Rockman Tone in 2017
- Thread starter Sirion
- Start date
Re: Rockman Tone in 2017
Ho. Lee. ****. Guys.
Over the course of the past couple of days, between remote work sessions, I have read the entirety of this thread, all 500+ posts and almost three years of it. It's been a revelation; I feel like the protagonist on one of those Neil Gaiman novels who discovers there's some supernatural reality hidden beneath what most people think is reality.
Back in high school (the early '90s), I was best friends with this dude named Adrian; he and I spent a great deal of time playing and recording music together. (We had an ancient--even for then--Tascam 388 1/4-inch 8-track in his basement, although eventually we graduated to some early versions of Cakewalk.) He played mostly keyboards, and I played the guitar. He worked at Kenelley Keys for a while, where he bought this thing, for something like $25, out of their junk box:
We were both willing to drop $25 on pretty much anything that seemed weird or possibly useful. There was something easily-fixable wrong with it--I think it's power cable was shorn off--so he put a new one in and gave it to me. We were amused by the fact that it said "ROCKMAN" on it, and horrified by how it sounded.
I've hauled it around for more than 25 years now; I've spent plenty of time pushing the buttons and watching the lights cycle and blink, and I've even used it on a few recordings, but I've never really managed to get a sound out of it that I liked. I had absolutely no idea of this thing's legacy or provenance until I started reading this thread. I never would have dreamed it was anything other than an early, pre-digital member of a long line of guitar multi-effects processors that (in my opinion, which was heavily influenced by my formative musical time: the early '90s; more on that later) would all be hideously terrible until Line 6 had tried their hand at it a couple of times.
In defense of my ignorance, I never liked Boston (or much from the late '70s / early '80s), and so never would have looked into Tom Scholz or his equipment or anything. And guitar music, particularly where I was coming of age (yep, Seattle), was definitely eschewing the processed, controlled tone you get out of a rack unit and reference-grade power section in favor of running a ****ty ol' pawnshop Jaguar or SG into tubes, tubes, tubes. Guitar mags at the time certainly wouldn't have talked about it, and we didn't have the Internet yet. (It existed, we just didn't really have it.)
Almost everybody likes the music of his or her own generation, and I think most people like the music of their parents' generation (they get indoctrinated before they really have a chance to form their own opinions). But there's that music that's a half-generation in between the two that you just can't get into; it's what your generation was rejecting (while they were rediscovering what your parents liked). So, in defense of my distaste for Boston, they fall exactly in that sour spot for me. (So do Def Leppard and so many of those '80s bands who would have layed tracks with Rockman stuff.) The production, the guitar sounds, even Brad Delp's voice, doofy face, and white-dude perm-fro hair (to my shallow, 15-year-old self he was like the anti-Chris Cornell) just turned me off.
But I'm happy to have this small mystery that I've carried around more than half my life solved for me. Thanks, guys. I don't think I'll ever like Boston or love the sounds I get out of my Rockman XPR, but this thread has at least given me a newfound respect for Tom Scholz, and revealed what seems to be practially an entire subculture centered around what I had always assumed was a piece of clunky, obscure gear. I've also just enjoyed seeing so many of you guys so enthused about this stuff.
So this thread gets a huge spiritual plus one from me.
And again: Thanks.
Ho. Lee. ****. Guys.
Over the course of the past couple of days, between remote work sessions, I have read the entirety of this thread, all 500+ posts and almost three years of it. It's been a revelation; I feel like the protagonist on one of those Neil Gaiman novels who discovers there's some supernatural reality hidden beneath what most people think is reality.
Back in high school (the early '90s), I was best friends with this dude named Adrian; he and I spent a great deal of time playing and recording music together. (We had an ancient--even for then--Tascam 388 1/4-inch 8-track in his basement, although eventually we graduated to some early versions of Cakewalk.) He played mostly keyboards, and I played the guitar. He worked at Kenelley Keys for a while, where he bought this thing, for something like $25, out of their junk box:
We were both willing to drop $25 on pretty much anything that seemed weird or possibly useful. There was something easily-fixable wrong with it--I think it's power cable was shorn off--so he put a new one in and gave it to me. We were amused by the fact that it said "ROCKMAN" on it, and horrified by how it sounded.
I've hauled it around for more than 25 years now; I've spent plenty of time pushing the buttons and watching the lights cycle and blink, and I've even used it on a few recordings, but I've never really managed to get a sound out of it that I liked. I had absolutely no idea of this thing's legacy or provenance until I started reading this thread. I never would have dreamed it was anything other than an early, pre-digital member of a long line of guitar multi-effects processors that (in my opinion, which was heavily influenced by my formative musical time: the early '90s; more on that later) would all be hideously terrible until Line 6 had tried their hand at it a couple of times.
In defense of my ignorance, I never liked Boston (or much from the late '70s / early '80s), and so never would have looked into Tom Scholz or his equipment or anything. And guitar music, particularly where I was coming of age (yep, Seattle), was definitely eschewing the processed, controlled tone you get out of a rack unit and reference-grade power section in favor of running a ****ty ol' pawnshop Jaguar or SG into tubes, tubes, tubes. Guitar mags at the time certainly wouldn't have talked about it, and we didn't have the Internet yet. (It existed, we just didn't really have it.)
Almost everybody likes the music of his or her own generation, and I think most people like the music of their parents' generation (they get indoctrinated before they really have a chance to form their own opinions). But there's that music that's a half-generation in between the two that you just can't get into; it's what your generation was rejecting (while they were rediscovering what your parents liked). So, in defense of my distaste for Boston, they fall exactly in that sour spot for me. (So do Def Leppard and so many of those '80s bands who would have layed tracks with Rockman stuff.) The production, the guitar sounds, even Brad Delp's voice, doofy face, and white-dude perm-fro hair (to my shallow, 15-year-old self he was like the anti-Chris Cornell) just turned me off.
But I'm happy to have this small mystery that I've carried around more than half my life solved for me. Thanks, guys. I don't think I'll ever like Boston or love the sounds I get out of my Rockman XPR, but this thread has at least given me a newfound respect for Tom Scholz, and revealed what seems to be practially an entire subculture centered around what I had always assumed was a piece of clunky, obscure gear. I've also just enjoyed seeing so many of you guys so enthused about this stuff.
So this thread gets a huge spiritual plus one from me.
And again: Thanks.
Sirion
Well-known member
Re: Rockman Tone in 2017
Cool to see this thread being of use to others than the usual suspects! For what it is worth, you guys made a killer deal back then; just look what they go for now:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rockman-XPR-guitar-processor/312342704203
I've been toying with the idea of getting one, which would be enough Rockman for a lifetime for me, but at present I just can't justify the price.
Cool to see this thread being of use to others than the usual suspects! For what it is worth, you guys made a killer deal back then; just look what they go for now:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rockman-XPR-guitar-processor/312342704203
I've been toying with the idea of getting one, which would be enough Rockman for a lifetime for me, but at present I just can't justify the price.
Re: Rockman Tone in 2017
My horizons have been expanded.
Woah, that's just crazy! A week ago, if you had asked me what the single most valuable piece of musical gear I owned was, I definitely wouldn't have guessed the Rockman. Maybe I should try to hunt down Adrian on Facebook and show him that link; we'd have a laugh.
My horizons have been expanded.
Sirion
Well-known member
Re: Rockman Tone in 2017
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/blueseries-g/a-revival-guitar-effects-pedal-goat-generator
Looks like there is a Kickstarter for a Rockman revival pedal going on! This might be of interest to some people here. I like the idea, but I am not keen on the pedal format, and a Rockman without the Rockman cleans is really only half the unit in my opinion.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/blueseries-g/a-revival-guitar-effects-pedal-goat-generator
Looks like there is a Kickstarter for a Rockman revival pedal going on! This might be of interest to some people here. I like the idea, but I am not keen on the pedal format, and a Rockman without the Rockman cleans is really only half the unit in my opinion.
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donaldr
Well-known member
Re: Rockman Tone in 2017
OMG, time to sell my Sustainer (on eBay: $400/$500/$850) and my Chorus/Delay (eBay $250 and up)!!!!!
Spirit of 76
New member
Re: Rockman Tone in 2017
Spot on video. Gotta love that Boston sound!
Spot on video. Gotta love that Boston sound!
El Dunco
Sock Supplier to RHCP
Well, well, well. You actually did it.
Rick Beato pulls apart "More than a Feeling". It goes into how the song was put together and into issues like guitar EQ, effects and layering. It's definitely more about production than guitar sound. It's not really about Rockman gear, but it sort of goes into the roots of the Rockman sound. Here's the video:
