Chapman Videos for 3 most popular selling guitars Over & Under $1000 at Thomann

[Louis Cypher]

Couple of Videos posted up for the 3 best selling guitars at thomann in the last 12 months for under $1000 and over $1000. And the results are, as Andy and Rob state, surprising....





For those who cant be bothered with the videos (though I would recommend it coz Andy from Thomann cracks me up) its:

Under $1000
LTD EC 1000
Fender Mexican Hendrix Strat
Harley Benton SC 550 Deluxe

Over $1000
Chapman ML3 BEA Baritone
Fender American Performer Strat HSS
PRS CE 24

Obviously this comes with a boat load of cavets, ie. sales in one store in Germany (though a huge player in the guitar market in the EU) doesnt't reflect a trend across the world as I guess EU market is very different to the US market for example and many other regions so on and so on (I am obviously no expert) but as they say in the video in both lists there are no Gibson/Epiphone and no Ibanez's....... Interesting I think

 

[MaxOfMetal]

tl;dr Strats, Teles, and Les Pauls are still popular.

Shocking.

Cool commercials though, I guess.

 

[Science_Penguin]

I can attest to the EC 1000's quality. Mine's been a reliable gigging instrument for the past four years. Plus it just looks snazzy.

The fact that Gibson and Ibanez aren't on that list doesn't surprise me in the least. Gibson for obvious reasons, though I didn't realize it had gotten so bad that a Les Paul copy would make the top 3 before anything of theirs. So much for "playing authentic..."

As for Ibanez, I just don't get what they're putting out now. It's like they saw the threads people made about ridiculous, obnoxiously colored Kiesels and thought "Woah, these must be REALLY popular right now!"
Even their cheap standard models couldn't escape the weirdness. I think they underestimate the value a lot of people would see in a basic, solid colored RG.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

And people wonder why Fender doesn't "modernize." Because they still sell plenty well as is.

 

[Adieu]

...but do we believe a video by a guy named Chapman that claims a guitar coincidentally named CHAPMAN just so happens to be a high-priced bestseller????

Also, does fullbrand PRS actually have the kind of output to ever lead bestsellers in any category in an unbiased, undoctored study???

 

[MaxOfMetal]

I can attest to the EC 1000's quality. Mine's been a reliable gigging instrument for the past four years. Plus it just looks snazzy.

The fact that Gibson and Ibanez aren't on that list doesn't surprise me in the least. Gibson for obvious reasons, though I didn't realize it had gotten so bad that a Les Paul copy would make the top 3 before anything of theirs. So much for "playing authentic..."

As for Ibanez, I just don't get what they're putting out now. It's like they saw the threads people made about ridiculous, obnoxiously colored Kiesels and thought "Woah, these must be REALLY popular right now!"
Even their cheap standard models couldn't escape the weirdness. I think they underestimate the value a lot of people would see in a basic, solid colored RG.

Context is important.

Thomann owns the Harley Benton brand, as such they can undercut the price of similar Epiphone guitars, and Gibsons are subject to importation taxes in Europe that make them a bad value proposition, unavailable under $1k and we'll above the just barely over $1k of the second batch.

The EC1000 isn't surprising, ESP/LTD eats some of the aforementioned taxes to have a better product mix in Europe. They also now make them in Indonesia vs. South Korea, keeping the price down to still be competitive.

You'll notice there aren't any Super Strats (Ibanez RG and Saber, ESP/LTD M/MH/H, Schecter C, etc), so Ibanez exclusion isn't really a mark specifically on that brand.

The only "modern" guitar is the Chapman, which is "suspect", but also likely given the popularity and cult status of the brand.

As for the CE, the PRS brand is on fire in Europe right now, but Core models are still too expensive after import, and the CE is as close as you can get without dropping nearly twice as much.

 

[Science_Penguin]

Context is important.

Thomann owns the Harley Benton brand, as such they can undercut the price of similar Epiphone guitars, and Gibsons are subject to importation taxes in Europe that make them a bad value proposition, unavailable under $1k and we'll above the just barely over $1k of the second batch.

The EC1000 isn't surprising, ESP/LTD eats some of the aforementioned taxes to have a better product mix in Europe. They also now make them in Indonesia vs. South Korea, keeping the price down to still be competitive.

You'll notice there aren't any Super Strats (Ibanez RG and Saber, ESP/LTD M/MH/H, Schecter C, etc), so Ibanez exclusion isn't really a mark specifically on that brand.

The only "modern" guitar is the Chapman, which is "suspect", but also likely given the popularity and cult status of the brand.

As for the CE, the PRS brand is on fire in Europe right now, but Core models are still too expensive after import, and the CE is as close as you can get without dropping nearly twice as much.

Fair enough.

I'm more out of the loop than I thought.

 

[Louis Cypher]

Obviously this is hardly scientific and relates to one store in the EU where as Max said non EU Products are more expensive due to import duty, but still a couple of Fenders made the list inc a USA made Fender model. As I said in the OP you can drive a tank through the plot holes but still it was interesting who was missing off the lists even tho as when max points out the reasons it is then obvious why Lol!

 

[NoodleFace]

What always stopped me from buying Chapman guitars is I remember when Rob had the worst dreads I have ever seen in my life. I mean serious, yuck. Everytime I see the brand I think of it.

 

[wheelsdeal]

What they fail to mention is that brands say like Ibanez and Gibson have strong dealerships throughout Europe besides Thomann,meaning a lot of sales goes directly from dealers and local shops...where Chapman guitars you can only get from Andertons and Thomann (and maybe a couple of small shops in the UK).

So judging just from Thomann sales,sure a brand that dont have 500 other shops in Europe to sale their guitars,their sales will look inflated.I bought my Ibanez and Gibson Explorer from local dealers but they cant count those sales cant they...

 

[I play music]

The only "modern" guitar is the Chapman, which is "suspect", but also likely given the popularity and cult status of the brand.

Not sure. If you want a superstrat you can choose out of 1340950189304924 models. If you want a baritone with that scale length you can only choose out of 3 to 5 models. So I am not sooo surprised that one of those baritones sells better then one of the many many many superstrat models.

 

[cip 123]

What they fail to mention is that brands say like Ibanez and Gibson have strong dealerships throughout Europe besides Thomann,meaning a lot of sales goes directly from dealers and local shops...where Chapman guitars you can only get from Andertons and Thomann (and maybe a couple of small shops in the UK).

So judging just from Thomann sales,sure a brand that dont have 500 other shops in Europe to sale their guitars,their sales will look inflated.I bought my Ibanez and Gibson Explorer from local dealers but they cant count those sales cant they...

Chapman are held by multiple large nationwide retailers in many countries I suggest you check their website. While we don’t know numbers obviously, what you’re saying is just factually wrong.

Guitars will go straight from factory to their dealers Andertons is no longer a middle man.

 

[IbanezDaemon]

Whatever happened to those British Standard Series guitars they launched? Think they were around the £3,300 mark to order. I wonder if they actually sold any? No mention of those for a while it seems.

 

[gnoll]

Not sure. If you want a superstrat you can choose out of 1340950189304924 models. If you want a baritone with that scale length you can only choose out of 3 to 5 models. So I am not sooo surprised that one of those baritones sells better then one of the many many many superstrat models.

That's pretty much exactly what I was thinking.

Looking at models separately like this seems like it would very easily be pretty misleading.

Smaller brands, less conventional guitars, and less popular types of guitars are likely to have less models to choose from. And so while less people buy that "type" of guitar, more people buy that one specific model.

Overall there's so many factors affecting what model ends up on a list like this, it just doesn't seem to mean anything. It's not surprising, it's not interesting, it's just nothing.

 

[IbanezDaemon]

What always stopped me from buying Chapman guitars is I remember when Rob had the worst dreads I have ever seen in my life. I mean serious, yuck. Everytime I see the brand I think of it.

Yep. Some things can never be unseen!

 

[Andromalia]

Context is important.

Thomann owns the Harley Benton brand, as such they can undercut the price of similar Epiphone guitars, and Gibsons are subject to importation taxes in Europe that make them a bad value proposition, unavailable under $1k and we'll above the just barely over $1k of the second batch.

The entry level Gibson Tributes are actually well under 1K€, probably not for very long at this point with the guitar prices raising way faster than the general price index. There seem to be two trends with US brands, some are priced reasonably close to their US pricing (Gibson, Fender/Jackson/Charvel) and some appear to be price gouging without any reservations (Schecter, Mesa, Music Man, PRS)
I've always said that the entry level Gibsons were priced pretty fairly even in the EU, actually most Gibson prices are fine until you reach the LP Standard stage. Explorers and Vs are very reasonably priced guitars. The Golden Axe probably still is the best price/quality ratio I ever got on a new guitar considering the finish, brand pickup, binding etc.

 

[AkiraSpectrum]

Interesting thread here, especially some of the answers which help contextualize the top 3 list.

Without question, PRS CE's are great guitars and some of the Limited Edition models they have been doing (Satin models especially) look really really good. In addition, that Fender Performer Strat with the HSS and Satin Seafoam Green is super sexy--and having played a few of these, I can attest that they are great guitars!

Of course, in the lower bracket, the LTD EC-1000 is nothing short of a solid workhorse guitar (great features, well-made, reasonable price) for like, what, 20 years?

 

[Louis Cypher]

In addition, that Fender Performer Strat with the HSS and Satin Seafoam Green is super sexy--and having played a few of these, I can attest that they are great guitars!

That is a beautiful guitar I love everything about it, the Satin Seaform Green look so good and I do really love strats with the big CBS style headstock.

 

[Floppystrings]

#AD

 

[aesthyrian]

What always stopped me from buying Chapman guitars is I remember when Rob had the worst dreads I have ever seen in my life. I mean serious, yuck. Everytime I see the brand I think of it.

"Dorje - Catalyst" was more than enough for me