Chapman ML2 Standard Guitar

I haven't plaed guitar since my university time, 30 years ago, so this was a bit of an adventure jumping straight to this guitar, but what a great jump. In the few weeks I've had it I've been really impressed with the build, the tone and the quality of the guitar overall. The size, radius and feel of the neck is perfect for my hands and personal preference and the shape and cut outs etc of the body fits me just right (a pleasant revelation after test driving a few other options), making the pain of relearning all those chords and finger positions far less painful.

I ordered online, making use of the Andertons loan facility, for delivery to my home ... all went smoothly, with only a minor delay in delivery while awaiting restocking of another item on my order.

I later popped in to the shop in Guildford to buy a bag, strap and plecs and found the staff very helpful and patient with me, despite the builders and a hoarde of other customers.

For £350 you don't usually get much in guitar terms, sure, there are others around in this price bracket that are pretty but are poor quality. the Chapman ML2 is business like, it plays well sound great despite the cheap pups, the ebony finger board is a delight and "proper" real lump of mahogany for a body.. build is solid. i had an issue with the fit and finish of the one i was delivered but Andertons exchanged it quickly with a real nice example.. conclusion: a great guitar well worth a look but try to collect in person if you can to pick pretty one.. 9/10 Andertons service = First Class

I had this guitar on order for quite some time, but it was definatley worth the wait!

The first thing I noticed was the beautiful grain in the wood, they certainly didn't cheap out on that!

The pick-ups although high output are great for everything, not just for metal. I mainly play blues, jazz and rock and this guitar suits that perfectly.

The guitar is overall much better quality then the ML-1. It is definitely worth the price for a great, unique and limited edition single cut.

A very nicely put together chunk of wood.

I love the neck and the fretboard in particular, what a massive slab of Ebony! The upper echelons are a breeze to fly around while having a nice girth there for support. The extra width to the outside of the E strings is a noticeable bonus imo.

I'm impressed with the body too just a nice simple 2 piece construction that lets the wood do it's job. I was shocked by how resonant it is unplugged and even with the "cheapo" (far from rubbish) stock pups it transfers well.

The pickups are pickups, brighter than a LP from what I remember of my old studio model but still wail like a banshee.

My only criticism is with the electronics (quel surprise!). I appear to have 2 volume controls and 1 tone, can't remember if it was designed like that or one tone pot is shorting out? It may just be personal preference but i'd have liked 2 tone controls. I'll dust the cobwebs off my soldering iron and have a play.

Overall this guitar is astonishing VFM.

The ML2 is an amazing guitar. Its perfectly balanced and weighted and the neck is ridiculously smooth. The Mahogany body was beautifully worked with the a simple waxed top and the fret board is a rich ebony surface that, is like the neck, smooth and begs to be played. Comparing this guitar to other Les Paul shapes within its price range and it blows them all out of the water in terms of feel and quality, barring the pickups which I'll mention later, this is comparable to the Gibson Standard despite being priced below the Epiphone Standard. The only 'weak' point, and use the term loosely, with ML2 is the pickups. They are weak, the bridge pickup squeals massively with any sort of gain, you can still hear that this beaut, with the right set of pickups will sing magnificently, but the stock pickups are installed with the view point that they are most likely going to be replaced and as such they are a minor foot note. But overall I am awed by the level of quality, especially when considering its price!