NGD: Chapman Ghost Fret

[ExtremophileElite]

My wonderful wife surprised me with this yesterday for Christmas. I'd been checking these out online for a little while now, but couldn't really find too much information/reviews on them except for what was made available by Rob Chapman himself.

Really light guitar in relation to its size. I own a Gibson Explorer and RD that are much, much heavier. Neck is really thin and comfortable. Fret edges are filed and not sharp. It does have some neck dive, but I half expected that. I was pleased find that this guitar was loaded with Seymour Duncans rather than the Chapman Passive Aggressive pups. Quality was pretty much on par with anything coming out of Korea. The Hipshot bridge and locking tuners are a big +1 for me. The placement of the tuning keys make it a little awkward to tune if you're playing standing up, but I guess I just need to get used to it.

Sounds great through my 5150iii. Excels at super heavy tones and does a great job with cleans, due to the coil-tap.

I may not be the biggest fan of the man himself, but I'll definitely say that I'm impressed with this offering.

 

[WolleK]

Pretty sexy guitar.

 

[AdenM]

Definitely one of the better models he's put out! Looks awesome, HNGD.

 

[leftyguitarjoe]

That is one slick explorer. Its simple and gorgeous. Happy NGD!

 

[Dawn of the Shred]

Congrats man!

 

[oppgulp]

Happy new guitar day!

 

[StrmRidr]

HNGD! I really want to try one of these. I really like the natural one.

 

[Daf57]

Man, that is sharp!! Congrats!

 

[amonb]

Always wanted an explorer after seeing Devin Townsend rock one in the late nineties. That looks fantastic, happy NGD!

 

[Pikka Bird]

...Hipshot Chinese made standard no-brand bridge...

Fixed that right up for ya... Sure is a nice looking guitar though.

 

[RUSH_Of_Excitement]

This man knows what's up ^^

 

[will_shred]

I never understood the hate for Rob Chapman, it seems to be a pretty popular opinion. To me he just seems like a guy who has a kick ass music career that anyone of us would love to have, and genuinely loves what he does.

but anyway, that's a sexy guitar. HNGD.

 

[ExtremophileElite]

Fixed that right up for ya... Sure is a nice looking guitar though.

Well that's really disappointing. Wonder why he'd advertise it as such.

 

[Sleazy_D]

Looks dope

 

[Hollowway]

Nice looking guitar.

What do you mean about the placement of the tuning keys? They look like they're pretty normal to me. You mean you don't like the rev HS, or is there something going on with them I'm missing?

 

[ExtremophileElite]

Nice looking guitar.

What do you mean about the placement of the tuning keys? They look like they're pretty normal to me. You mean you don't like the rev HS, or is there something going on with them I'm missing?

It's just the reverse headstock. I got used to it after playing the guitar for awhile longer.

 

[TheBloodstained]

I'm kinda GAS'ing for one of these!
They look so cool

 

[ZERO1]

Is it really a hipshot bridge knock off? Because I was able to find this on thier site. Stainless Hardtail Bridge > Store > Hipshot Products . looks like it but the chapman one is black. can anyone confirm?

edit: upon further inspection they are different. Is there anything that can be done because it is clearly false advertising.

 

[ExtremophileElite]

Is it really a hipshot bridge knock off? Because I was able to find this on thier site. Stainless Hardtail Bridge > Store > Hipshot Products . looks like it but the chapman one is black. can anyone confirm?

edit: upon further inspection they are different. Is there anything that can be done because it is clearly false advertising.

It's hard to tell from my pictures, but the saddles on my bridge are angled up. Or at least thats an observation I remember making. I can look when I get home and post a picture. The Hipshot bridge appears to have saddles that are parallel to the bridge itself. Hard to tell if this is correct, but it sure looks it.

Also, if you look at the screws that mount the bridge to the guitar, the Hipshot appears to use 3 screws whereas mine has 5.

I think I'm going to reach out to Chapman Guitars to see what they say.

 

[ExtremophileElite]

edit: upon further inspection they are different. Is there anything that can be done because it is clearly false advertising.

I just emailed them. It's really late in the evening in the U.K. so obviously I won't get an answer anytime soon.