Literally selling Snake Oil...

Gulliver

latest Rob Chapman venture.

interesting brand name...

https://m.facebook.com/Snake-Oil-Fine-Instruments-2213381225578055/

slacker

They sound ok on the demo vid. The overdrive is probably a TS some sort. Not sure about the distortion. It's an over saturated sic market. If they are cheap and reliable, they should do well. If they are expensive, there's too much competition. The Chappers angle is a good marketing strategy (not here though). 

I wish him well. 

shaunm

I quite like the sarcastic marketing (including the blurb)

Pablocrackers

I really like the designs & the theme there going for, trying to put a proper old English theme / style to it i guess thats there usp but yeh inside will be the same circuits re housed etc likely

english_bob

I don't get it. A Tubescreamer clone being marketed as superior to all the other electronically identical overdrives and sold- literally- as Snake Oil. I can't decide whether it would be more eye-rollingly stupid if it was meant to be ironic, or if it wasn't.

I can see how it seemed like a brilliant idea after a "business" lunch at 'Spoons, a few pints and a rant about the boutique pedal industry, but it's a long way from there to actually manufacturing them.

The "Made In England" tag makes me think they'll be expensive too, so if it's meant to be a dig at people who make Tubescreamer clones, dress them up in fancy boxes and charge a small fortune for them then... I don't get it.

dindude

english_bob said:

I don't get it. A Tubescreamer clone being marketed as superior to all the other electronically identical overdrives and sold- literally- as Snake Oil. I can't decide whether it would be more eye-rollingly stupid if it was meant to be ironic, or if it wasn't.

I can see how it seemed like a brilliant idea after a "business" lunch at 'Spoons, a few pints and a rant about the boutique pedal industry, but it's a long way from there to actually manufacturing them.

The "Made In England" tag makes me think they'll be expensive too, so if it's meant to be a dig at people who make Tubescreamer clones, dress them up in fancy boxes and charge a small fortune for them then... I don't get it.

Agree, clearly done at the same lunch as the cheap Landlord pedals Andertons are now doing.

ICBM

Snake Oil used to be a brand of strings in the USA - no idea if they're still going.

The whole marketing is wrong for a 'British' product anyway - the original snake oil salesmen were a feature of the American West.

A bit like 'Sidewinder' pickups - remember those? Thought not. Bareknuckle on the other hand...

Grumpyrocker

Not in the market for these. But from a purely aesthetic point of view of I really like the graphic design. 

Musicman20

I wonder if the US market will understand the sarcasm?!

english_bob

ICBM said:

The whole marketing is wrong for a 'British' product anyway - the original snake oil salesmen were a feature of the American West.

Yep. I'm sure you could come up with something suitably British and equally Victorian and steampunk-y and pseudo-science-y, but only at the expense of the "joke" of using the Snake Oil name, which I still don't get.

bingefeller

Very smart marketing by Chappers. 

english_bob

bingefeller said:

Very smart marketing by Chappers. 

Is it? I must have missed something. What's so smart?

Pablocrackers

They already have the USA dealers stocking the guitars they made a pedal brand where they are spinning hand made in England and gave the pedals a unique (to pedal world) kinda oldy world look and all the jargen to go with it- alot of Americans could eat all that up £££ (same internals though as every other pedal lol) good luck to them they can probably bundle a few hundread pedals in with every guitar shipment order i guess

handsomerik

I'm not a chappers fan at all but I do like irony and think it's a cool intentionally ironic name for a pedal company. 

Love the styling and artwork too.

(As long as it doesn't say 'Monkey Lord approved' on the bottom. What was he thinking putting that on a guitar?!)

jpttaylor

I'm not sure I entirely understand both the pedals and the marketing. They're not offering anything new at the price point (as far as I can see) and the marketing is pretty tedious to say the least. Chapman Guitars has clearly been a success, but this is surely an even more crowded marketplace.

Jonathanthomas83

I quite like the way they play it...

Chapman Guitars is proud to present its latest venture “Snake Oil Fine Instruments”. Offering a joyous richness of tone unparalleled by any other inferior brand, Snake Oil is the choice of the respected musician.

They know they're taking the mick and that's quite refreshing. Gotta be better than that gawd awful "let's have a piss up" range of pedals we saw a few weeks back.

bingefeller

english_bob said:

bingefeller said:

Very smart marketing by Chappers. 

Is it? I must have missed something. What's so smart?

Not sure if you honestly don't get the irony or if you're trying to be funny but the term "snake oil" gets thrown around the guitar industry all the time when companies make effects / amps / guitars claiming they having done something different no other company has. 

Chappers has now called his company Snake Oil.  The marketing blurb suggests he is offering something no other company does.  He is using the term snake oil and has designed the marketing in a way that pokes fun at the pretentiousness of some companies. 

Sassafras

Should appeal to all his little YouTube followers.

EricTheWeary

By way of some explanation. 

english_bob

bingefeller said:

english_bob said:

bingefeller said:

Very smart marketing by Chappers. 

Is it? I must have missed something. What's so smart?

Not sure if you honestly don't get the irony or if you're trying to be funny but the term "snake oil" gets thrown around the guitar industry all the time when companies make effects / amps / guitars claiming they having done something different no other company has. 

Chappers has now called his company Snake Oil.  The marketing blurb suggests he is offering something no other company does.  He is using the term snake oil and has designed the marketing in a way that pokes fun at the pretentiousness of some companies. 

Yeah, I got that. I just don't think it's very funny. Not that I don't think those companies shouldn't be mocked, just that at the end of the day they're still selling the same old Tubescreamer clone and trying to pass it off as something new and original.

Putting an "ironic" name on it seems less of an insult to other pedal companies and more of an insult to customers- "you know we're bullshitting you with "ironic" branding, but give us your money anyway".

fretmeister

ICBM said:

Snake Oil used to be a brand of strings in the USA - no idea if they're still going.

The whole marketing is wrong for a 'British' product anyway - the original snake oil salesmen were a feature of the American West.

A bit like 'Sidewinder' pickups - remember those? Thought not. Bareknuckle on the other hand...

Magic Beans wold have been a better name for here.

Of maybe "You having a fuckin' laugh?"