Rob Chapman Exposed?

by

Adam Harkus
,
Rob Chapman Exposed? The Blogging Musician @ adamharkus.com. By Jaume Casanova

Rob Chapman Exposed? The Blogging Musician’s take on the YouTube storm that rocked the guitar community.

Who is Rob Chapman?

I was first introduced to Rob ‘Chappers’ Chapman’s work through Anderton’s YouTube channel. I spent many an hour on their product reviews/comparison’s, finding it an invaluable source of information when choosing new gear. Rob is also the founder of Chapman Guitars and has many other businesses / side-projects. In short, he’s a very successful guitarist and entrepreneur, with a huge online following.

What is Rob Chapman Accused of?

  • An alleged drop in YouTube Subscribers following his channels move away from Andertons Channel.
  • Chapman Guitars
    • Alleged poor business decisions with Riff City Guitars (more on that later).
    • Alleged poor quality control.
  • Two allegedly dishonest crowdfunding campaigns.
  • Allegedly dishonest promotion of an online guitar course.
  • Allegedly using the ice-bucket challenge as a means to promote his own charity campaign, that didn’t take off.

Here’s the video in full…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGxXgSVZlxY&list=PL-0nJz2jzA1gflPiMYRM3GEFEzxPC-kBL

So did Rob actually do anything wrong?

At this point, when you boil the observations/arguments down to bullet points, I can totally sympathise with Rob. Here’s a successful guy doing what all us guitarists dream of: Making a living out of the instrument we love.

The above video makes some detailed arguments that, at the end of the day, serve only to damage Rob’s reputation. He’s broken no laws or harmed anyone.

And then something regrettable happened…

Rob Chapman’s (alleged) YouTube fanbase reaction

Once the above video went out. The creator (KDH) allegedly suffered the full wrath of Rob’s YouTube followers, most severely, researching his background, unsavory accusations and threats on his life. KDH felt he had no choice but to pull the video.

Rob’s response

Then, in my opinion, Rob made a big mistake, he released a response video. My Truth, The Truth. Who knows…

… said video has now been removed.

In fairness, Rob is visibly upset in the video and may have said a lot of things he didn’t mean. However, Rob is a professional vlogger. Surely he could see how he was coming across. Or maybe he just hit upload in the midst of the red zone. Who knows? What do you think? Regardless, the fuse was lit and Rob had a fully-fledged online shitstorm on his hands.

When you ignore the trolls, the response from the guitar community has been one of reconciliation, of emploring him to apologise for his own sake. To the casual onlooker, it’s difficult to unpaint the picture of delusional egotism and even cyberbullying.

But still, however you personally feel about Rob (he’s getting a lot of unsubscribes and unlikes at the moment). It’s one man’s word against another.

Well, that was until Riff City Music shared their side of the story…

Riff City’s Rob Chapman Exposed Blog.

At first glance, this destroys a lot of Rob’s defense against the KDH video. On second thoughts, Chapman guitars moved to Guitar Center. I’ll let you make up your own mind on that one. What can’t be denied is Riff City and Rob are definitely no longer ‘a family’.

… and again, said article has now been removed.

Rob’s ‘Apology’ video.

And then, after all that, Rob uploads ‘Something I’ve been meaning to say’. An apology?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhoCuwxSnrw&t=25s

Nope. Instead, Rob has chosen to take everything on-board in his learning process. Cue another round of cyber-warfare.

Conclusion

Nobody’s perfect. But this episode has shown Rob in his worst light, or at least a worse light than he wants us to see. Did he rip off his fans? There’s no evidence of that. Did he lie about stuff? I don’t really care. Do you?

For me, the worst thing Rob did was reveal the real Rob Chapman. Uncensored and raw. And a lot of people, including many of his subscribers, didn’t like the person they saw anymore.

Of course, the biggest loser in this isn’t the smaller YouTube channels. It’s Rob Himself. Will Andertons and his various sponsors and partners turn a blind eye? That remains to be seen.

Personally? My hat goes off to anyone who gets to Rob’s level as a guitarist, musician, and businessman. Did I like what I saw in Rob’s response vids? No. But guess what? We all have off days. We all act differently under pressure. The guy’s just trying to make a living like everyone else.

What’re your thoughts on the Rob Chapman Exposed debacle? Drop me a comment below.

Comments

30 responses to “Rob Chapman Exposed?”

  1. Gdub avatar
    Gdub

    I think the only people who can judge Rob’s guitars are his customers. if he is not selling guitars, then the judgement is given. As for the other behavioral aspects, only those who do business with him know his integrity.

    In my view, from the sidelines and judging purely by conjecture, I find Rob to be disingenuous at the very least, smug and nonchalant. In the end, who cares right?

    Reply
    1. Deemic avatar
      Deemic

      I agree with your assessment. But he was like that years ago while still on the Andertons YouTube Channel. I heard his guitars were nothing special. Mostly hype from people he was associated with that wanted to see him succeed, and endorsed his guitars basically for nothing. This success inflated his head even further as far as i could tell. So much so that I quit watching everything and anything he was on. That said. Once Rabea and Pete replaced him, I came back once in awhile to the Anderton channel.. But even “the captain” is annoyingly egotistical. Believing his opinion is somehow more valuable than the guys who can play circles around him. Often talking over them when they are conveying information. Makes me me wonder if he puts an extra couple dB on his mic input when they record their vids.

      Reply
  2. abdicate avatar
    abdicate

    Hellο! Woսld you mind if I ѕhare ʏour blog with my tԝitter group?
    There’ѕ a lot of peοple that I think wouⅼd realⅼy aⲣpreciate ʏour content.
    Please let me know. Thanks

    Reply
    1. Adam Harkus avatar
      Adam Harkus

      Of course! Thanks for your comment.

      Reply
  3. john avatar
    john

    Greetings! I saw these videos back at the time they came out as I was just starting to play guitar and was looking for youtube subscriptions on guitars and online lessons. I found Rob Chapman’s personality a little bit arrogant and annoying but for some reason watched a couple more but I simply didn’t like his content. I don’t think he’s a bully but I also don’t think he can take criticism very well and as such has seemed to have moved away from promoting himself and more his music and guitar products. He isn’t for me personally. As for the kid who criticised him,it seems he just wanted publicity and only ‘alleged’ misdoings from Chapman without providing much evidence. He didn’t seem very likeable either. I’m sure his online type of self publicity is very successful but,like others of his ilk,will soon become unfashionable and he will have a channel from his parent’s basement wearing a tin foil hat and a baked bean stained T shirt. Here’s hoping anyhow.

    Reply
  4. steveandkristine avatar
    steveandkristine

    ive been watching chappers vids on and off since 2007. he was the original youtube shredder. I’ve never liked his style of music..i’m more a hard/alt/punk rock/blues fan..pretty much anything other than metal. Chappers is pretty harmless, The KDH kid did an amazing carve up on him. The kid has missed his calling..he should be in investigative reporter..whio knows maybe he is. Hes bought out some amazing videos on silly/creepy Stevie T and a couple other dodgey characters. I don’t think Chappers deserved all the negativity. hes fairly entertaining still. lets face it basically started the the whole thing of guitarist getting fame on youtube, created the model that all the rest have followed..him and that other dude with the boots..who never showed his face..coily cable..forgotten him. They have seniority and deserve a bit more respect from a whipper snapper..who wouldn’t even be there if it wasn’t for chappers.. KDH played a cheap shot and now has 50k subscribers, and I do like his channel. He does strike me as what we called in primary school..a teachers pet..little bit of a holier than thou, self righteous prat..maybe he will be embarrassed by the all the hoohaa he created for chappers which wasn’t really warranted..maybe not. anyways…whatevs

    Reply
  5. Adam Harkus avatar
    Adam Harkus

    My only response would have to be I enjoyed the KDH vid, and I’ve also got a lot out of Rob’s videos, so I’m in middle with this, if there is a middle. Old news now though (If it was ever classed as news).

    Reply
  6. Esquilax avatar
    Esquilax

    Sorry, but I disagree with nearly everything you wrote. All you’ve done is make baseless and mostly irrelevant character attacks on KDH, attempt to humanize Chapman, and make the preposterous claim that he is above criticism from someone younger than him, all while completely avoiding addressing the possibility that KDH’s accusations were true. Or maybe you simply don’t care if they’re true or not, I don’t know. (Which would beg the question, why don’t you care?)

    People make mistakes, and should be entitled to forgiveness (usually). But you’ve gone beyond forgiving Chapman’s mistakes (if allegedly lying to people to get their money on more than one occasion can be called a mistake), to saying he does not deserve any consequences or even criticism, which is patently false. EVERYONE deserves criticism and appropriate consequences for making mistakes; it’s the only way one learns from them.

    Reply
  7. MeTuLHeD avatar
    MeTuLHeD

    Why is he even IN Malta in the first place? That’s one question that has NEVER been asked and will almost certainly NEVER be answered. Malta is the first EU member nation to be investigated for it’s shady financials. Money laundering. Tax evasion. Financing of “shady” principles. The list goes on and on.

    https://www.icij.org/inside-icij/2021/07/on-the-decline-since-panama-papers-malta-punished-for-dirty-money-reputation/

    Reply
  8. Jason avatar
    Jason

    Going back about being a big spender, I just did a big purchase! I bought Martin HD-28E. And guess what! I didnt buy it from Andertons… (Say ‘thanks’ to Rob Lee.)

    Reply
  9. Adam Harkus avatar
    Adam Harkus

    🙂 That did cross my mind, but hey, everyone has the right to reply!

    Reply
  10. comment avatar
    comment

    Hi Rob I mean Ron…

    Reply
  11. Morley Robertson avatar
    Morley Robertson

    Chapman may not have done too much that was wrong, but he certainly is an egotistical prick, and a one-trick pony.

    Reply
  12. Robert J Sims avatar
    Robert J Sims

    It’s kinda funny. Bc I kinda remember this. I’m pretty sure I watched Rob’s “reaction” video. If I remember, he seemed upset. But not arrogant.

    Two things I think was incorrect in the above replies from above..

    1. Under pressure shows what you’re really like, rather than not..

    2. You don’t need to experience everything someone has done, to be able to judge correctly the kinda of human being they are…

    Reply
  13. Jason avatar
    Jason

    Indeed Rob seems to be back at Andertons. And for this reason, although I give Lee a lot of respect for sticking with he’s mate, I have decided to take my money somewhere else from now on.
    I’m also fully aware that it wont matter to them one bit as I never was or never will be a big spender.

    For me, there is always been something wrong on Rob. Something that raises hair on back of my neck wrong way after listening him speak for few minutes. Maybe he just reminds me about the bullies I encountered when I was growing up…
    I’ve always thought he has a bit too high opinion of himself. Then again, dont we all sometimes.

    In my opinion he is not a very good choise as a gear demonstrator. He may have a lot of knowledge but despite that and regardless of what gear he is demoing, he always ends up playing same riffs and sounding exactly same, himself, and at best, average.
    Often after wathing some of he’s demos, I end up tthinking that the video was more about himself than the gear.

    He’s music is not my thing so never really listened him that much.

    He’s guitars I cant comment either. I dont own any and never will. Nothing agains them. Just not interested.

    In many ways, Rob is exactly like he’s guitars. Nothing special, important or interesting. Bit of a cheap knock off.

    Reply
    1. Adam Harkus avatar
      Adam Harkus

      Dare I say it, but self-promotion is the norm these days. It’s how every YouTuber makes a living.

      Having said that, I agree Rob is pretty repetitive in what he plays, which tends to be noodling, scales, and more metal orientated stuff. But it’s about Anderton’s sales and you can’t deny Robs 700k+ subscriber base and…… ONLINE POWER!!!! (sorry Rob :)).

      The proof is in the pudding. I bought a Cornford Roadhouse 30 combo after watching one of his vids. Great amp!

      Is he an online bully? I don’t know, he reacted badly to an attack on his character and ethics.

      Reply
  14. Robinson Walsh avatar
    Robinson Walsh

    I would say that at his heart, Rob is not an intentionally bad guy. He’s a family man and a business man who is motivated by his passion for music. I just think that he lost his way somewhere down the line. We’re only human after all.
    I think Mike the Music Snob from Become the Knight had a pretty good take on the matter. He criticized Rob for allowing some of his audience to bully KDH, but he acknowledged that KDH was being somewhat overly antagonistic towards Rob and that Levi Clay was being a bit of a d**k to him. KDH did an “expose” video on Glenn Fricker on his lack of transparency regarding his sponsorships, and Glenn actually agreed with him and worked on the issue. So perhaps there is a positive aspect to his “investigative” approach, but he did appear to have it out for Rob’s ego. It seems odd to condemn a popular Youtuber with multiple subscribers on self-promotion and ego(Pewdiepie, DeFranco, etc.), but I digress.
    The Riff City debacle seems to find both parties guilty of a bad business plan, it happens all the time.
    Rob still has a big following, so he’ll probably be okay. I just hope he learns from this.
    Lastly, I checked out a Chapman ML-1 Pro(strat-style with a reverse headstock) at a local music store once. It was……..okay. Good for a studio musician I suppose, but not my thing. There did some to be some QC issues that are typical of mass produced instruments from SE Asia. Overall, not a terrible guitar but not worth the price.

    Reply
    1. Adam Harkus avatar
      Adam Harkus

      Thanks for stopping by Robinson. Totally agree. Robs back at Andertons now and looks to have put this behind him. As for Chapman guitars, never fancied them. No fret markers, generic build, they just don’t jump out at you.

      Reply
  15. Ron avatar
    Ron

    When I watch the Chapman Truth video that was in response to the “Expose” and I take note of the comments on it, or when I see other YouTube videos in which people discuss how badly he handled it and how arrogant he is being, or demeaning he is during his video………I just don’t see that.
    Instead, I see the exact opposite. I see a Man, a father, a businessman, a musician, addressing certain issues that were brought up in a YouTube video by some guy that, to me, appears to be a snotty nosed punk kid with no life, who needs to wash his hair, take his sunglasses off, and learn to spell the word challenge (It’s not spelled challange). A young man that brings Chapman’s wife into the picture without needing to. A person that, as far as I can tell, didn’t even attempt to contact Rob Chapman in person to interview or discuss any of these issues.

    In this particular video above, what I see is A young man that appears to give away a Chapman Guitar to a young music student named Hanna(h) under the pretense of her being the recipient of a grant/donation/whatever from Rob Chapman, only for her to find out later that it was a gimmick so that he could publish his “Expose’” on Rob Chapman. So, he used this young girl to what…..make a point of…what exactly? He follows this with the statement of:

    “There you go Rob, at least one kid thinks you’re responsible for giving them a guitar.”

    Well…at least that may have been partially true. She might have thought that until his Expose of Rob Chapman came out and discovered that he used her. Was this legitimate on his part or was it staged? But really, why did he do that at all? From what I recall Rob Chapman did not challenge others to give away a guitar to charity, so…….?????

    In regards to the video that Rob Chapman made I don’t really understand what all the fuss is over. If a retailer buys directly from the factory then of course there may very well be no QC between that factory and the retailer……duh!!! I don’t think that’s rocket science is it? Bad business strategy perhaps. So, if the retailer gets bad guitars…guess what? You’re pretty much stuck. But as a retailer you take the chance, and as is often the case some of those chance decisions are bad ones.
    In regards to Chapman’s Truth video response, I just don’t see arrogance. He simply addresses a number of things that were brought up, and he addresses them quite well actually. I really have to wonder where it is that people see arrogance and I suspect that a great many people today are guilty of projecting their own inadequacies onto others, perhaps more so than in times past. I have to think that many of these people have subconscious problems with feelings of inadequacy, feeling unsuccessful, etc. This may not be the case at all, but when watching Rob Chapman’s video, to me he just doesn’t come across in the manner that so many people are describing.

    According to Cambridge Dictionary the definition of arrogance is:
    unpleasantly proud and behaving as if you are more important than, or know more than, other people. A key thing to note here is “unpleasantly” proud. To be proud is not being arrogant. To be proud of ones achievements is not being arrogant.

    If a person has money, and they say they have money, that is not arrogance. It’s arrogant if they are constantly bragging about it, or if they think that because they have money they are above a certain population of people. But, mentioning that in a video response to another video is not a demonstration of arrogance. If a person talks about their giving to charity in a conversation, that is not arrogance. It can, however, be arrogance if and when they are constantly reminding others of that fact.

    Now, I’m not saying that Rob Chapman is not arrogant. I’ve never personally met the man and he may very well be quite arrogant. However, he is not being arrogant in his video. If, to you, he seems to be arrogant in that video, you really need to take some time out and go look in the mirror and practice some deep introspection.

    People today get their feelings hurt quite easily, and this seems to be particularly the case with those who rely on an online presence as a large part of their lives. To be clear….no I am not talking about Rob Chapman. I’m talking about the general population, both real time and online. I’ve encountered people in real time recently (meaning in person), particularly with the younger generations (I’m talking here about folks in their mid 20’ and early 30’s), in which simply being stern with them results in hurt feelings with them tearing up. To me this has been quite bewildering. This same type of sternness many years ago would have simply been understood for what it was, but today folks get their feelings hurt, they feel attacked, or they feel like you have been demeaning to them, or that you have been disrespectful, that they have been slighted, etc. This doesn’t apply to just the younger generation, but applies to a great many that peruse the wealth of online media both younger and older. I just don’t get it, and with all that being said, there will be those that get their feelings hurt by these typed words from someone (myself) who is a nobody (myself) that they will never know, see, or hear from again. But then, that’s my point. And for those that feel that Rob Chapman has been disrespectful, or that my words here are disrespectful, then you have completely and totally missed the point on what respect truly is and isn’t, just as it appears that a great many today do not know what the true sense of an arrogant person is.

    As for this Kelan character and those like him, I would suggest that they leave the investigative reporting to the investigative reporters. I would also suggest that he in particular lead by example. Start a band and go on a world tour. Get a few songs on the charts. Start a guitar company and make your own brand of guitars. Come up with a fool proof business model with exceptional quality control that puts other name brand guitar and instrument manufacturers to shame. Demo a great deal of gear and form a web of international relationships both personal and business related. Build a recording studio and successfully record your band and other bands. Donate both publicly and privately to a number of charities. Get married and have a family, buy a house or two, and when you have successfully done all of that, then, and only then, come back and teach all of us how not to be lazy, how to stay awake during videos, how to dress properly, and how to relic or not relic a guitar, how to do things in a transparent manner, how to live our lives in a just manner so that there is no room for criticism, no room for questions, no room for speculation about ones character or personal life, etc.

    But, I suspect that he is just like the rest of us. He’s too lazy to do all of that, or even a portion of that. I would suspect that it’s a lot of work, a great deal in fact. More than most of us have either the time or the drive for. It’s nice to dream the dream, but few have it within them to actually go for it. This guy is too lazy to even spell check his video that he puts on YouTube. Challange……what the he*l is a challange?

    Oh….and how not to seem to mislead a young music student…..staged or otherwise. That’s just tacky.

    Reply
    1. Adam Harkus avatar
      Adam Harkus

      Thank you for taking the time to comment.

      I’m hoping the article hasn’t come across as biased. I’ve followed Rob from the start and am happy to see he’s back on the Andertons channel.

      For me, all he did was get angry and react, like all humans do, to being attacked, which is the most basic instinct if all, so I hope this was put across.

      I disagree with your thoughts on Rob’s reaction video. I think he does come across as arrogant, in fact Rob himself admits this in a subsequent vid, but the point is, as again Rob admits, he was ‘scared’ and had gone into attack mode, understandably.

      You articulate the situation (if you could call it a situation) better than I ever could, so, unlike Rob, I won’t delete your comment.

      That was a joke 🙂

      Oh,and because so many were taken in by the KDH vid, they probably saw right past the guitar giveaway stunt.

      Thanks again.

      Reply
  16. james avatar
    james

    This seems silly. Can’t really see what chappers did wrong except for deleting comments (not that bad). I dont know Riffcity because I live in Australia but they seem salty and looking to blame their failed business on Chappers moving to guitar centre. Happens. Youre business shouldn’t be that vulnerable. The initial KDH vid seems amateur anyway (something like a highschool assignment) with a kid wearing aviators. Silly of Rob to even make a video about it. I could be missing something but thats just the way I see it.

    Reply
  17. Adam Harkus avatar
    Adam Harkus

    Its sad that riff city guitars folded and that Rob felt he needed to leave his home country.

    Its strange that the original riff city link is now dead as that contradicted lot that was said in the above quote.

    Rob seems in good spirits, I only hope we can say the same for the people at riff city.

    Reply
  18. Dave avatar
    Dave

    From the riff city website – sounds like Chapman guitars outgrew them.

    ” I also want to address the questions we’ve gotten and will continue to get about the Chapman guitars situation, lest there be any misinformation.

    Chapman was a brand that we took a risk on, which paid off exponentially. It was truly one of the most incredible journeys any retailer has ever taken with a brand. Because it was small and had no significant representation in retail stores in the USA, we invested in 2 “American Expedition” bus tours and brought Rob Chapman and his team along with every model of Chapman guitar to major cites on both coasts and were prepared to do it again. We forged lifelong friendships with his team and with fans across the USA.

    It was truly the first YouTube celebrity brand to make it in this industry, and that helped Riff City Guitar become known to thousands of fans who may have never heard of us otherwise. We have no regrets about the risks we took.

    Last year Chapman guitars had the opportunity to sell their guitars to the largest retailer of music gear in the US and took that opportunity. As anyone would expect, there was a significant reduction in our market share of the brand. But that is life, and moreover, that is business!

    The Chapman Guitar brand was indeed that “something” unique for Riff City Guitar for nearly 5 years. We looked high and low for similar brands to promote and expand along the way, but that was a once-in-a-business-lifetime opportunity! “

    Reply
  19. Adam Harkus avatar
    Adam Harkus

    Agreed. Looks like he’s even left the country now and didn’t reappear on the Andertons channel.

    Reply
  20. Joe Bloggs avatar
    Joe Bloggs

    Watching these videos and reading this blog makes me feel like Rob is being victimized. I feel bad for him.

    Reply
  21. Adam Harkus avatar
    Adam Harkus

    Thanks for stopping by. I thought it was important to be fair.

    Reply
  22. Adam Harkus avatar
    Adam Harkus

    I saw a YouTube channel praise Rob for ‘being a dick’. Real characters are just what the guitar world needs. The problem is that’s only tolerable if you’re a true guitar innovator/genius. It hasn’t worked out that way for Rob.

    Reply
  23. Adam Harkus avatar
    Adam Harkus

    Anyone have any experience of Chapman guitars ? Was the criticism fair on them?

    Reply
  24. Andrew avatar
    Andrew

    My thoughts are pretty much the same as yours. The bulk of the criticism he’s received has related to the way he responded to the initial video: if he’d simply ignored it, we probably wouldn’t still be talking about it. But, unfortunately, he made his ‘truth’ video and came across as a dick. The accusations in Hughes’ video are hardly worthy of inclusion in an ‘exposé’ but everybody loves to hate people who are more successful than they are and Chapman’s not helped his cause by presenting a side of himself that’s quite easy to hate, if you’re so inclined.

    Reply
  25. wildeyemusic avatar
    wildeyemusic

    I think you’re being reasonably fair but also quite charitable (ironically) towards Chapman

    Reply

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