NAMM 2025: Chapman Guitars has announced that the brand is in its final stages of restructuring, which includes moving to a new operational HQ in the Netherlands and bringing on a new shareholder, Musifacts Distribution’s Brian Van Zwietering, in an effort to expand the company.
“Chapman Guitars has experienced incredible growth recently, including our move to distribution and a new factory,” writes founder and co-owner Robert Chapman on Instagram. “To realize our exciting expansion plans, we’ve brought on board new experience and expertise.
“Brian not only brings valuable experience but is also deeply passionate about growing Chapman and Snake Oil [pedals] in line with our vision. He’s a great guy, and we’re thrilled to welcome him to the team.”
Brian Van Zwietering, whose company Musifacts distributes brands like Martin, Suhr, Spector, Darkglass Electronics, Neural DSP, and Duesenberg across Europe, adds that he “was always excited about Chapman Guitar’s collaborative approach and its connection to the music community.”
He continues, “After having been involved with Chapman for some time I realized we had a shared vision. I am looking forward to taking the next steps together.”
Alongside this announcement, Chapman Guitars also teased the release of the first-ever Chapman Amplifier, dubbed the Cloud Hammer. While there are no release dates yet, Chapman did demo it in a recent YouTube video.
“It's been such a long time coming. I've wanted to make a Chapman amp for years and years,” gushes Chapman. “Just needed to find the right situation, circumstance, [and] person. Everything fell into line in lots of different ways.”
The Cloud Hammer, a 400-watt tube amp finished in tweed, comes equipped with four EL34s in the power amp, and two pairs of 12AT7s and 12AX7s in the preamp. The amp has two channels and a user-configurable circuit that enables the player to manipulate the boost, compression, brightness, and reverb. Price-wise, the amp is expected to cost around approx $3,667.63 (£3,000) upon release.
Late last year, Chapman Guitars continued to reinvent itself by renaming many of its models, teaming up with Harmony Musical Instruments in Chennai, India, as its guitar manufacturer, and launching the brand's first-ever original body shape, The Guardian. And with Chapman Guitars' appearance at NAMM this year, all signs point to the brand ushering in a whole new era.
Correction 1/13/24: This article has been updated to correct a previously published detail. “Moving to a new factory in the Netherlands” has been amended to “moving to a new operational HQ in the Netherlands.” We apologize for any inconvenience caused.
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