Creating Hysteria with the Rock-Box

[@Wyckerman]

It just reinforces the genius of Mutt Lange. If I was to take those tones and use them on one of my own songs which normally just have two guitars the finished recording would sound thin and weak, but Mutt, he can take those tones and turn them into the masterpiece that is Hysteria.

[@james6234]

Only he'd make you do like thousands of retakes until it was ABSOLUTELY perfect.

[@McCartneyTELEPHONE]

So freakin' cool ! I saw the guys for the first time last week in London. Travelled all the way from Paris, France. I just fell in love again with Hysteria !

[@shehzadatif1]

Wow.. I am impressed with your detailed analysis of Def Leppard music.. Keep sharing stuff..

[@adamwarlock5286]

I guess this is as close as we will get to the Hysteria sound, Thank you so much for taking the time to explain these sounds.

[@Taocat1]

At 9:10 when you are comparing distortion, sounds like the opening to Tear It Down.

[@ojeffnoyoutube]

Great, keep making this videos about the conception of Hysteria.

[@Hellbent7069]

Amazing man! I didnt even realise they polished hysteria up like that but youve definitely helped me understand why they needed these 2 amps to get the tone they was looking for in the song. Its funny you said that because when i started playing guitar, my very first amp i bought was a rockman and hysteria was the song i was working on at the time. Thank man! Cheers!

[@MrScary-qi4sr]

Awesome stuff. I still think Steve Clark’s rhythm overdrive on “Gods of War” especially on the 1st verse and pre-chorus is the best distortion sound I ever heard. I been trying to nail that tone for the longest time. I got a rockman which gets me pretty close to that sound. If I can get rid of the compression I think the tone would breathe a lot more. I think Shipley himself mentioned in an interview that they modified the rockman by eliminating the chorus and echo from the unit.

[@bwm5150]

Mr. Scary I can imagine that. He mentions on the Pensados Place interview that they wanted the distortion modified to the ZzTop mod.

[@fiveaces1029]

Dude you never cease to amaze me with the detail. Watch out Mutt Lange! You got one hell of an ear! Its so had to capture Def Leppard sound. Can you please explain this to our wives???? Have you ever met Phil?

[@bwm5150]

Frankie Five Aces haha I wouldn’t know how to explain it to your wive(s), and no I have not met Phil.

[@ReformedWhiteKnight]

I have. I recorded an album with Phil with his side band Manraze as a assistant engineer something like ten or eleven years ago! ;-)

[@jeffwangsgaard8542]

So cool, Ben!! I love the detail and time you give to explain the sounds used in these songs. So awesome!! Please keep it up!

[@joshledford8921]

The Rockbox was acquired by Nobels who made a carbon copy of it but added power protection. The Nobels Sound Studio 1 is what the Rockbox became. It is the exact same everything but in a metal enclosure and red with different logo. They tend to sound darker than the Rockman. This is because the built in EQ sections aka the cab sim for these are much different than the rockman's This can mostly be sorted by simply adding a 6 band EQ pedal and set to the same settings that on the rockmancentral website. You will pretty much then have a nearly identical tone to the rockman.

[@leRoi10]

12:30 that sound... just amazing. You can hear the same after the first chorus in Don't shoot shotgun.

[@frasiercraine1776]

Right. I just noticed that

[@shotgunrebels]

There was a product that turned the Rockman into a pedal board with individual button controls for all channels and effects. It was called Rock Box. It required modding the rockman. It is very possible that is what they were referring to.

[@bwm5150]

shotgunrebels Yeah I have seen that foot pedal adaption but if you check out the Nigel Green interview, he alludes to allowing to use your own effects with the box which that foot pedal does not provide. The Rock Box here has the Effects loop which would allow that.

[@andyyarrington6401]

when these came out my buddy would plug his guitar into the rockman then plug that directly into a channel on a peavy 8 channel board ,,it sounded badass when we were kids

[@willip66]

Fantastic stuff. I too am always interested in recording techniques and I'm amazed at the lengths that bands go to get a particular sound or tone. The separate recording of the various chord patterns to reduce string noise that you demonstrated has me relistening to the Hysteria album in depth. Many thanks for this.

[@ReformedWhiteKnight]

I worked with Phil Colleen on his side project called Manraze which is him, Paul Cook from the Sex Pistols and Simon the bassist, Phil's old bandmate form the band he played in before he joined Def Leppard called Girl and Phil told me that they not only dropped every chord shape in to avoid the string noise, but also to every single chord perfectly in tune! ;-)

[@bwm5150]

Wow, very cool! I remember when Manraze first came about and Phil had some of the recording vids on KZbin. Great that Phil shared that with you. Those recording techniques certain correlate with what I’ve read. Crazy but it got the results!

[@nathd1748]

Great stuff Ben. You play just like the Lepps. Can you throw the shapes yet??

[@bwm5150]

Not yet 👀

[@Me37368]

You should make some a recording of pour some sugar on me with the rock box or Rockman and rally layer up the guitar tracks to get that signature sound

[@Me37368]

I think I read something about them also using a Palmer speaker sim with the rockman and rock box, and I think you have one so you have the possibly to really nail their tone!

[@georgediavolitsis4735]

3:15 when everyone is trying to replicate the beautiful sustain in Def Leps Hysteria album. Later finding out Mutt Lange used the tuner setting with a bit of chorus😂😂 just kidding!

[@bwm5150]

Haha, I actually wouldn't be surprised at something like that!

[@jojodiver4640]

I have one of those... the leg up it has is the send and return. If you tap the send, you don't get the built in speaker emulation and can run it through impulses or a hk red box ior a palmer or whatever you've got..I read many years ago they ran theirs trough a palmer pdi03 speaker emulator... it does give a bit more realistic presentation for the drive sounds .. but I don't know...

[@bwm5150]

That makes sense. I think Nigel Green only mentioned it's benefit of being to use the send and return for adding your own effects but Mike Shipley used to always say about putting Rockmans through Palmers too.

[@bloodreport146]

interestingly John Hornby Skews (JHS Rock-Box) were also the importers of Jackson Guitars into the UK in the 1980s

[@bwm5150]

Cool factoid!

[@TheToneLounge]

Awesome nerdy stuff. Love it. Cheers

[@namechange9367]

I'd love to hear the rest of the multitracks

[@Me37368]

CapThunder52 search up Def Leppard stems or multitracks for d

[@MrCarl5150]

You are the Lep savant...nice work! 👍

[@jameslanclos568]

Sounds very close to the SR&D Rockman but the JHS Rock-Box is harder to find.

[@jazzepat]

As soon as you struck the first chord when switching to the overdrive I could hear the original version of "Tear it Down". PS - I'm not sure if you've heard them, or would be interested, but Pete Willis released a record with a band called Roadhouse in 1991. Half of it was co-produced with Mike Shipley and Pete Woodroffe and it's quite the kick ass album. It's actually a lot more "Leppard" than I was expecting it to be (I only got around to "discovering" it in 2016).. These are the videos I can find Time - kzbin.info/www/bejne/raC6dXSdfbGge7M All Join Hands - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGW8aH9onJqUnJY Hell Can Wait - kzbin.info/www/bejne/fZWpgn6PactosLs Tower of Love (wait till the album cover disappears, the promo video is there) - kzbin.info/www/bejne/hYG8m3mAe7ucd5o A Little Love (acoustic) - kzbin.info/www/bejne/eJzJnJWCZaeXb7M Freight Train (acoustic, non album track, its on the Tower of Love single) - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qIaWYpiVfdl1rJI Cheers!

[@bwm5150]

ptrco cheers. Yeah I’ve heard the Roadhouse stuff and will probably cover something at some point.

[@dawnpoint]

It looks almost identical to the Nobels Sound Studio 1

[@bwm5150]

One model just looks like its a different paint job haha.

[@salzulli6290]

Apparently they're the same device just different branding. That's what i was reading in another video

[@james6234]

These sound bright, at first I thought the pre-chorus on the Hysteria song was some sort of odd sounding chorused acoustic like sounding guitar (string by string part I'm talking about). I'm surprised how they managed this pulled this off with a headphone amp.

[@bwm5150]

I think it works because of how everything else was put together too. There was so much attention to detail on every instrument and vocal to make sure it all fit together. These tones would not work on an album where everything else was recorded traditionally I don't think. Mutt, Mike Shipley and Nigel Green did wonders with the limited technology. The drums and bass featured 8-bit Fairlight samples but you wouldn't know it but just listening.

[@renatomachado3680]

muito bom seu ensino, a música dessa banda DEF LEPPARD são muito bons, sou um fã tem composição musical muito Boa, sucessos amigão deixei um like

[@ShredSixx80s]

Dont forget about the dytronics cs5 stereo tri chorus not only the rockmans which made them great

[@bwm5150]

padawan007 although I know that those units were a staple in many studios in that era, I’ve never seen it mentioned in interviews with Shipley or anyone else. I imagine it may have been used but that’s why I don’t mention it in these videos.

[@mikewoods7664]

Where can I get my hands on a rock box or the nobles sound studio one?

[@bwm5150]

Have to search sites like eBay, Reverb etc.

[@vvtli808]

Thank for an interesting look at this. Do you know what kind of wireless transmitters they were using for the In The Round shows?

[@bwm5150]

vvtli808 no idea

[@Me37368]

vvtli808 I know they use a shrue wireless system now

[@bwm5150]

Just doing some research for other things and stumbled upon an interview where Phil mentions they used 'Sony Transmitters'. steveclarkguitar.com/articles-interviews/def-scam-history-hysteria/

[@edbingey]

Great vid! Just wondering, when you're comparing the Rockbox tone to the PSSOM tracks, the tracks are listed as 1 of X layers. Does that mean the individual part was layered that amount of times, or does it mean there are X amount of guitar parts for that section? Much thanks.

[@bwm5150]

X amount of layers playing that exact same part.

[@edbingey]

@@bwm5150 Thanks.

[@KyriaeB5B81]

For the record, it wasn't the Rockman headphone amp that Def Leppard used. It was the Rockman Sustainor.

[@bwm5150]

Kevin Bright They used modified Rockman units on Hysteria and the rack mount gear on Adrenalize.

[@Me37368]

Kevin Bright phil said it was the headphone amp in multiple interviews

[@KyriaeB5B81]

​@@bwm5150 Yes -- the modified Rockman units were a Sustainor (I've actually seen it) and a Stereo Echo or Chorus, but not an X100 or Soloist. I talked to the former tech at SR&D years ago who modified them for Phil. I'm not making this stuff up nor do I have a reason to. I'm not going to argue about it. I just know my source is very credible.

[@bwm5150]

Kevin Bright My main info comes from various interviews with Mike Shipley with regards to Hysteria. I’ve read further info from Phil on what he used during Adrenalize. I’m not disputing what you said but if you really wanted to be helpful, you would’ve put your sources in the original comment. All I can go on for these videos is the first hand accounts of Mike Shipley.

[@KyriaeB5B81]

@@bwm5150 I think this may be one of those cases where there are multiple versions of the same story. I probably should have worded my original response a little differently. No malice intended. I was posting from my phone and in a hurry at the time. If I remember correctly, the tech at SR&D that did the mods was Bob Cedro. He did all their custom stuff and I was reading an interview he gave someone about all the big acts that he had customized gear for and he specifically called out Def Leppard. There is also an interview that Phil Collen gave where he referenced that they used a Rockman on Hysteria and couldn't believe that it was just a little transistor box (even though it's much more), but he doesn't say it was a headphone amp at all. All the Rockman gear shared the same product line name -- Rockman. However, the dead giveaway that it wasn't one of the headphone amps that he used is that he also said that they used the Rockman because of how quiet it was and since they were layering up to 100 tracks per song with multiple guitar tracks, they needed each individual track to have as little noise as possible. Now, anybody who has ever used ANY of the headphone amps knows NONE of them are even remotely quiet -- even a brand new one and they never put the noise gate in them. However, a sustainor with the noise gate circuit enabled definitely is on the quiet side (by 1980s standards). I actually own both of these units myself and can attest to this. This pretty much convinces me that it couldn't have been a headphone amp model that was used. All that being said, I'm not saying you're wrong or that I'm right. I'm just saying I've heard a different version of the same story. Ultimately, it doesn't matter. Both devices are great for use with a guitar and they ended up making a kickass album with whatever it was they used. Rock on!

[@batbawls]

5:36 reminiscent of Purple Rain

[@philmoretonmusic6426]

Found your video when my curiosity peaked about the Rock Box after reading the same Def Lep article, Nigel's interview. Your sounds are amazingly close! How did you determine it was the JHS Rock-Box and not the rare ESS beige Rock Box?

[@bwm5150]

Is the ESS unit not just a footswitch that you can plug the RockBox and/or Rockman into?

[@theedrstrangelove]

You can recreate the original rockman using a analog delay, boss original overdrive, boss compressor/sustainer, and a boss dimension.

[@bwm5150]

Speaker emulation is needed too.

[@austinfailz]

Looks like a "Nobels Sound Studio SST-1."

[@maxmustardman298]

same units basically

[@mottosierra1372]

That one sounds like shit

[@sonicmistress]

Made at the same time.

[@thepianoman5491]

It sounds very much like Prince used this Rock Box for Purple Rain. Does anyone agree or can tell us what Prince used.

[@georgediavolitsis4735]

Hey! just curious, where were you able to find the Rockbox? I am looking to find a Rockman or a Rockbox but I am having no luck with the Rockbox. Also, have you ever had the chance to try out the Dunlop version of the Rockman, the Rockman Ace? and you're thoughts if you have tried it. Thanks!!

[@bwm5150]

I had been on and off looking for Rockbox's on places like Ebay and similar sites of r 2/3 years, casually, and then got lucky. I have tried the newer Dunlop Rockman units and have had a couple of the older Rockman rack unites too. They're all pretty cool but very limited and are definitely something for a specific sound. To use them like Def Leppard did, you would need to have them modified like them.

[@georgediavolitsis4735]

bwm5150 cool thanks! I heard that Dunlop made rockmans now but wasn’t sure if it was any good or better than the originals. I will see if I come across a rock box at all... also in terms of rockmans do you know if it says anywhere what types Def Leppard used, I know there’s like the rx100, distortion generator, sustainer, and some more but I wonder which ones they used. Thanks again

[@bwm5150]

George Diavolitsis from what I’ve read from Mike Shipley, it was a modified unit similar to a distortion sound that ZZ Top used. Another commenter on this vid has heard that it was a Distortion Generator. This is for Hysteria. By Adrenalize I think Phil has most of the rack modules.

[@Me37368]

bwm5150 I’m almost 100% sure it was the rockman x100 headphone amp. Phil’s mentioned it in a couple of interviews.

[@bwm5150]

@@Me37368 In regards to what specifically? I'm sure they used the x100 on their demos as you can seem them in the home studio rigs that tech Mike Rogers made for them all in his Fabulist Icons book. But as for what went down on the record it's hard to say since there's quotes from Shipley about modified units and also Sav and Nigel Green mentioning the Rockbox used specifically for the title track.

[@johnsteed7179]

Amazing video. I wonder where you bought the Rock-Box?

[@bwm5150]

John Steed Thanks! I got it on either eBay or Gumtree from a seller in the UK. I used to occasionally search for them and never find any available over here but I eventually got lucky.

[@sergejprimak1712]

This is a complete clone of Nobels Nobels Sound Studio 1 SST-1 a company from Hamburg, in 80-90 made an attempt to make a clone of Rockman Soloist and Rockman X100 (Nobels Studio 1-x). Nobels has added some very useful adjustments + footswitch control. Great idea, but Tom Scholz sued them and after a couple of years Nobels stopped production. Very good and mobile guitar instruments.

[@mottosierra1372]

Do you know about the Arion hot watt and the RoSs rockbox ?

[@REPVILE]

I was going to ask this, I thought the other rockbox might have been a rebrand.

[@sonicmistress]

@@REPVILE The history of these boxes is: The Rockman>ESP Pocket Studio>JHS Rockbox/Nobel Sound Studio 1 (SST-1)>SST1X. This is the trail of the Development of the original Rockman as a lot of people/Devs/Companies were linked from one Pedal to the other. web.archive.org/web/20201001032206/nobels.de/history-of-sst-1?lang=en

[@benjaminwinks9114]

+bwm5150: Is it possible to obtain the sugar multi-track? I've bought every Def Leppard album I can find, but I haven't been able to get my "hands" on the multi-tracks....

[@bwm5150]

Benjamin Winks they’ll be floating around somewhere on the internet.

[@benjaminwinks9114]

@@bwm5150 cheers! Keep it up, Def Leppard is my favorite band and your content is awesome!

[@benjaminwinks9114]

@Luke I've actually reached out to the band's handlers about this and haven't gotten anywhere. I know this is a shot in the dark, but the tracks I've been able to find aren't the ones I'd want, but if they did sell the multitracks, I'd buy them haha

[@donruslano2887]

Круто!!! С наступающим новым годом тебя!!!

[@svarthelikoptern]

You said you have the multitracks to Sugar. Do you have the drum stems too? I have been trying to isolate then for 10 years or so!

[@bwm5150]

The drums on it are not the final sounds from the album. They are very basic.

[@svarthelikoptern]

@@bwm5150 Thank you for replying. There are many layers to the drums as well. Crazy good engineering. I hope one day we can get our hands on the exact multitracks.

[@bwm5150]

@@svarthelikoptern the best source for multitracks were the old Rockband and Guitar Hero games. As far as I know, only some Pyromania tracks were on there that weren’t live performances and were the actual old multitrack stems.

[@svarthelikoptern]

@@bwm5150 true! That is where many players got their Van Halen stems from. I am primarily after the drums off Hysteria. There are some guitar stems off Hysteria flying around and they are great when you eq match tones. Just the elusive drum tones, and I suck at drum sound design, so I am lost 👍

[@bwm5150]

@@svarthelikoptern as far as I know there’s only guitar tracks from Sugar from Hysteria and I think Sugar was leaked along with Heartbreak and Rock of Ages because they were used in the Def Leppard TV movie in the early 00s.

[@MeTuLHeD]

How does it sound if you hit it with an overdrive pedal in front of it?

[@bwm5150]

Something I need to experiment with.

[@MuvoTX]

Is this the same JHS that currently has the Andy timmons and Paul gilbert stomp boxes?

[@bwm5150]

No, it's a different company. The current JHS started in the mid to late 2000s.

[@looseemonnn1973]

was the rockman used on Madonna - Like A Prayer u think???????

[@bwm5150]

On the song? I don't know. But on the album? I also don't know.

[@josuey.80sfloresb.59]

escuchen el tema de marcelo patrono - tu tienes mucho para dar y se daran cuenTA QUE ESE ES EL SONIDO

[@ColtraneTaylor]

They've got to make a Rockman pedal. C'mon it's 30 plus years later.

[@ReformedWhiteKnight]

Well it's out and it's called the Goat, but its more or the sustainer rather than the Rockman as it doesn't have chorus and delay!

[@ColtraneTaylor]

@@ReformedWhiteKnight Thanks for the tip off! Hmm ... without chorus and delay that sounds like it might not live up to Boston. But I'm just checking it out right now.

[@bruceharding4986]

are you plugged straight into your interface?

[@bwm5150]

Yes

[@Havanacuba1985]

I’ve just bought one . Anyone know anything about the footswitch ,apparently it’s a latching one, but what does it do ? Change channels !!!!!

[@Havanacuba1985]

Ok it’s a single latching switch . My cheap footswitch works. It enables you to switch to distortion while using any other channel.

[@Me37368]

Didn’t they also use galien Kruger amps?

[@bwm5150]

They sure did.

[@dennyalves9049]

And Solid State Randall RG80ES RG100ES Heads, at least Live on the Hysteria 1987-88 Tour

[@valerieguillaume5817]

😚

[@piratephilnitch8505]

So does ANYONE HAVE A JHS or ROSS Rockbox for sale??? PLEASE - ANYONE!!! :)

[@rambowram]

i like to learn it

[@paulcarrington4071]

ive still got one of these, as rare as hens teeth. i shall give this a go

[@nkeppy123]

You know i'm not a big fan of the tone but hey man if you like it i can't judge you homie..

[@bwm5150]

MattPlays I don’t necessarily like or dislike the tone of this box, but I like what it reveals knowing that it was used on the album.

[@Rodrigo_xt8c2]

were you using the bridge pickup only on this? Just curious because it sounded like neck was being used. Would probably get closer using just bridge.

[@bwm5150]

Bridge was used on the distortion settings.

[@MuvoTX]

Is that much like the Nobels units that got into lawsuit trouble with Tom Scholz?

[@bwm5150]

It apparently is.

[@sergejprimak1712]

This is a complete clone of Nobels Nobels Sound Studio 1 SST-1 a company from Hamburg, in 80-90 made an attempt to make a clone of Rockman Soloist and Rockman X100 (Nobels Studio 1-x). Nobels has added some very useful adjustments + footswitch control. Great idea, but Tom Scholz sued them and after a couple of years Nobels stopped production. Very good and mobile guitar instruments.

[@ReformedWhiteKnight]

Yes, I and I think Nobels was affiliated with that big music store in Hamburg Brahmfeld at the time called Amptown! ;-)

[@Grail1972]

Where can I buy one?

[@Grail1972]

@bwm5150

[@bwm5150]

The usual sites like eBay, Reverb, Gumtree are probably the best places to look.

[@Particle67]

I bought mine at reverb (phonic Unit), the best 100 bucks spent.

[@sleekitwan]

Just put one up for sale on ebay...it is a great quick’n’dirty pedal and the original receipt comes with it, from when I bought it in 1987. Yes I hoard stuff. £136 to a shop in Bingley, Yorkshire, it says. It’s in terribly good shape. If you are interested, it’s got a day left to run, as of tomorrow. I just acquired a massive GT box, and still end up grabbing this just because it’s much much easier. Selling because a certain project is soaking up resource, and this would be much heavier-used by just about anybody. Thanks for the vid, and if this is too cheeky, by all means delete it. My best to all.

[@lukessoundhouse9903]

7:35

[@copykonsmusic1065]

Nowhere near muddy tone. Those guys were amazing engineers.

[@ReformedWhiteKnight]

You can get quite far to emulate the tone if you use a graphic equaliser in front of the rock-box or even the nobles studio 1 which was another 'clone' of the Rockman and push the upper mids / treble a bit!

[@copykonsmusic1065]

​@@ReformedWhiteKnight Yeah, that was a few years ago. Since then, I've picked up a few like the X100. The thing that really shocked me most was the quality of the clean tone. People can get close to the sound, but nothing compares IMO.

[@larslevinberget9558]

Don't shoot shotgun comes to mind

[@circuitsandcigars1278]

It looks like a Nobels

[@quentintrask2258]

Clean 1 is reminiscent of Richard Marx

[@kierantaylor7011]

first 😉

[@theedrstrangelove]

This is all bullshit. They used whatever revision Rockman was available at the time. In the studio that is. While touring, they used rack mounted boxes made by Tom Scholz Research and Development at the time. Tone is in your instrument, body, and hands/fingers. Just play your fucking guitar and to hell what everyone thinks. None of you are going to be the next Clapton, Hendrix, or Van Halen. You should just focus on the next you.

[@bwm5150]

Some of us are interested in the behind the scenes of these albums. I've read many interviews with Mike Shipley (Hysteria mixer) and co over the years and it's fascinating to me. As I mention in the video, both Nigel Green (engineer on Hysteria) and Rick Savage, mentioned specifically the Rock-Box in interviews, specifically being used on the song Hysteria. I also mention that the Rockman was used on the album and was modified, according to many Mike Shipley interviews. Also, I suggest you read more as they did not use the rack mounted Rockmans until the Adrenalize tour, so what you have claimed could be 'all bullshit.' You should focus on being able to discuss things in a less hostile manner and focus on being the next you that doesn't come across a such a bitter, resentful human being.