Leaf | soldguitars

(SOLD)

Chapman Guitars (Jaden Rose) Ghost Fret Proto #1

(ex. Rob Chapman)

"Leaf"

This was the Prototype 'Ghost Fret' made for Rob Chapman, the big-cheese-boss of Chapman Guitars. The idea was that the Ghost Fret would be the handmade flagship model of the Chapman range (although it was initially branded as the 'Infinity Guitars' Ghost Fret). Each one not only handmade in the UK, but handmade in the UK by Jaden Rose. Who knows a thing or two about building guitars.

The spec for this was decided on-line by the members of Rob's forum; everything from scale length and the timbers used to the colour that the proto would be painted. Sorry, I mean waxed. By hand. For a fortnight. Seriously. The result, I think, was really rather lovely. We've got a vaguely explorer-esque body made from two slabs of Korina (the holy grail of tone woods), set neck (maple with a thick skunk stripe of bubinga), an ebony board, flat radius ... all great communal decisions. Pickups are DiMarzio (a screaming mentalist D-Activator in the bridge and a laid back bluesy PAF Pro in the neck ... a fantastic combination) with a Petrucci-style three way selector, with the middle position coil split and out of phase. Which is very nice. SO, all good so far. However, most of the Chapman Guitars range are relatively inexpensive, but this wasn't. I think that's to be expected when you're getting a handmade korina tone monster. So they sold ... er ... one guitar. A black one. Rob owned that one, I owned this one, and there was a third "pre-production" guitar, which was made from basswood and served as a test cut for the CNC machine. That was stained yellow and was sold on to a forum member. The fact that it didn't sell didn't stop Mr Chapman from trying hard (bless 'im), and YouTube is absolutely crammed with videos of this thing, given that it was used extensively by Rob to promote the brand in the early days. Which is nice. More importantly, Jaden did a series of videos that show this being made ... from the moment that he unwraps the parcel of Korina lumber through to the official unveiling.

One bug-bear is that the 12th fret inlay on this spans from the 11th to the 13th fret. Which sounds fine, but it didn't half put you off when you glance down to see where you are ... Rob used to colour in the 11th and 13th inlays with a sharpie, but I wasn't willing to go to that extent. Guitars and sharpies don't go together well in my opinion. Overall, this was a great player, and was up to Jaden's usual standards. The fact that Rob played the living crap out of it meant that I didn't need to be too precious about getting it scratched or dented.

This was sold as, despite being a fantastic guitar, when compared to some of my other Jadens (specifically those with the wenge / purpleheart necks) it ultimately lost out. Also, the balance of the guitar was a little bit of an issue ... it was necessary to mount the strap pin way up on the top bout so that neck dive was cured. I mean ... reduced. Although this played very well and sounded very good, when it all boils down, Jaden's OS guitars are better. I'm proud and happy to have owned this, but only feel the slightest twinge of regret about selling. Its gone to a great guy, who will enjoy playing it more than I did, and that's OK in my book.