NGD: Chapman Ghost Fret

[ExtremophileElite]

problem is they(he) plays the guitars, and the Ghost Fret is his favourite to play currently, and his has the korean bridge. He is a guitar nerd, he has all the different models at his place, so he can see and know the differences in the bridges

I recon He knows its a copy bridge, but doesn't know that the website info is wrong

The only problem with that is Rob says that there is a Hipshot bridge on these guitars, and thats coming from relatively recent videos.

 

[austink]

Holy moly! First the bridge, then the strap locks and now possibly the pots? I would also be one to bet against the nut being tusq

Even if we say it was a mix up at world music, if you are selling something with your name on it you probably should make sure it is what you say it is. If they couldn't double check the production guitars before selling them, that is just crappy quality control.

Does riff city know about all the new developments?

edit: Apparently they put in the wrong spaced bridge humbucker? Also Zero had me busting up with his interaction with Robstafarian

 

[ZERO1]

Holy moly! First the bridge, then the strap locks and now possibly the pots? I would also be one to bet against the nut being tusq

Even if we say it was a mix up at world music, if you are selling something with your name on it you probably should make sure it is what you say it is. If they couldn't double check the production guitars before selling them, that is just crappy quality control.

Does riff city know about all the new developments?

edit: Apparently they put in the wrong spaced bridge humbucker? Also Zero had me busting up with his interaction with Robstafarian

Thanks . I was trying to keep it civil. But I got irked what can I say. lol

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I just checked the thread.

What the ever-living .... happened in there?

 

[ZERO1]

So now for sure chapman has been made aware of the issue. The specs on the chapman site now say hipshot style bridge. So when are they going to respond or is that all they are going to do?

 

[GraemeH]

They aren't allowed to say "Hipshot style" in official marketing material since that's a trademark. As I alluded to that's like advertising the guitar as "Gibson style" - the lawyers would be up his arse in a second.

Unless Hipshot have given him dispensation to use that phrase, but I can't imagine it.

 

[Chokey Chicken]

Well, at least the source is no longer misleading, which is all I really gave a damn about. Not sure how legal it is, but it's not misleading anymore, though the strap locks should be looked into. Hopefully they can send out the correct spec sheet to dealers.

 

[Hollowway]

Thanks . I was trying to keep it civil. But I got irked what can I say. lol

That Robstafarian guy definitely was being defensive. It's been a MONTH, and no response from customer service. I can't think of any company that blows me off for a month with no response. Most say 24-48 hours. And still, no one was complaining, just wondering when it would be addressed, but that Rob guy had a huge issue with anything people said. And talk about paranoid. In what dictionary does white knight = spineless twat? Despite what he thinks, there is more liability in NOT changing the website than changing it immediately. He said if they changed it there could be multiple lawsuits. I know about this area from experience, and the opposite is true. Handling the customers who didn't get what they thought they would is definitely a touchy legal situation. But correcting the website to correct a problem is not.

I guess the take home message is don't expect a fan of a brand to be objective. Same thing happened on here with every luthier that's taken people's money and gone AWOL. Which sucks, because you'd think you could ask people with experience a question without getting told to shut up.

I have no skin in the game, but I'm curious to see the response. I think Rob is a cool guy, and the company is cool, so I think this will get fixed. But I don't get all the hate on OP for bringing it up and asking about it.

 

[rewihendrix]

Saying "Hipshot-style" is still very misleading. Hipshot is not a generic name for a type of bridge. It's a hardtail bridge and that's the exact term they should use.

I would actually be more comfortable with them saying "Gibson-style scale length" as opposed to just "23 3/4", as Gibson has actual cache in regards to that particular style of guitar. Hipshot? They make a range of different hardware, including a hard tail bridge which I'm not even sure why is particularly desirable.

Hell, even "Floyd Rose-style trem" would even be understandable, if still highly highly illegal, because at least FR has a recognisable style to it.

 

[ExtremophileElite]

Does riff city know about all the new developments

I haven't spoken to them in quite awhile. I'm not too sure what they know at this point. I suppose I could call them, but I'm not sure if there is any real reason to at this point.

So now for sure chapman has been made aware of the issue. The specs on the chapman site now say hipshot style bridge. So when are they going to respond or is that all they are going to do?

Still haven't heard anything from them. So they can change their website, but still can't talk to an actual paying customer after a month?

But I don't get all the hate on OP for bringing it up and asking about it.

I think the majority have been pretty sympathetic to the situation. Some see it as a non-issue and I respect that opinion, but I am not one to just sit there and take it.

 

[patdavidmusic]

long thread is long,
in all the pages i may have missed it,

but how does it sound and feel buddy?

 

[A-Branger]

So now for sure chapman has been made aware of the issue. The specs on the chapman site now say hipshot style bridge. So when are they going to respond or is that all they are going to do?

but that is only for the Ghost Fret page, on the "special Run Ghost Fret" it still says "Hipshot bridge"

and if you are going to "change" the website, why wont you just fix the whole dam thing??? instead of adding "hipshot-STYLE bridge" to kinda "fix" the problem, but still keep the original mistake, so it doesnt look like a mistake??

specially when for the other guitar you have this

ML3 modern > Chapman ‘Hard Tail Deluxe’ bridge

so if they are perfectly able to write that for that guitar, then why wont you do the same for the ghist fret, since its using the exact same bridge?


I was giving them the benefit of the doubt before, but this website "update" it makes me think poorly of them

 

[ZERO1]

but that is only for the Ghost Fret page, on the "special Run Ghost Fret" it still says "Hipshot bridge"

and if you are going to "change" the website, why wont you just fix the whole dam thing??? instead of adding "hipshot-STYLE bridge" to kinda "fix" the problem, but still keep the original mistake, so it doesnt look like a mistake??

specially when for the other guitar you have this



so if they are perfectly able to write that for that guitar, then why wont you do the same for the ghist fret, since its using the exact same bridge?


I was giving them the benefit of the doubt before, but this website "update" it makes me think poorly of them

What I don't understand is how they fixed the site. but they haven't addressed the issue at all. Is that all they are going to do? Just update the site and sweep it under the rug? Because I think that would be ....ty.

 

[Andromalia]

It's not a ghost fret, it's a ghost bridge. (Although the unadvertised 0 fret is missing too)

 

[Hollowway]

I think it may be OK that the website is changed but they haven't responded. They may be discussing what they're going to do with the customers that have already purchased the guitar. They could ignore them, respond with an apology, open up to returns, send them something with the apology, offer a discount on a future order, etc.

I agree though, he "Hipshot style bridge" wording is weird.

 

[ExtremophileElite]

long thread is long,
in all the pages i may have missed it,

but how does it sound and feel buddy?

Sounds and feels great! Slightly smaller than a Gibson Explorer. Really thin neck plays fast. Has some neck dive, but that comes with the territory.

 

[Maybrick]

This is the first Chapman guitar that I've looked at an thought "Wow, that looks nice".

I'm really tempted to get one for bedroom use. I don't think I'd suite an Explorer shaped guitar live!

 

[patdavidmusic]

Sounds and feels great! Slightly smaller than a Gibson Explorer. Really thin neck plays fast. Has some neck dive, but that comes with the territory.

Glad you're digging it mate!

 

[ExtremophileElite]

Chapman Guitars responded. Here is what they wrote:

Hi Ryan

Thanks for your email and sorry to hear about your issue. We’ve since been in contact with Hipshot and our factory and since updated our website to be correct. Thanks for letting us know about this, and sorry for any inconvenience.

Regards

Matt Hornby

Chapman Guitars

I hate to say, but I lost my cool and sent quite an angry email back to them. I wasn't going to post it here, but I might as well. I'm aware that I was a little harsh / abrasive, and I'm sure a lot of people on here won't exactly agree with what I wrote or how I handled it. It's early, and I haven't had my coffee yet.

Matt,

This is quite unsettling. Firstly, if you never used Hipshot bridges on the guitar why would you have been in Contact with Hipshot? Were you in contact with Gibson since this guitar is ‘Explorer Style’?

There is also reason to believe that the Schaller Strap Locks that are included are not genuine as well. Schallers are stamped ‘MADE IN GERMANY’ while these are not. The Schallers have considerable weight to them while these do not. Over at the Chapman forum, a member even said the paint from them rubbed off on his hands while installing them - which is definitely not a characteristic of Schaller Strap Locks.

Anderton’s claim that the guitar has CTS pots, and there is even debate if the Ghost Fret has those.

It has been over a month and the most I have got from Chapman Guitars is 5 sentences - two of those sentences say ‘sorry for the inconvenience’…..Inconvenience? How about I paid for a guitar that is supposed to have specific equipment on it, and it does not. I feel cheated, and if all this stuff about the strap locks and pots turn out to be true, I will feel straight up taken advantage of. I am a paying customer, Matt.

I would like to schedule a time where either you, or someone from Chapman Guitars can call me so we can talk about the above mentioned items. I have a started forum threads over at sevenstring.org & the Chapman website that combined have over 20,000 views. These people all are waiting to see how Chapman Guitars handles this situation, and so far I can promise you that they are not impressed. Your company’s silence throughout this has been very off-putting. Quietly changing the website is the equivalent of sweeping the whole thing under the rug. There have been many potential buyers that stated they would not be purchasing a Chapman Guitar after seeing how this is all going down.

Please, help me restore faith in your company. I want this to be a good experience, and you have so many ways to still save face and make this right. I am only one person, but I promise you there are many more that want this issue brought to a head.

Sorry for the inconvenience,

Ryan

 

[MoshJosh]

Yeah your message was a tad. . . unprofessional, but so awesome at the same time!