Ideally I wanted a Friedman Vintage T with P90s but don't have the budget it for it...
So I bought this Chapman ML3 Traditional Semi Hollow last week, it's place is backup to my Gibson Custom Shop Goldtop Les Paul with P90s.
I like it. The stainless steel fretwork is outstanding, highly polished and perfectly level and very well dressed, reminds me of a Fender American Deluxe Strat I owned years ago that had extra detailing attention to the fretwork. The satin finish on the roasted maple neck front and back feels superb and is very silky to play. The neck is wider than the Gibson but fairly chunky, it reminds me a of the Fender Custom Shop 10/56 carve, it's in that zone.
The P90 pickups are hotter than the Gibson P90s in my Goldtop, they measure 8.8K where the Gibson are 7.8K. They sound very good and the video below is a very accurate representation of how they sound.
The bridge pickup doesn't quite sit horizontally with the body top which bugs me slightly, I need to remove and play with the foam or whatever is underneath pushing it up against the screws to adjust it...a bit OCD, I know.
The body is light and a nice honey flame colour but the production model lacks the red flame edge sunburst hue of the prototype Rob Chapman has in the vid, which is a shame as I think it looks a little better.
The locking tuners are really good quality and tuning is very stable, the reverse headstock doesn't annoy me like I thought it might and from the players point of view is soon adjusted to.
The only niggles and things that give away that it's a mass Asian build are the saddle height screws are all the same height so the outer saddle screws are quite exposed and sharp on the palm. The volume knob is quite close to the strings and I catch it when playing, and the knobs are knurled with indentations and the top rim is quite sharp, I would prefer regular speed knobs, plus the tone pot sounds like linear taper to me and only starts to work when dialled down to about 5, I would prefer a volume taper pot with tone roll most at the top end from 10-6. Also, the nut edges are a little sharp and could do with filing off for comfort. All in all pretty minor niggles.
I'm pretty pleased with it, and it does sound good, I don't love it yet, but may grow to the more I hear it as it does sound damn good, in fact with the higher output pickups the overdriven sounds are immediately more satisfying that the Les Paul which takes a bit more dialling in and a bit more preamp gain to reach the same level of overdrive.
Pics:
https://youtu.be/g6-lbepTsrk
Comments
Still can't get over the reverse headstock on these, although it doesn't look as bad as reversed prs headstock on the silver sky Enjoy!
I love England Test cricket, especially the home Ashes, I don't play but am a keen armchair fan and like collecting uniquely English things such as the Duke & Son ball. The replica Urn is from Australia though as Cricket Australia are the only official retailer!
There is nothing finer that a warm sunny day on the freshly mown lawn with Test Match Special on the Dab radio as the BBQ sizzles, with a cider in hand to the sound of distant lawnmowers and small planes flying over and a gently breeze rustling the leaves in the trees.
I've got tickets for a day at The Ashes this summer as well, not been before so I'm looking forward to that, just hoping for a dry day.
I quite like cricket, went to the Oval on a corporate day a couple of years ago, was a great day. Done a few 20/20s at the Rose Bowl near Zepp.
The semi hollow is the nicest Chapman I've seen I think. Probably still not for me but looks good.
It's actually not as close as a Strat to be fair, the only issue I have with it is the indentations of the speed knob, I would prefer a smooth one.
Seriously thought that looks really nice, you could probably replace the knobs if you like, might change the look rather a lot though. up to you, man.
Happy NGD
I must admit it's grown on me more since I looked at it this morning. I think the rim burst is actually nicer than the prototype in the video.