Chapman Guitars ML1 X Black Guitare électrique

I started playing again after a decade and I wanted to treat myself to a new e-guitar, since I've had a Squier by Fender since 2006. I tried to visit a local store and try out some models, I also tried my best to understand how some other models (not available locally) perform by viewing content on YouTube with earphones. After a couple of dual humbucher models from different brands did not appeal to me soundwise, I opted for this all-rounder to replace my old all-rounder. Thinking "it costs over twice the price, so it should definitely be better", I was initially excited. After all it looks very sleek, has sturdy string binders (or whatever they're called, I don't really care) and it seemed a bit easier to play than my old guitar. With this guitar I also purchased a new amp and speakers (Katana head + Waza) but in the first 1-2 months I used my old Line 6 Spider II, since I was used to it (and in order to be able to better tell the differences between this guitar and the old one). Well, after not even a few days playing around with the guitar, the strings started snapping! I've never had strings snap so early on, the least a set of strings has lasted me was over 6 months! I then immediately replaced all of them for a new set (so I can now safely say, that the strings this came with were just junk). Unfortunately more issues started appearing as time progressed: The tuners (the round knobs for volume and tone) both became loose and nearly fell off! Even after tightening them again, they kept slowly getting unscrewed and after they had become a bit loose, they would become VERY loose very quickly. I am currently considering putting some super glue under the nut (or whatever that's called, that is holding them in place), before the next time I tighten them, to perhaps prevent them from becoming loose again. This is very frustrating, but not as frustrating as the following issue was: I was just normally playing this guitar one day, when the sound got interrupted. After ruling out everything else, I unscrewed the jack connector on the side of the guitar, only to find out, that the cable behind the connector, which transmits the sound to the instrument cable, had become separated from its welding on the connector! So now my work went from basically some typical guitar player's maintenance to being some sort of welder and generally this guitar's maintenance guy! I am very confident, that this new welding will not outlast the previous one (the one it came with) and that this guitar has a limited life-span. The jack connector itself has 4 screws. Out of these 4 screws, one was never tight and will never become tight either, since its hole seems to be too thick for the screw's thickness. The nut that tightens the "hole", where the jack goes in on this connector is ALSO becoming loose very often. Anyway, this guitar ended up producing just a bit better sound than my cheapo Squier, but regardless of the rest of the equipment it doesn't really sound differently (tone-wise) than my Squier, it's still an average all-rounder with a tendency to excell in punk-rock, but fall considerably behind more expensive brands in classical rock and in "crunch" sound. I would be still quite happy with it, if it wasn't for all these mechanical issues that I mentioned. I need to look for another guitar now, perhaps an Epiphone, in order to not completely blow up my budget.