“It was the best Fender-style neck I’d seen outside of the Custom Shop. This was the neck I’d been trying to get made all these years”: How Chapman Guitars reinvented itself with a new factory, fresh ideas and the help of industry guru Trevor Wilkinson

Chapman DPT Peter Honoré .

Not for the first time, part of this story starts with the legendary guitar hardware designer Trev Wilkinson. Just before Covid, Trev had shown us some DIY guitar kits that were a serious level up from the cheapos that seem to flood the market. It turns out they were being made in India by Harmony Musical Instruments (not to be confused with the Harmony guitar brand) and proved hugely impressive in their quality and detail.

“I’d been at the NAMM Show,” remembers Trev, who was actually hard at work at the Indian factory when we called, “and Harmony’s CEO, Shankar Swamy, and [works manager] Pushpalingam Chithirai put a Fender-style neck in my hands and it was the best proper Fender-style neck I’d seen outside of the Fender Custom Shop.