Rockman Tone in 2017
- Thread starter Sirion
- Start date
Securb
One of Jerry's Kids
The Boston debut was the first album I bought with my own money. I will admit to dialing in my EQ like Tom and banging out some Boston riffs here and there. It is a fun tone and nostalgic for me. However, outside of my bedroom I can't think of anywhere I could/would use that setting. Still, you have to give Tom credit even with others recording with the Rockman, like Phil Collin from Def Leppard you can always recognize a Boston song from the guitar tone even if you have never heard the song.
beaubrummels
Well-known member
For the record, I've worked out how to get that tone with multiple devices every year since. (Not exact, but enough to fool most any listener, and enough for me to enjoy playing.)
Mini rig:
Pockit Rockit (handles distortion, chorus and reverb) > ADA Digital Delay (I just pick 80ms or 160ms in this case)
Small rack rig
Boss CE-3 > SansAmp > Roland SRV-330 (handles both stereo delay and reverb; I have other delays I can use also)
Pedal rig:
Marshall Gov'nor > Fulltone Clyde wah > Boss CE-3 > Yamaha SPX90 (reverb and L/R delays, 80ms/160ms, sits in a one-space under the pedalboard)
Currently I'm able to get it a couple different ways with just one Zoom MS50G pedal:
MS 1959 (Marshall model) > Chorus > Dual Digital Delay (L 80ms, R 160ms) > Hall Reverb
BG Crunch (Mesa model) > Chorus > Dual Digital Delay (L 80ms, R 160ms) > Hall Reverb
The Zoom actually can get really close to the original sound, even seems to have some of the vintage hiss when everything is wah-EQ'd like Scholz' stuff.
With certain gear lineups I've actually found it to sound better/more like the Rockman when the chorus is after the delays so that the chorus sweep doesn't get clouded with the repeats.
beaubrummels
Well-known member
What is this remake you speak of? Links to announcement?
Sirion
Well-known member
It has been going on on this FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/852250755526904
Apparently somebody has managed to get hold of some very rare parts needed to recreate the Rockman, and have acquired the rights to use the name for an extremely limited release. They are currently working at making a semi-digital version that does away with the impossible-to-find components, which is good enough for me. I wish they made a rack version instead of a stompbox, but I guess that is the way things go these days...
Sirion
Well-known member
I think that is the incredible thing about these units. As much as I like Boston and Scholz' tones, I would never copy them. Yet the Rockman stuff shows up in some truly disparate places, from Jeff Beck to Def Leppard to Dokken to Megadeth, and somehow managed to work in all whilst retaining its sonic stamp. Oh, and AOR. I agree that it is definitely a retro tone, but for what it is, it just works.
Securb
One of Jerry's Kids
Agreed. It is nothing I go chasing. My SourceAudio SoundBlox Pro Classic Distortion does a very convincing Marshall tone and with the EQ tweaked I can get close enough for horseshoes. Like I said it is something I might riff on here and there if I am feeling nostalgic.
Sirion
Well-known member
Agreed. It is nothing I go chasing. My SourceAudio SoundBlox Pro Classic Distortion does a very convincing Marshall tone and with the EQ tweaked I can get close enough for horseshoes. Like I said it is something I might riff on here and there if I am feeling nostalgic.
I don't think I've even seen that one! Looks interesting for a flexible distortion pedal, with the EQ really taking it beyond most units. Alas, it is the cleans I am most interested in in the Rockman...
Sirion
Well-known member
I suspect that this is the case with a lot of guitar equipment where we've more or less learnt to accept the flaws as features.
idsnowdog
Imperator of Indignation
One thing that I have been thinking about a lot recently is the explosion in the availability of cheap high quality Chinese pedals. You can get reasonable clones of boutique pedals for as little as $23 which is far more affordable than pedals have been since I started playing guitar 30 years ago. Often these pedals are the micro form factor which aren't easy to modify but their low price makes them a low risk purchase because you can sell them and not lose your shirt if you don't like them. Most of the industry stalwarts like the Boss SD-1 have numerous clones but in addition there are plenty of other boutique clones like the OCD, Klon, Plexitone, and Suhr Riot. So for me it's kind of a question why someone would necessarily want a Boss SD-1 to modify when you can probably find a higher performance clone of a Suhr Riot for half the price? So you can have a McDonald's burger with ketchup or a Bacon Avocado Ranch burger with onion straws for less.
Sirion
Well-known member
I'd rather not have a burger at all.
Let me first, for the record, say that I think that an SD-1 is so far from any sort of Rockman gear that I don't really think there is a satisfactory way of answering this in the context of this discussion. An SD-1 is a simple piece of electonics that, as you say, has often been emulated.* The Rockman stuff really is neither, and it is far more of a niche product, so I don't expect to see Chinese clones any time soon. You can get close through the right combinations of other tools, and this is one of the reasons why I started this thread, but if you are looking for a Rockman in 2022 you are probably interested in a legacy sound rather than with a new and supposedly improved version that doesn't sound quite like what you ordered. Rockman has a far stronger sonic profile than an SD-1, or any overdrive or distortion pedal that I've tried, for that matter.Even so, I think the question deserves an answer in its own right. I'd say that to me, who has gone fully digital and only uses the pedal format when it is the last possibility, I'm drawn to Boss because I know that they'll work, I know that they are reliable, and that it will be possible for me to get them in a local store where I can test them and return them. I can also think of a couple of reasons that are important to me but fall outside of the area of discussion on this forum.
*: The only pedal I use on a regular basis any more is the Boss DC-2W. This is a far more complex beast than an SD-1, and the only Chinese clone that I am aware of is TC Electronics' 4rd Dimension, which is a rehoused Behringer model. I have compared them, and was not impressed.
idsnowdog
Imperator of Indignation
What I was saying is why use something that is lo-fi and forty years old when you can emulate that sound with better quality modern components for less? I don't buy the Rockman is such a high quality piece of gear you can't improve on it.
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Sirion
Well-known member
Well, in that case the answer is the same as with, say, any Plexi, Dumble or Soldano: exactness, simplicity, legacy, in whatever mixture works. I'm not a purist on the matter (if I were I wouldn't have started this thread), although I will contend for the record that newer isn't necessarily going to mean better in the realm of art, even if the specs are technically better, and honestly I would think that having a Rockman as a single unit (ideally a rack unit, but a pedal is okay if that is the only way) is probably going to be the simplest way to integrate one into my rigs in any case.
Securb
One of Jerry's Kids
I had the rack unit it was incredibly noisy, I ended up getting rid of it very quickly.
Sirion
Well-known member
Ah, yes, the RockMount. George Lynch used one of them, at least. They seem to have been surprisingly plentiful, as you'll see at least a few for sale in the course of a year. (Of course, they are virtually all in the US, and hence I assume they are 110v.)
