What is all the hype about the rockman?
- Thread starter solspirit
- Start date
Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
Yeah, a way to get "that" sound, if that's what you're after. Can't say I'm a fan of it either.
Lovegun
Active member
In a recent interview with Guitar World Chris Poland said he used the Rockman in front of his Marshall for the recording of Killing Is My Business. I would never would have tought a Rockman would be used on a Megadeth record. That record is something I would not associate with a Rockman.
Securb
One of Jerry's Kids
Def Leppard used them to record a lot of stuff and Phil Collin still has one in his live rack.
Well, they were going for that kind of sound. I don't know if another corporate rock band qualifies as 'different'.
Which sound is "that sound"? The chorusy cleans? The compressed midrangey crunch sound? The saturated leads? Or just the sort of overall vibe of all of it put together? It's not a one trick pony.
The appeal of the original Rockman as far as I know was that it was the first real headphone amp, and then people tried running it direct into the board and liked how it sounded. Then Scholz came out with the rackmount stuff. They were near the end of their run when I started playing in the early 90s, but I remember wanting one. I had a Pocket Rockit for a while, similar concept.
I have always really liked the clean chorus sound a lot, and I dig the lead tone as well. The rhythm guitar sound isn't my cup of tea but it would be great for some things.
The appeal of the original Rockman as far as I know was that it was the first real headphone amp, and then people tried running it direct into the board and liked how it sounded. Then Scholz came out with the rackmount stuff. They were near the end of their run when I started playing in the early 90s, but I remember wanting one. I had a Pocket Rockit for a while, similar concept.
I have always really liked the clean chorus sound a lot, and I dig the lead tone as well. The rhythm guitar sound isn't my cup of tea but it would be great for some things.
Securb
One of Jerry's Kids
That was pretty much the death of SR&D, Tom thought the guitar processors should sound like the "Boston-sound" and nothing else, full stop. Product managers in the 90s tried to get Sholtz to allow more flexibility in the Rockman and the rest of the product line, but he refused to allow it. This is when grunge, hardcore, and thrash were soaring, and those guitarists had no desire to sound like a 70s classic rock band.
JMP/HBE
Well-known member
Not to "upset" you but how do you "speak" for Tom ? In the 80's your were what "7" ?
Scholz products have no problem selling 40+ yrs later.
Tom Scholz has been a success in every thing he's done. You make it sound like he was a failure.
https://reverb.com/marketplace?query=rockman&make=rockman
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=rockman&_sacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p44 32023.m570.l1313
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Securb
One of Jerry's Kids
Dude, I am not dogging him, I am probably one of his biggest fans. Boston was the first album I bought with my own money. My boss the old CEO of our company, was a VP of Products at SR&D. From his mouth to my ear, he told me about how dug in Tom was about the S&RD stuff having the Boston sound, he was dug in and would not move off of it. They wanted to add different EQ and distortion flavors and Tom was not having it.
Tom Sholtz is without a doubt a great songwriter, a super talented musician, and a genius engineer. He is also a very difficult person. The lawsuit with Brad Delp’s family when the accused Sholtz for Delp's suicide was front-page news here. Read some of the stuff that came out in court; it is all public record. He is a genius, but not easy to work with on a musical or technology project.
My father worked with him at Polaroid for years. Here is a picture of me next to his gold album at the Polaroid Christmas party. I also know many people in the M.I.T. community who know him very well. From what I understand, he is a very nice guy but a perfectionist to an almost clinically-sycotic level. Not someone you want to be involved on a project with.
idsnowdog
Imperator of Indignation
Scholz rack mounted products were NOT one trick ponies! Everyone that I knew who owned the rack units raved about how they could nail a wide range of sounds and not just acknowledged Scholz users. I got to play with a friends system regularly and it was very versatile.
I think this thread was specifically about the Rockman, though, right? The Rockman, although starting a headphone revolution, had a small set of very specific sounds.
beaubrummels
Well-known member
I use a Nobels Sound Studio 1 back in the day (a little more affordable and you could adjust the chorus, compression and distortion), but now I still have 4 Rockmans (Rev 8, Rev 10, Soloist and Bassman) and a Pocket Rock-it. I could let a couple go, but I did a lot of tracks back in the day with that sound and if I wanted to revisit anything, I need to be able to match it. But I have to admit, with a Sans Amp, ZOOM, and amPlugs, portable great tones are even easier and cheaper to get now.
Jeff Beck even used a Rockman back in the day (sometime around Rod Stewart's Infatuation record.) Scholz in one of those long interviews says one of his proudest moments was receiving 2 warranty cards from Jeff Back.
Jeff Beck even used a Rockman back in the day (sometime around Rod Stewart's Infatuation record.) Scholz in one of those long interviews says one of his proudest moments was receiving 2 warranty cards from Jeff Back.
idsnowdog
Imperator of Indignation
The headphone amps were pretty limited in controls but I think most of the bands that used them tended to record with the rack gear.
