MXR's Rockman X100 Recreates Legendary '80s Studio Guitar Tone in Pedal Form | NAMM 2025

[@Reverb]

Be sure to check out Mike's Gear Bazaar Reverb Shop for all of your vintage Rockman needs! Visit his shop here: reverb.com/shop/mikes-gear-bazaar-677

[@stonebcb1]

Opening up with “Rough Boy”! Excellent choice

[@AndyDemos]

Thank you! Hadn’t thought about that tune in years (maybe last heard on my Walkman) but it turned out alright! 😎🤘

[@almostliterally593]

Tough song to play well

[@tonyvardy2399]

What a tune​@@AndyDemos

[@BobbyGeneric145]

Favorite zz song!

[@begooode380]

Good call. The song turns 40 years old this year! Pretty sure there will be an unexpected bump in streams over the next week. Short slow jam dripping with nostalgia and that ZZ Top 'tude while also managing to bridge their 80s boogie beat with their deep Texas blues roots

[@JeanLeite-d1e]

Been waiting for this in pedal format for 50 years!

[@jamesduescher3462]

You mean 40 years right?

[@JeanLeite-d1e]

@jamesduescher3462 Well, the original was built in 1984, so in that sense, yes. But that original tone and sound was a part of my teenage years, which was 50 yrs ago on the first album.

[@masterofreality230]

It might only do a few specific sounds, but they are unique and nostalgia inducing for someone who grew up in the 80s.

[@BillDerBerg]

Beautiful analog goodness

[@BobbyGeneric145]

They're going to sell a million.

[@BigMateo24]

Ordered one at midnight last night. Fortunate enough to get one while the still had stock. My Sweetwater rep said they are already selling like hot cakes, with an emphasis on HOT.

[@CharizardHunter1997]

Man everyone must be working their butts off to crank out these videos all at the same time today haha, I missed seeing Andy play it’s been a while for myself personally.

[@ObscuraDeCapra]

They were probably done weeks ago. This is how marketing works. Get the product into the hands of all of your shills, embargo their "reviews" that are thinly veiled press releases until the same time, and you get an instant information saturation when the embargo is up.

[@CharizardHunter1997]

@@ObscuraDeCapra2 hours ago seems kinda late for a video if they recorded it weeks ago been watching videos of it all morning after buying my own this morning haha. But I understand what you’re saying.

[@ObscuraDeCapra]

@@CharizardHunter1997 Wait until you find out how long ago most movies were filmed when you're watching it on opening day...

[@CharizardHunter1997]

@ buddy an hour long movie with tons of editing is not the same as a 10 minute long video about a guitar pedal lol but nice try

[@thestuffmikedoes2309]

@@ObscuraDeCaprathinly veiled? There’s nobody denying that these are promos

[@rockhouse90]

Bought mine today and I am absolutely blown away!

[@Skiman13M]

Mine shipped today and I am psyched! 80’s style….LOL

[@RoyceTeal]

I'm jealous!!! Congratulations have fun!

[@edadpops1709]

Love that you’re playing some covers again

[@patzguitarz]

My God, I've been waiting on this. I hunted for years to find the Holy Grail Rockman chorus tone and never found it. I now feel complete!

[@mjklein]

I bought the Made in Japan GOAT Blue Series pedals a few months ago, and I'm going to replace them with this!

[@johnduval482]

I had an original Rockman with that special rack mount housing unit that made it so much more convenient. This is an amazing addition to the arsenal. I can tell MXR nailed that unreal chorus effect. Impressive.

[@NuclearDeathWalk]

I had the Rockman II.

[@neilpatrickhairless]

Daaaamn the OG Rockman headphone amps went up in price 😵 I remember 20 years ago or so you couldn't give them away

[@misterdetail]

Thank you for using a guitar amp on this! Lots of Rockman purists on FB saying it won't sound good with an amp and requires full range speakers like the original Rockmans are proven wrong here. Using it with a guitar amp is the main reason I bought the new Rockman pedal.

[@dnadna9317]

That's a load there were plenty of people who used Rockmans as preamps back in the day. One that comes to mind is Springsteen in the late 80s and through the 90s used a Sustainor in front of a Mark 2 feeding 4x12s

[@stockholm1752]

Yeah, I had one of these. It made every guitar I had sound exactly the same.

[@themodernguitarist]

I mean it's got a really powerful compressor in the input, so it's not shocking.

[@andyracer20]

Absolutely amazing! Nice intro with ZZ!

[@brianrollins7275]

Give me just a minute and I’ll tell you why, I’m a rough boy! That was spot on Andy, the nostalgia blew my mind. You are the best. Thanks

[@danmartin1200]

Bod Cedro who works for Dunlop was engineer for Tom Scholz at Rockman back in the day so I knew it was only a matter of time before they released something like this! Hopefully more Rockman stuff to come.

[@bob_kazamakis]

Fingers crossed we get a mass produced version of Cedro's rev 20 Sustainor

[@Frettedchaos]

Andy just killed that intro. Good lord son!

[@1977raider]

I'm sold! Sounds fantastic 💥

[@patrickspicer9644]

Learned about the original Rockman listening to Mkgee. He has a track literally called Rockman. Apparently uses an original unit to achieve his signature throwback 80s guitar tone. Worth checking out!

[@GarHoover]

Great Song, I figured the track was inspired by the Rockman but I didn’t know it was part of his setup!

[@jspartacus]

That's not HIS tone. That's Tom Scholz's signature tone.

[@neilpatrickhairless]

Buckethead also records with a Rockman headphone amp and he has a Rockman combo amp as well

[@OD_green7]

Picking one up this afternoon!!

[@mlem567]

Mom where the heck did you put my old Rockman?! 😃

[@FrankSarnie]

Killer intro, Andy!

[@timnotbrianmay]

You can't forget the miced 4x12 cabinet simulator!!!!!!!!!! That was ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL to the sound!!!!!!!!! And yes, the original needed a 1/8 in stereo jack/plugged (?) to connect it to ANYTHING!

[@skatertrev7]

Asked Wampler to make a compact vers of the rockman sound for years. Glad someone finally did it!

[@hayabusa1300100]

There will be plenty of Replicas now once it’s out you make’em they all can be copied no more secret . Chorus sounds good 👍

[@JeffreyWalker-fs8no]

I have to have one of these for sure. I wanna rock!!!

[@notanotherjamesmurphy5574]

sounds great Andy

[@markhammer643]

A trip down memory lane!

[@MarkTurner-vs7uc]

The old ones are incredible.

[@BillHertzing]

I KNEW you would have a demo!

[@StanHarris-GooglePlus]

Came for the Boston vibe but got added boost with Pink Floyd vibes!

[@dcdno_one2393]

David Gilmour used a Rockman X100 I think on a solo album.

[@eqz666]

Dad rock in a box!

[@RoyceTeal]

Yeah but I had the original waaaaay before I was a dad. 😂!

[@misterdetail]

More like Granddad rock, as the original came out 44 years ago!

[@JDB1184]

@@misterdetailHey , now ! I resemble that remark ! 😅👍

[@shorerocks]

I am going to get one the minute available in Europe. I am so excited.

[@AmiGuitar]

i would have loved to get the echo circuit too

[@michael_caz_nyc]

I've wanted one-of-these since Forever. Sadly, I (Sold) my original 1/3 Rack Units. I had em with a Lexicon Rack. This sounds really good. Andy always does a phenomenal-job = fantastic guitar-player. oNe LovE from NYC

[@mantashaft]

Billy Gibbons is responsible for me wanting to cop these tones a few years ago. I feel I can come close with my current gear, but I have to admit I feel like it's a must have. At the same time, I can think of other things I need more. Quite the quandry.

[@dakota-sessions]

That clean tone was instant Def Leppard!

[@tubularbill]

I have been saying for years that either Boss or JHS should come out with a rock man pedal instead of 1 million reverb pedals. Well, God bless you MXR!

[@BillDerBerg]

Best song to demo a Rockman tone

[@TK421HighFidelity]

nailed it, all I need is a one armed drummer and I can be selling out arenas all over the world!

[@jhneilson]

😂

[@mwrable]

Used one for recording in the 80s and it was so identifiable for that time. Still have my original not sure where or how I would use it today. I guess if you are a Boston, Def Leppard or Eliminator era ZZ Top tribute band.

[@user-et2fj8xm5l]

Nails that Rough Boy tone..

[@GearSmackMusic]

MXR taking a page from Catalinbread here (Catalinbread specializes recreating console and rack preamps)

[@holliefitzzz]

i just want someone to stick a Neve 542 in a pedal cuz that's my studio bass sound :/

[@firesgt911]

Perfect for the aging rockstar in your life! I can see all the grandmas dancing up to the stage now.

[@WyattScott]

Hmm, you didn’t grow up in the golden age of RnR, no need to be a bitterman.

[@firesgt911]

@@WyattScottI’m not bitter and I’m not wrong! This thing is going to get a lot of cover bands laid again! I support that.

[@gdawgs101]

Nah 80s throwback sounds have been in vogue for years now

[@pjstamm2112]

I must have one of those!

[@MickeyMousehouse]

Rough boy ! Great song

[@petersonnet7675]

There is no delay like in the original?

[@MarkTurner-vs7uc]

Sold.

[@wally-001]

So when you integrated the Rockman into your own pedalboard, were you running it through an amp?

[@pclindholm]

80s Andy rules

[@N0B0DY_SP3C14L]

I think I need one.

[@ernestfoss1968]

The little knob on the back of the original???

[@MikeSmith-vo2yt]

The original rock man soloist had a funky brick of a power transformer

[@TheAhmedAlshamy]

Whoever thought of this is brilliant cause I really wanted one.

[@lorenmorgan1931]

Rough boy is a great choice to show of the amps. I had one of the x100 in the late 90s. I got it for like $25. Too noisy and not practical for a covers gig, so for playing Rough Boy, Love Bites, and Hysteria I programmed a VG88 with some small solid state Amp it had in the list and used comp and chorus on it and it using the poly distortion on the VG88 I could nail the sound of the Rockman. Sadly lost the x100 in a house fire and assumed it was worthless in the early 2k market when 80s were still looked at funny and instead everyone wore douchey clothing and tribal tats/tramp stamps. My how times have changed. Think I'll Be ordering this pedal and break out the old VG88 in the meantime. Thanks for the awesome demo :)

[@KevinPrice]

Is it the exact same circuit? It doesn’t have delay, so that is a difference. Is it as noisy as the original circuit was?

[@SeattleGenXDude]

Hearing a little Boston in the tone...Wonder if they used it...

[@SeattleGenXDude]

ahahah I guess they invented it lol

[@notanotherjamesmurphy5574]

did Billy Gibbons use the Rockman?

[@AndyDemos]

@@notanotherjamesmurphy5574 Thats the word on the street!

[@JTB--]

Eliminator Album Edit* Afterburner album... Not Eliminator

[@MarkTurner-vs7uc]

Everyone did.

[@christopherkamer3262]

​@@JTB--Afterburner has Rockman as well

[@notanotherjamesmurphy5574]

it’s known that he used a BK Butler pedal. I wonder if he used the BK Butler and the Rockman together

[@dirkbrom3948]

Would the output work for headphones in stereo mode?

[@gdawgs101]

Don't see why not, you can go DI with it

[@AndyDemos]

That’s a good question: yes it “works” in stereo but it’s not meant to be a headphone amp- the volume is pretty low in that setup. Ideally, go into a cab sim pedal with a headphone out or direct to interface if not plugging into an amp.

[@dirkbrom3948]

@@AndyDemos thanks for the clarification. This seems like an odd, niche unit. It sounds great but for how it actually works in my opinion they missed the boat. Why not offer a slightly larger unit with better switching between modes? This is at best a studio unit (nothing wrong with that) but live would be really tough to use. If it had a more usable headphone jack I could see this as a great practice unit. In that regard it misses the spirit of the original unit in my opinion.

[@notanotherjamesmurphy5574]

I would think that a pedal before the Rockman would be good

[@Edwardneff]

Isn't the output a line level signal?

[@ChrisJohnsonChannel]

The most 80s guitar 🎸 tone

[@colinchristensen6603]

No echo on the pedal?

[@mariobuttino6095]

Are you using any other effects.

[@mjklein]

It says "Rockman X100" on the pedal but the user manual calls it the "XM100." Just so you know, that's the name of the manual.

[@ajb625]

Out of The Gate with Rough Boy!

[@stratorarious]

Andy!😉

[@ageshero]

Freakin finally.. jeeeeeze

[@rangerc310]

I honestly Thought you were playing the ZZ Top Album.

[@TheSpaceGuitar]

Wow the ultrarare Yamaha SAS

[@cpkg.mp4]

no one has played rockman by mk.gee on this yet

[@lknez13]

I was just thinking that

[@robflewell7706]

what Yamaha model IS THAT?

[@AndyDemos]

@@robflewell7706 Late 80s SAS-II (only released in Japan). I put Total Gravy PAFs in it 👌

[@robflewell7706]

@@AndyDemos Thanks Andy! I KNEW it was probably unattainable! lol

[@kjetilalexandersaltnes8643]

Suhr certainly know how to make a 'retro-Hondo' headstock on a Strat..😅 Among other things..💸

[@kflive1]

I have an SPX50D - Can do this and more

[@leftofzeroofficial]

to me it isn't properly demo'd until i watch Andy do a demo

[@aaronfrazier524]

Rad!

[@fusionfan6883]

What a missed opportunity not including the echo, bit of a deal breaker for me😡

[@shawnstoner3602]

It’s perfect except for the odd decision not to include the “ECHO”

[@HenritheHorse]

They can't source the old chips for the echo. Would be too expensive and limited.

[@BopKitBill]

The return of the bad old days of cheeze whizz stomach turning nasty 80's goo!

[@Dwoed]

Gonna look for a second hand

[@NoCoverCharge]

I have zero desire to achieve that tone and I grew up in the 80’s I don’t care to hear it ever again I’ll take a jcm800 any day

[@ileutur6863]

I can see this being bought both by okd cover band players and gen z shoegazers

[@CharizardHunter1997]

I’m 27 and I bought it mainly for Def Leppard Hysteria tones haha

[@neilpatrickhairless]

This is perfect for post metal and shoegaze. I want one for slam/groove metal though

[@buzzcrushtrendkill]

80's tone? That's a 70's tone. Remember that band Boston and their album from 1976?

[@Schizophrenia222]

No headphone output? They had one job.

[@AndyDemos]

This one goes into your amp!

[@Schizophrenia222]

@ but what if it went in your amp AND had a headphone jack? 🙏🏼

[@kentvanschuyler9520]

Guitar Music Gordon Gripp 🎉🎉🎉

[@jamesonpace726]

Pretty good for a guy not even born in 1980....

[@AndyDemos]

You’re too kind 😉

[@rareform6747]

There go's the price of my 85 X-100 ...There better in tube amps then head phones any day !

[@Earthwormjimm]

You know what would really make this pop? A pick.

[@AndyDemos]

Sheesh

[@dougfishback3116]

Ah, that glossy, anthemic optimism.

[@kenichi407]

the original sounds so much better to my ears!

[@AnssiEriksson]

I thought the MXR sounds "better". Hopefully the noise level is also reduced from the original.

[@sziklafygyula4885]

I love it! It's a little overpriced for me though... I don't know if the original rockmans were cheap or not,but this is definitely not cheap or affordable!-especially for what it is when you take a really good look at it! Sure, it's special, and it sounds awesome, but it's basically a chorus-overdrive/distortion-echo-compressor combo. It's like a 4 in 1 pedal deal, which is awesome,plus the sound is great, but I can get a similar sound with like 3-4 pedals that are way cheaper even with their combined price!

[@JeanLeite-d1e]

This is cheaper than the current Rockman going price. Avg about $345.

[@sziklafygyula4885]

​@JeanLeite-d1e When I said original rockmans,I meant it as the originals released in the 80's, and comparativley were they relativley cheap at the time or not?

[@JeanLeite-d1e]

@sziklafygyula4885 I wouldn't say they were cheap but semi-affordable, yes. In comparison to most pedals in that period, though, it was expensive. Is this pricey now? Not when you compare it to the original x100 currently which a few yrs ago was averaging about $345 - $480 and are now in the $600+ range. Still, though, it is on my list given it's less than $240. Perspective, I guess lol.

[@sziklafygyula4885]

@JeanLeite-d1e Thx for the info! I didn't grow up in the west where this existed, but I assumed it wasn't that expensive-due to being"just a headphone amp".TBH I got a little used to cheap but relatively great quality gear recently, plus I live in a "poor" country. So anything beyond a certain pricepoint is far too expensive for me-especially when you can get pedals for really low prices these days!

[@JeanLeite-d1e]

@sziklafygyula4885 Completely understand. For me it's just odd that Dunlop bought the technology from Tom in the 90's and took so long to make this in pedal format.

[@skyhawks4ever]

I can't believe MXR left out the echo circuitry, which was an integral part of the original Rockman sound &. unfortunately, l'm gonna pass on this pedal until they come out with version two when they realize they should've included the echo circuitry. I mean, especially if you want that "hysteria"or 80s arena rock sound you need that feature. What a letdown! oh well there are some really good plug-ins that you can get that actually sound almost identical to the rack mount Rockman equipment.

[@neilpatrickhairless]

They could add the echo stage but they could also add a couple hundred to the price of this to do it

[@markjohnson1020]

Just a kind reminder to everyone. There is no T in Scholz.

[@jeshkam]

I'm a rough boy.

[@ramonmoreno8014]

hot

[@Yostopactinjive]

No delay? That sucks. It was the best . I never used the chorus. Didnt matter every one of them stopped working after 1 year.

[@Breoss]

Doesn't sound like the original Rockman. This pedal delivers a different sound. It should not be named after the famous Rockman headphone amp.

[@jorgefernandes6915]

It doesn't sound like the original. Cleans are kind of sterile and EQ on the distorted modes is not the same as the original Rockman, that sounded like an old pocket AM radio, no the case with MXR which has more gain and not the same amount of compression like the old model

[@garethde-witt6433]

I so hate that 80’s sound it’s so cliche there’s nothing worse. Lived through it once don’t really want to hear it again.

[@itsjacewarren]

Haha

[@HEZ63]

Never liked the original, so why should I like the same bad sounds as a pedal then? Does not even have the echo on board, the chorus I anyway never liked, so nothing for me. The release of the Sustainor in pedal size had made more sense to me, the X100 is just a dispensable toy for me.

[@TonyHislop]

No fair! You make everything sound good Andy. I just came from the Andertons demo - unlistenable! So I unsubscribed.

[@Ryan-nj5ue]

Ugh this version of80’s guitar tone is so bad

[@salahbaker4089]

NO where near the XPR rack