RETURN OF THE CHAP

CHAPMAN GUITARS OVERHAULS ONE OF ITS EARLIEST MODELS FOR A SHARP-LOOKING MODERN SINGLECUT

There aren’t many modern guitar success stories that match up to Chapman Guitars. As we all know, the brand was the brainchild of Rob Chapman, who began designing guitars by committee with the help of his forum members and followers way back in 2009 before teaming up with Lee Anderton to launch the brand proper. 13 years on, and Chapman is fully developed with a cohesive line-up of great-playing, sounding and looking guitars.

But while 13 years may seem like a relatively short time in terms of company history, it’s long enough to be looking back, as Chapman’s latest release revisits one of its earlier models for an overhaul and relaunch with the ML-2 Pro.

The ML-2 is Chapman’s take on a contemporary single-cutaway guitar, which originally launched a decade or so ago before being discontinued in 2018. As Lee Anderton explains in his walkthrough video, “We never felt that [the ML2] was our own thing. It was always very similar looking to a Les Paul or an ESP Eclipse, and the world is full of guitars trying to look like a Les Paul.

“We went to Dave, who’s the Chapman designer and said ‘We need a single cut with two humbuckers on it, but can it just be more our... vibe?’. That’s one of the hardest things to do in the world, make a guitar that is a nod to something but not a copy of something, and then not make it look hideous.”

We’d say they just about managed it. Starting with the sleek trans satin finishes over a classy flame maple veneer (in turn covering a carved maple top and mahogany body core), the ML2 Pro comes in Azure Blue or River Styx Black, but it’s more than just a pretty face. The throughbody neck is roasted maple to keep things stable, and it’s carved to an everybody’s-happy C-shape profile.

New contours at the body end mean that accessed is made easy and there’s a new outline to the headstock to boot It’s faced with a macassar ebony fretboard, which offers a drop-tune-friendly 25.5-inch scale length and 24 stainless steel frets. The whole lot is left pristine bar the Chapman logo inlayed at the 12th fret (there’s glow-in-the-dark side dots to help you navigate).

The pickups come from Seymour Duncan with heavy-oriented Sentient in the neck position and Pegasus in the bridge. These are wired to a simple three-way switch/volume/ volume/tone control layout, with the tone pot offering a master coil split for both pickups via a push/pull pot.

Finally, the guitar is completed with a Chapman String Through hardtail bridge, Chapman strap buttons and Hipshot Grip Lock locking tuners, adding up to a lot of guitar for £999.

Stuart Williams