Uh-oh. Another Chapman. The last Chapman I sat down and spent time with was a disappointment. And this guitar is half the price of that one. Today I’m reviewing the $500 Chapman ML2 Modern.
The Good
This guitar plays very good. Satin neck, nice fretwork, and a comfortable body shape that doesn’t dig into your ribs make it easy to play. The neck is chunky – it’s not a baseball bat, but it’s a tad thick. So you’ll like that or not. I do like it, but I don’t love it. The pickups sound mid-tier – they sound OK. This guitar is pretty – the custom carve where the neck joins the body is something you’d expect on a much more expensive instrument. This is exactly what I’d expect out of a Chapman. AND you get a gig bag. I’ve seen this guitar used for $399, and at that price, it’s a great, great deal.
The Bad
There’s a lot of competition out there at the $500 level. What does the ML 2 Modern do to beat the competition? What makes it better than a PRS SE Standard 24? Um… not much. The neck is chunkier, and the neck/body joint is cooler. In both cases, you’re getting a good instrument with meh pickups. I think the ML 2 Modern holds its own in this price range, but I don’t think it really jumps out, either.
The Ugly
There is no ugly. There’s nothing I hated about this instrument. I think it’s a really good choice for $500 if you want a bigger than average neck. My biggest gripe is the pickups – they don’t do anything for me. They remind me of, well, the pickups in almost every $500 guitar out there. They’re not bad, but for $129 you can slap a Seymour Duncan in there and get a fairly big sound improvement.
The Ghost Fret I played was obviously an aberration. This guitar is great for the money.
