time.



Okay, we've switched builders since then so standard-size stuff should be standard-sized now.
My sincerest apologies for you getting a messed up set. I really don't expect you to try to get something from us again because of the hassle you had to go through on that order, but if you ever wanted to, please PM here on SSO and I'll ensure that we have you set up correctly and are well taken care of. I want everyone to have a good experience with the brand and even more so if they had a bad one with us in the past seeing as we are in a much better state running things now. There are plenty of brands and companies I've gotten really screwed over by so I understand anyone's reluctance to go a 2nd round.

Black Friday 2021 would be the current builder, afaik.

 

[Emperoff]

I know some companies (Bare Knuckle for example) have non-standardized (meaning a drop-in replacement for an EMG 707) sized soap bars.

That is not entirely correct. BKP soapbars have the same dimensions, but they're NOT drop-in replacements. The mounting holes don't line up with those on EMG/Duncan/Lundgren covers. If your pickup cavities are too tight you may need to drill new holes that will be dangerously close to the old ones (and eventually rip the wood apart).

Why did BKP took this route? Don't ask me. The other companies are indeed drop-in replacements.

 

[hensh!n]

Okay, we've switched builders since then so standard-size stuff should be standard-sized now.
My sincerest apologies for you getting a messed up set. I really don't expect you to try to get something from us again because of the hassle you had to go through on that order, but if you ever wanted to, please PM here on SSO and I'll ensure that we have you set up correctly and are well taken care of. I want everyone to have a good experience with the brand and even more so if they had a bad one with us in the past seeing as we are in a much better state running things now. There are plenty of brands and companies I've gotten really screwed over by so I understand anyone's reluctance to go a 2nd round.

Will do! I appreciate the honesty and effort. The Red Stone set is still desirable.

 

[hensh!n]

That is not entirely correct. BKP soapbars have the same dimensions, but they're NOT drop-in replacements. The mounting holes don't line up with those on EMG/Duncan/Lundgren covers. If your pickup cavities are too tight you may need to drill new holes that will be dangerously close to the old ones (and eventually rip the wood apart).

Why did BKP took this route? Don't ask me. The other companies are indeed drop-in replacements.

Right. This is what I meant. The size is the same but essentially new holes would have to be drilled in. Not ideal on a $4,000 guitar.

 

[Emperoff]

Right. This is what I meant. The size is the same but essentially new holes would have to be drilled in. Not ideal on a $4,000 guitar.

Tell me about it. I was very pissed off when I realized. Luckily that particular guitar had large enough cavities so I didn't need to drill new holes. However, the pickups ended up slightly offset to the right due to this.

 

[hensh!n]

Tell me about it. I was very pissed off when I realized. Luckily that particular guitar had large enough cavities so I didn't need to drill new holes. However, the pickups ended up slightly offset to the right due to this.

Yeah I'm glad my Tech told me about it. Otherwise I would've ended up with the aptly named "Cold Sweat" set they kept trying to pawn off on me.

 

[LeviathanKiller]

That is not entirely correct. BKP soapbars have the same dimensions, but they're NOT drop-in replacements. The mounting holes don't line up with those on EMG/Duncan/Lundgren covers. If your pickup cavities are too tight you may need to drill new holes that will be dangerously close to the old ones (and eventually rip the wood apart).

Why did BKP took this route? Don't ask me. The other companies are indeed drop-in replacements.

Right. This is what I meant. The size is the same but essentially new holes would have to be drilled in. Not ideal on a $4,000 guitar.

Tell me about it. I was very pissed off when I realized. Luckily that particular guitar had large enough cavities so I didn't need to drill new holes. However, the pickups ended up slightly offset to the right due to this.

Yeah I'm glad my Tech told me about it. Otherwise I would've ended up with the aptly named "Cold Sweat" set they kept trying to pawn off on me.

ALL OF THAT right there is why I really wish we had an ISO-like standard for pickup sizes. I get that it's a creative space where people need to be able to work outside the norm for new ideas sometimes but it makes getting/making replacement parts a nightmare.

Direct. It was during their Black Friday Sale of 2021. Not only was the sizing completely off, but it took ages for Guitarmory to take care of it for me too. Since they're built to order, it wasn't like they could just ship me one within the next week. It was quite an ordeal actually since I had to wait 4-6 weeks for the set to be made, then a week of back and forth before getting PayPal involved. I had to get PayPal involved unfortunately because their responses became sporadic while I was stuck without a guitar after my tech pulled the pickups out to place these in (before noticing the size discrepancy).

I know some companies (Bare Knuckle for example) have non-standardized (meaning a drop-in replacement for an EMG 707) sized soap bars. Other manufacturers vary a bit a few mm's here or there as well. I had to start emailing the dimensions of the stock Fluences that came in my guitar just to avoid any headaches. But even my Tech said he didn't know any 7 or 8-String guitar that the Guitarmory's would fit into because of their odd dimensions. Wider and deeper than most 7-String routes he's worked with. It seemed like Guitarmory were flying by the seat of their pants on that one. It's unfortunate because I really wanted to try their Red Stone pickups. But that experience soured me quite a bit.

Black Friday 2021 would be the current builder, afaik.

I've located the order in question; this is correct. The current builder was making Black Friday 2021 sets.
It appears to be an odd fluke with this being what was said...
"Strange about the fit I'm pretty sure we took <previous builder's> files or designed from plastic parts. Let’s have you send some physical sets and we can also make a template/route checker. I can ask if anything has changed since he cuts all the flat work. Other soap bars we sent have been ok."
Either way, it was an unintentional mistake and there has been more strict standardizing of things because of its necessity.

 

[CrushingAnvil]

I'll be avoiding those companies then. Rob Chapman is an absolute up his own arse twat.

He sucks at guitar too. Legit prefer Lee and Danish Pete's playing.

 

[AgileButt]

I'm anxiously awaiting the John Browne sig from Schecter. After they nailed the aesthetics with the KM-7 MK-III for Keith with a very Mayones looking concept, I'm hoping we'll see more of that shape going forward and less of the baseball bat -esque necks. Even the swamp ash Apocalypse C-7 was a bit too thick imo. I feel like they went a bit overboard personally when they made the KM-7 MK-2 as thin as it is (yet I still own them) but the MK-3 hits that sweet spot that is just amazing. Meanwhile, I tried Mayones at NAMM for the first time and was shocked at how thick the necks were honestly. I've not had lust over one since then.

Ideally, I'm hoping John asks for those aesthetics and not the thick neck. Someone feel free to correct me if I just happened to only try ones at NAMM that were thick but I've not seen slim necks from Mayones, right?

I can't speak on their 7s, but I have a 6-String Duvell, and I wouldn't consider the neck to be thin. It's thicker than my RG Prestige, but thinner, and less rounded than my old school Schecter. I find it to be very comfortable tho. I also have legitimately massive palms, and don't love a super thin D for my 6-strings. When it comes to 7s tho, those paper thin Ibby Wizards are my favorite. Browne's a surprisingly big dude in person, and they're calling the neck an "ultra thin U," so I have to assume that the Tao's neck profile will similar to the Duvell, otherwise they'd call it a D instead, right?

 

[LeviathanKiller]

I can't speak on their 7s, but I have a 6-String Duvell, and I wouldn't consider the neck to be thin. It's thicker than my RG Prestige, but thinner, and less rounded than my old school Schecter. I find it to be very comfortable tho. I also have legitimately massive palms, and don't love a super thin D for my 6-strings. When it comes to 7s tho, those paper thin Ibby Wizards are my favorite. Browne's a surprisingly big dude in person, and they're calling the neck an "ultra thin U," so I have to assume that the Tao's neck profile will similar to the Duvell, otherwise they'd call it a D instead, right?

I doubt we're going to get something as thin as the KM-7 MK-2 was, which I'm fine with because that caused me hand fatigue after playing long enough, but I at least hope it's MK-3 thin.
Interestingly, all of the USA Custom Shop stuff (of the same models even) is always thicker-necked.