DarkHammer Posted May 21 Posted May 21 (edited) There seem to be a variety of configurations on Chap Custom - the ones with set neck and boomers. Aside from pickups, specifically, controls layout and placement of input jack are different from what I can find on the web. Were these production versions or are these custom features? Is there a list of production versions? https://imgur.com/a/Xxa1jyn Edited May 21 by DarkHammer Quote
BillW Posted May 23 Posted May 23 I mean, the pickups dont all look factory ( some of them, anyways). the OBL Blades/HBs were available from the factory( I got some on mine), but some of those pix just...they look different to me. Most everything else looks pretty standard fom 86 - 87. The Hocky Stick headstock went away in ...88? I think? So, all those above are from 86-87 I imagine. The 3 toggle switches went away in mid 87 I think. so the top one is probably 87? so middle is probably 86? and the bottom one ..well that single toggle switch is something I'm not familiar with, but the face/recessed output jack makes me think ...86? the knob position is weird on that one also ... - Bill 1 Quote
BillW Posted May 23 Posted May 23 I didnt notice the Trem on the middle one either ... is that a Kahler? that seems a bit unusual, maybe I'm wrong. In fact, now that I look closer - the only one that looks likely to be factory would be the top one. But others are more knowledgeable ... - Bill Quote
ZR Posted May 23 Posted May 23 I'm certainly not an expert but my '89 Chap Custom w/ trans. red all-flame body, set neck, boomers etc. looks a lot like the top one. The bottom one looks to me like a short scale (24.75") version. The mid and top one look like long scale, 25.5". Not sure of the years on the lower 2. Quote
diablo175 Posted May 23 Posted May 23 (edited) Not anything close to a Chap expert but... I seem to recall Chaps initially were 24.75" scale and featured the top-mounted, Strat-style, angled jacks, 3 mini toggle switches and more steeply angled head stock. Around '88 they changed to 25.5" and side of body jack, 3 way blade switch, with the slightly less angled headstock (a la Cali) Not sure about the pickups. Kahlers were offered starting around '83 and were stopped in '86 though, they fulfilled custom orders w/ Kahlers until about '88. ETA, apologies for repeating most of what BillW already stated. D'oh! 🙄 Edited May 23 by diablo175 2 Quote
murkat Posted May 23 Posted May 23 ^ as stated. The big difference is scale length. Anything else added is pure jizz for eyes 👀 Quote
BillW Posted Saturday at 05:36 PM Posted Saturday at 05:36 PM On 5/23/2026 at 1:57 PM, ZR said: I'm certainly not an expert but my '89 Chap Custom w/ trans. red all-flame body, set neck, boomers etc. looks a lot like the top one. The bottom one looks to me like a short scale (24.75") version. The mid and top one look like long scale, 25.5". Not sure of the years on the lower 2. '89 had the hockey stick HS? Or the Cali style? 1 Quote
Dave Scepter Posted Saturday at 05:46 PM Posted Saturday at 05:46 PM (edited) 3 hours ago, BillW said: '89 had the hockey stick HS? Or the Cali style? AI says: Hamer revamped the Chaparral in 1987, changing the headstock from the original, sharply dropping "hockey stick" style to a longer, more mildly angled 6-in-line design similar to the Californian model. [1, 2, 3] During this 1987 revision, Hamer also split the model line into Bolt-On and Custom variants and updated the scale length from 24 3/4 to 25 1/2 But my my '90 has this 🫤 I'm thinking there was at least 3 different headstock variations And these 2 next photos are both '87 Edited Saturday at 09:25 PM by Dave Scepter 2 Quote
ZR Posted Saturday at 11:09 PM Posted Saturday at 11:09 PM (edited) My '89 is like that blue headstock above. Looks very hockey stick to me... Like one the Carolina Hurricanes would use!!! 🤩 I never really cared for the Cali headstocks as much, but liked everything else about that model. Although, the only Cali I ever owned I got rid of mainly because I thought my Chap sounded better. The older 24.75" scale versions always looked really cool to me. I wonder if they sound a little meatier, aka Gibsonesque compared to the longer scale? Edited Saturday at 11:23 PM by ZR Even more! Quote
cmatthes Posted Sunday at 04:10 AM Posted Sunday at 04:10 AM 10 hours ago, Dave Scepter said: AI says: Hamer revamped the Chaparral in 1987, changing the headstock from the original, sharply dropping "hockey stick" style to a longer, more mildly angled 6-in-line design similar to the Californian model. [1, 2, 3] During this 1987 revision, Hamer also split the model line into Bolt-On and Custom variants and updated the scale length from 24 3/4 to 25 1/2 But my my '90 has this 🫤 I'm thinking there was at least 3 different headstock variations And these 2 next photos are both '87 Once again, A.I. regurgitates bullshit. The “genius” tech isn’t able to discern betweeen the headstocks on the set neck versions and the bolt-on versions. 3 Quote
Dave Scepter Posted Sunday at 01:54 PM Posted Sunday at 01:54 PM (edited) 9 hours ago, cmatthes said: Once again, A.I. regurgitates bullshit. The “genius” tech isn’t able to discern betweeen the headstocks on the set neck versions and the bolt-on versions. Hey Chris, excuse me for my ignorance, but do you want to elaborate on your comment?.. did they not change the headstock designs on the set necks or bolt-ons, or were they different dates or?.. just trying to educate myself 😃 Edited Sunday at 01:54 PM by Dave Scepter 2 Quote
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