Literally selling Snake Oil...

Sassafras

Octafish said:

Sassafras said:

FWIW I still love Ren & Stimpy.
Not so keen on Andertons vids.

Watched both, but I was more a Beavis and Butthead fan. Ultimately, Southpark is the best though, guess at heart I'm pretty puerile .

As you can probably tell from my avatar, I'm a huge South Park fan but I wouldn't describe it as puerile. It's quite topical satire and 'Murica bashing.
Never cared much for Beavis & Butthead though.

digitalscream

Octafish said:

Not sure it's the same. As someone who watched Ren and Stimpy and Beavis and Butthead as a youth I had no idea who the creators were or what they looked like. I didn't even think about who they might be, the public face was the cartoon characters and that's who we went around the playground talking about and quoting, not the uncool creators who hid behind their creations.

In contrast Rob Chapman is the public face. I'm just surprised he has the appeal to younger people that he does. He reminds me of a school mate's uncool older brother. As much as I can't stand someone like PewDiePie, I can get why teenagers like him and think he's funny.

OK, for a more obvious example - think of every live-action kids' show ever.

My point is...if you don't like it, it's more likely to be a function of your age and/or generation than anything else.

Personally, I went off his videos when he started concentrating more on the entertainment side of it than the interesting-playing-and-gear angle.  Or, more succinctly, when it became more about him than his original focus, and that's largely down to my stage in life and not being particularly interested in all of that. He's still an interesting guy to talk to (at least he was, five or six years ago), and maybe it'd be cool to catch up with him all these years later, see what's changed.

Octafish

Sassafras said:

Octafish said:

Sassafras said:

FWIW I still love Ren & Stimpy.
Not so keen on Andertons vids.

Watched both, but I was more a Beavis and Butthead fan. Ultimately, Southpark is the best though, guess at heart I'm pretty puerile .

As you can probably tell from my avatar, I'm a huge South Park fan but I wouldn't describe it as puerile. It's quite topical satire and 'Murica bashing.
Never cared much for Beavis & Butthead though.

FFS, I didn't even clock Kyle's cousin as your avatar, duh! Yeah, Southpark's very sharp and funny politically and topically, but they also like to dress it with a good bit of toilet/sexual humour.

bingefeller

I bet if ThorpyFX brought out these pedals half of you would be creaming yourselves over them.

Bidley

english_bob said:

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".

Strangefan

Oh look how a chappers product thread has turned out.....Rinse and repeat ...rinse and repeat 

Octafish

bingefeller said:

I bet if ThorpyFX brought out these pedals half of you would be creaming yourselves over them.

Not owned or creamed over any of Thorpy pedals myself, but in fairness to Thorpy don't most of his pedals contain a lot of his own developments and original ideas as opposed to being dressed up clones?

DrJazzTap

This thread was bound to go down well....i don't mind chappers, fair play to him he is making a living doing what most of us would love to do.
Does the world need another gain, ts or boost pedal?
Of course not. So why do other companies get a free pass for releasing same old same old and others dont?

I do think the snake oil name is misjudged though.

digitalscream

Actually, on the subject of the pedals themselves...I'm never going to buy one (Helix is enough for me), but you've got to admit...the enclosures look pretty damn cool.

bingefeller

Octafish said:

bingefeller said:

I bet if ThorpyFX brought out these pedals half of you would be creaming yourselves over them.

Not owned or creamed over any of Thorpy pedals myself, but in fairness to Thorpy don't most of his pedals contain a lot of his own developments and original ideas as opposed to being dressed up clones?

That's my point.

soma1975

I was just thinking what the world needed was another £150 tubescreamer clone. 

Nothing to do with Chapman. Makes sense for him to sell pedals. But to sell £150 tubescreamer clones? Meh... 

Modellista

DrJazzTap said:

This thread was bound to go down well....i don't mind chappers, fair play to him he is making a living doing what most of us would love to do.
Does the world need another gain, ts or boost pedal?
Of course not. So why do other companies get a free pass for releasing same old same old and others dont?

I do think the snake oil name is misjudged though.

^ totally agree about the name.  Reminds me of Harry Enfield's "I Saw You Coming" shop...

"In the market for some Snake Oil, sir?  I have a tarted up Tubescreamer clone here.  That'll be £150."

Octafish

bingefeller said:

Octafish said:

bingefeller said:

I bet if ThorpyFX brought out these pedals half of you would be creaming yourselves over them.

Not owned or creamed over any of Thorpy pedals myself, but in fairness to Thorpy don't most of his pedals contain a lot of his own developments and original ideas as opposed to being dressed up clones?

That's my point.

What's your point?

thecolourbox

digitalscream said:

Actually, on the subject of the pedals themselves...I'm never going to buy one (Helix is enough for me), but you've got to admit...the enclosures look pretty damn cool.

I think they look terribly bland to be honest

Sassafras

Modellista said:

"In the market for some Snake Oil, sir?  I have a tarted up Tubescreamer clone here.  That'll be £150."

That's terribly unfair.
This new one uses a 4558 dual op-amp chip and symmetrical clipping, so nothing like a Tubescreamer.

EricTheWeary

I'm waiting on a price for the new Ibanez Vemuram, I reckon that might hit a new bar for the price of a production tube screamer. 

ICBM

EricTheWeary said:

I'm waiting on a price for the new Ibanez Vemuram, I reckon that might hit a new bar for the price of a production tube screamer. 

There’s already the Hand Wired Tube Screamer, if you want to pay too much for pointless marketing BS...

english_bob

ICBM said:

EricTheWeary said:

I'm waiting on a price for the new Ibanez Vemuram, I reckon that might hit a new bar for the price of a production tube screamer. 

There’s already the Hand Wired Tube Screamer, if you want to pay too much for pointless marketing BS...

Sure, but the industry needs to know how much too much we're prepared to pay for pointless marketing BS.

EricTheWeary

english_bob said:

ICBM said:

EricTheWeary said:

I'm waiting on a price for the new Ibanez Vemuram, I reckon that might hit a new bar for the price of a production tube screamer. 

There’s already the Hand Wired Tube Screamer, if you want to pay too much for pointless marketing BS...

Sure, but the industry needs to know how much too much we're prepared to pay for pointless marketing BS.

Well the 40th anniversary TS is $289 IIRC  basically $200 extra for a shiney red finish. 
That Snake Oil looks value for money in comparison. 

impmann

EricTheWeary said:

english_bob said:

ICBM said:

EricTheWeary said:

I'm waiting on a price for the new Ibanez Vemuram, I reckon that might hit a new bar for the price of a production tube screamer. 

There’s already the Hand Wired Tube Screamer, if you want to pay too much for pointless marketing BS...

Sure, but the industry needs to know how much too much we're prepared to pay for pointless marketing BS.

Well the 40th anniversary TS is $289 IIRC  basically $200 extra for a shiney red finish. 
That Snake Oil looks value for money in comparison. 

And TS will still sound like a TS... they all do the same thing in the same way.

Realistically, if you want that sound buy a fucking TS9 and stop mincing about with other things that sound the same but cost loads more because of a well -written marketing blurb.

I genuinely don’t get it.