Rockman Tone in 2017

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Rockman Tone in 2017

This guy's a home player. I don't think that's his bedroom though:

It's one of those 500 watt Rockman Guitar Monitors. He just posted it in August.

Wow, that sounded GOOD

[Sirion]

Re: Rockman Tone in 2017

Y'know, it may not be a mainstream sound any more – it has a sort of squished quality to it that goes very much against the times, as I understand them – but I think it has its place in the right set of hands (or ears!) even today. Perhaps the rebirth of the Rockman will be the rebirth of rock?

[rbc]

Re: Rockman Tone in 2017

One of the more interesting YouTube videos featuring the Rockman X100 and Soloist headphone amps came to mind this weekend. It's surprising how good these 1984 era "practice" amps sound:

The ballet dancer in the video, Polina Semionova, is pretty amazing too

[Sirion]

Re: Rockman Tone in 2017

Y'know, I defy anybody who is even mildly sympathetic to rock music on this album to say that that is not an enormously awesome guitar tone, even when playing a Luther chorale! (Also, there is probably a bit of production magic going on)

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Rockman Tone in 2017

Good? Yes.

"Enormously awesome?" Not to me anyway.

There's no doubt that Tom Scholz had a great sound for the times and I'd even go as far as to call him a huge influence on rock... particularly from the eighties (my favorite time for rock and roll). Boston was even one of my favorite bands.

But that was 30 years ago, and there are LOTS of great sounds out there. Why waste time worshiping one that's long ago run its course?

[Sirion]

Re: Rockman Tone in 2017

That is okay, I can live with good. I am not sure why it would be more of a waste of time to enjoy this tone than any other tones, but I guess it doesn't really matter anyway…

[Demanic]

Re: Rockman Tone in 2017

Put a Metalzone after it...


Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

[DankStar]

Re: Rockman Tone in 2017

is "guitar monitor" a fancy way of saying "amp" or was it called that because it may have preceded racks and there wasn't really a name for that type of setup yet?

[rbc]

Re: Rockman Tone in 2017

The Rockman Guitar Monitor is basically a rack system with a Carver PM175 2x250W and full range cabinets. The Carver amp has a Rockman front plate and it is modified with an input that is copied to a pair of jacks, used to send the signal to the main PA mixer. The Rockman Guitar Monitor was intended for use with a Rockman system made up of Rockmodules or the Rockman XPR.

[Sirion]

Re: Rockman Tone in 2017

Do any of you have experience with the Rockman choruses? How do they work outside of Rockman rigs? I see there is a chorus/delay unit for sale close to home, and I wonder if that box (together with an early guitar synth) was the secret behind many of George Lynch's Under Lock and Key clean tones.

[rbc]

Re: Rockman Tone in 2017

Do any of you have experience with the Rockman choruses? How do they work outside of Rockman rigs? I see there is a chorus/delay unit for sale close to home, and I wonder if that box (together with an early guitar synth) was the secret behind many of George Lynch's Under Lock and Key clean tones.

This video gives a good example:

[rbc]

Re: Rockman Tone in 2017

I'll add that I have both. The Stereo Chorus is a better chorus but is kind of a one trick pony. The Chorus/Delay gives you both Chorus or Delay (not at the same time) and is more flexible in that respect.

The Stereo Chorus has additional foot pedal controls. One lets you switch between a short (20ms) and long (40ms) delay. It also has a "sweep stop" foot pedal control that turns off the sweep leaving a short (20 or 40ms) slap back echo. I sometimes prefer this over the "swishy" sound of a chorus.

The Chorus/Delay can also effectively provide a sweep stop using the delay. You set the delay to 20 or 40 ms with the feedback set to "1".

[LLL]

Re: Rockman Tone in 2017

Why waste time worshiping one that's long ago run its course?

I see this thinking quite a bit here; the truth is, it's an erroneous question and a mindset that will inhibit growth.

1.) a lot of people love the music (and guitar tones) they grew up with.

2.) all guitarists (and I mean all) have their influences. And their influences had theirs.

3.) while it is certainly true that some people focus only on one famous tone, others study various tones.

4.) the era of "legendary guitar tones" (for lack of a better term) is long gone. Meaning, there's nothing out there
for people our age that when we "drop the needle" the first time on a new album, that our minds are blown because
of the awesome guitar tone. We've all been there, done that a million times... we've heard it all.

5.) nobody around here has such a unique and kickass guitar tone to have the "podium" to stand on and ask such questions. In other words,
the typical guitar gear forumite isn't blowing people's minds and inspiring millions with their guitar tone (most of them don't even know how to record themselves).

6.) studying these tones educates yourself and can only improve your own repertoire.

But mainly, the fascination with 40 year old guitar tones has to do with reason number one.

[rbc]

Re: Rockman Tone in 2017

The Rockman Guitar Monitor is basically a rack system with a Carver PM175 2x250W and full range cabinets. The Carver amp has a Rockman front plate and it is modified with an input that is copied to a pair of jacks, used to send the signal to the main PA mixer. The Rockman Guitar Monitor was intended for use with a Rockman system made up of Rockmodules or the Rockman XPR.

Actually, Seymour Duncan's PowerStage 700 would make a good power amp for the Rockman systems. Just get a rack and some FRFR cabinets. That's one of the things that the Rockmodules are perfect for. They let you build your own system with just the components you need.

[LLL]

Re: Rockman Tone in 2017

Do any of you have experience with the Rockman choruses? How do they work outside of Rockman rigs? I see there is a chorus/delay unit for sale close to home, and I wonder if that box (together with an early guitar synth) was the secret behind many of George Lynch's Under Lock and Key clean tones.

I had the Stereo Chorus/Delay back in the late 80's... now I have the Stereo Chorus.

It's hooked up to my DAW so that I can run any guitar tone through it; then back into the DAW (like an insert or "loop").

My own theory on this box is Tom wanted his very own portable Eventide (Tom used the Eventide H910 on the early Boston albums AFAIC; he definitely had one in his basement studio). The Stereo Chorus has the same basic "doubling" concept as the old Eventide units: a stereo unit that does a slight pitch and slight delay between the L and R channel signals.

However, I don't recommend the Chorus/Delay as it is limited. If you're serious, get the Stereo Chorus... and if you're really serious, the Stereo Delay next. If you're just curious, then yes get the Chorus/Delay.