Rob Chapman

During his time spent as a Faith Guitars clinician, Chapman was approached by the director of the parent company Barnes & Mullins, and was offered a signature guitar as part of the Gould brand. Chapman announced this news on YouTube, asking his subscribers what features they would like to see in his signature guitar. The guitar would be named the “ML1” and was the first Chapman product created through collaborative design, a unique concept inspired by the communal reach of the YouTube platform. Barnes & Mullins decided to launch the guitar through a new venture, Chapman Guitars. 500 units of the ML1 were shipped in February 2010 and sold out.

While working day jobs in marketing and accounting, he gigged and worked as a session musician and worked other various music-related jobs, such as transcribing Yngwie Malmsteen's Trial by Fire: Live in Leningrad. In 2006, he posted an instructional video on Myspace that received positive feedback, and he then switched to YouTube to promote his work globally.

Chapman began playing the guitar at age 16, and he graduated from The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance in 1995. His musical influences include Joe Satriani, Devin Townsend, Jimi Hendrix, and Soundgarden.

Robert Sutherland Chapman (born 14 June 1975) is an English musician, YouTuber, and the founder and co-owner of Chapman Guitars. Chapman is known for his popular instructional YouTube channel and as demonstrator of guitar equipment for Andertons Music Co. He is the lead singer and a guitarist for the band Dorje and blues/Americana band Clockwork Wolf & Co.