Tom Scholz Rockman - Played by a metal head.

[@denniswilliams2385]

Anyone who has ever plugged into a Rockman will immediately recognize that clean tone. Tom was so far ahead of his time.

[@allendean9807]

As a teenager in the 80’s, we ALL either wanted a Rockman, or owned one. They were incredible for the time in which they were made. Now days, portable amp sims are everywhere. All you need is a phone and adapter, and you’re in business. But in the 80’s, this was the first, and the king.

[@springbloom5940]

I was too poor

[@schecterseven3894]

@@springbloom5940 Same

[@minkorrh]

@@springbloom5940 Weren't we all?

[@shaindaman13]

That clean tone sounds great. Shimmery.

[@lostinpa-dadenduro7555]

If Dunlop, or whoever own the rights now, would release the original again they’d make a fortune.

[@MuvoTX]

I read somewhere that a good number of the electronic parts are discontinued and not readily available for any kind of mass production.

[@keithamyx1215]

@@MuvoTX😩

[@kennethcohagen3539]

I have an old soloist, but the they rereleased the X100 I’d buy it in a heart beat.

[@anthonylawson6955]

You are 100% correct.

[@almostliterally593]

@@anthonylawson6955there must be another way to build one. But nobody has funded it. It IS possible I guarantee you that.

[@infinidominion]

One of the best sounding studio tone secrets of the 80's

[@AlabamaSkunkApe]

I had one from around 1990. Bought it brand new and used it in live gigs for about 5 years until replaced by the effects unit by ART model SGX 2000 and pedal. The Rockman was special though, as it had this little channel selector switch that I velcroed to my guitar. I could switch between sounds simply by pressing the switch. It's been 30+ years since I last played it, but I recall there were a half dozen buttons on the switch. When I switched to the ART rack unit, I put the Rockman away. Then years later, I pulled it out to see if it worked and unfortunately, I had accidentally left the batteries in there and they corroded and destroyed the unit.

[@tuesdayzrain]

Bought a basket case one at a garage sale for $10. One of these days I'm gonna put it back together and play boston songs on it!

[@jond63]

I had an Rockman X100. Back in the day lots of boom boxes had RCA auxiliary inputs built in. I used to run the 1/8 headphone out into the RCA inputs on my boombox and then stuck an SM-57 in front of it, ran it thru our practice PA.

[@mikerobo2112]

Our guitarist had a charvel into a rockman,into a 70 watt Dean Markley guitar head,into a Marshall quadbox. We suped up classics etc and it gave him a unique sound. Great for metal.

[@gunkyzip]

I liked those clean tones best. and seeing a Bich in action was pretty cool too

[@napalmjack]

Metallica did not use the rockman. The amps used for their clean sounds were rolland jazz chorus 120 amps, specifically James had one. I believe the rockman was based on the Rolland JC amps

[@jimhinkle7245]

Most people don't know that Phil Collin of Def Leppard used this on the Hysteria album.

[@russellzauner]

most people don't know that 85% or more of the albums in that period of time were made with people just walking into the studio and plugging into a rack mount rockman

[@jimhinkle7245]

@russellzauner very true.

[@BrunodeSouzaLino]

Def Leppard also used Gallien Kruger MBL200 amps, which were solid state practice guitar amps.

[@devinthierault]

Collen

[@bigpooter9771]

@@BrunodeSouzaLinoactually it was the GK250ML. It’s a wonderful little thing, I bought it because of the Somewhere In Time guitar tone.

[@toneman501]

The thing about the Rockman is that it's EQ'd in such a way that , when recorded and played back.. ...it sounds good at maximum volume

[@barrywebb6113]

Had one along with a Honer copy of a Stienberger. Fit into a locker on a Navy ship so they were perfect.

[@jcsolomon6470]

❤ This!I bought 1,in December of 87,Still have it,but does not work!Take care,and keep on jamming!

[@Fotosaurus56]

I had a Japanese made knockoff from Kaman. I bought an adapter cable and sent the signal into my stereo. I only knew power chords, but it was a lot of fun.

[@matthewearl9824]

I love how he says it was played on Megadeth records and then he proceeds to play a Metallica song.

[@aronalaniz3685]

Dave wrote that note that James used

[@matthewearl9824]

@@aronalaniz3685 he said played on Megadeth albums lol

[@Knome-Ansland]

I had a Soloist in the late 80s. Great times ❤

[@daveduffy2823]

I had one of those way back in the 80’s. I have an Amplitude plugin now that effectively duplicates the sound when I want to get that Boston sound.

[@kirkdavis3929]

These things worked really well and Tom Shutz is a freeking genius..My Buddy had one and it gave him the abillity to learn how to play without makeing his Mom insane. As he could just put on his head phones and go to town.

[@danthegreaser71]

Love your guitar! I have a legacy Bich in black. It’s my favorite guitar

[@peterpowder8546]

I had one when they were originally released. Loved it for jamming in the studio. But so much has changed since then and effects pedals have improved

[@wiseguy9202]

I've had mine since the 80's.

[@Guitarpch1]

I had one of these back in the day…never knew megadeth used it. Sounds really cool on the clean side

[@CaptainBlackBread]

Good to see you back.

[@WeirderGuitar]

Nice B.C. Rich!

[@jarekstorm6331]

I had one in 89, no idea what happened to it. I can’t remember if I got rid of it or still have it somewhere, but it did sound cool. My main rig was a Roland GP-8 rack unit running through my Marshall JCM 800 and 4x12.

[@TheGreatBaronOBeefDip]

I'm fairly certain SFSGSW had the Rockman, you can check the remasters liner notes.

[@radiobikini6429]

Worked fantastic for DI to tape.

[@mikemph7779]

That thing had badass tone !!! I had one in 88

[@morbidmanmusic]

Had the first one in the day. They were great.

[@scottdunn2178]

We used the X100 as a preamp into a Marshall... sounded great as long as you didn't use the cheesy chorus.

[@HeadfirstHumanity]

Saw your post in the Facebook group, nice video! I was glad to see you pointed out the Megadeth connection, I don't see a lot of people talking about how Chris Poland used the Rockman on Peace Sells, but that's something I've always been interested in.

[@Thefrawkster]

Metallica used the Roland Jazz Chorus for their clean sound on RTL

[@h-townsinner9053]

Great video man !

[@lorettahookano6139]

That with a Wah, MXR, Power Soak & a JCM 800, Boom !

[@johnstone1526]

Had 1 of these new in 86.

[@willfultrain6779]

I don’t know if anyone else has ever watched the buckethead backyard solo full video, but he had what looked like a full size rockman amp and man I want one. Sorry the video in question is the backyard solo but the name is young buckethead final chapter.

[@ianmusulin1285]

I built a bunch of rockman patches on the boss katana mk ii that nails all of my rockman needs and doesn't cost me a arm and leg. All my def leppard patches are spot on. Also I built the gk ml250 lunchbox tone which was the other tone on hysteria

[@amd3449]

Def Leppard use Rockman on”Hysteria” Album.

[@jeffhodge7272]

The beginning of Too Late For Love sounds awesome too.🎸🎵🤟

[@innercynic2784]

I owned an original when they first came out. I so wish I kept it

[@kennethdileo6578]

Nice chorus effect

[@JimThompson-i3u]

@1:00 That guitar could use another toggle switch.

[@renula]

😂

[@bingefeller]

Chris Poland used the Rockman as a booster, so the amp was already cranked.

[@xpump876]

While it's a solid and cool sound, everything that comes out of it sounds like what the inventor Tom Scholz was going for. It has a certain compressed sound ( clean or dirty) that I feel is very identifiable as well as the effects. I had one back in the 90's for ~5 yrs but sold it as it seemed so locked into that "tone" that I didn't like using it.

[@arthurmurfitt7698]

Yngwie used one on the first Alcatrazz album

[@russellzauner]

Oddly enough, I think if you worked at it a bit you could probably get the sounds matched up between the rockman and your katana (you have access to the entire boss effects catalog lol that's a lot of stuff) and make a couple patches that are "good enough" to drop the rockman out of the circuit - then you'd have the rest of your katana's boost, etc, features to push those iconic tone prints where you want them to go. I don't even want to check what a rack/studio version of the Rockman goes for now lol

[@nhpIII4482]

I just ran mine X100 straight into a Peavy Bandit, no sweat. Til it got plug into a wrong AC adapter. Still got it though, hoping a rig fairy can fix it.😭

[@BrunodeSouzaLino]

This was the LA 80s studio guitar sound in a box. Granted you can most likely match the sound with plugins, but they're not gonna sound like an actual Rockman.

[@jamesswanson4303]

First gen Line-6 POD.

[@kevgamble]

I see these as being made for recording albums where there are lots of guitars within a robust and balanced overall mix. These days, mixes tend to be so heavily lopsided toward huge guitar and small everything else. I hear a lot of great isolated tones coming out of current tools but not many satisfying mixes.

[@truescotsman4103]

I decided to get the Boss GT1000 Core. I get sounds almost identical to this unit and so much more.

[@tonyvermeer7409]

I had a poor man's version then one Christmas I got the real Rockman. It sounded amazing as a headphone amp but like many others, I wanted that live Rockman sound. I used some Radio Shack cables to play it through a friend's amp. It was hissy so I quit using it. A friend of mine played in a cover band and used his live. He once pulled the Rockman off of his amp, crashed to the ground, spilling the batteries all over the stage. In the 90's I upgraded to a Zoom headphone amp. Played it through an amp = same noisy results. I would still take one today but keep it at home.

[@barrywebb6113]

Do they still make the "Rock Modules" or the rack unit that had a slot that the Rockman itself slid into...like a type of bay ? Also didn't ZZ Top use these on "Eliminator" ?

[@CharlesEbarb-v8g]

I still have a few of his old attenuators.

[@pzuliomaccavellion9711]

Dokken's "Under Lock and Key" album guitar sound, also Rockman into Marshall!

[@tokk3n-hj4xg]

Nice playing.

[@runingblackbear]

Got mine back in 1983

[@Who-ry8of]

I had the cheap version that was made by, I believe, Aria or something like that. I don’t remember, but it was terribly disappointing.

[@jaymax3201]

I was able to easily create the same sound by tweeking the Digitech RP2000 presets.

[@robertfisher4689]

I still have my Rockman Soloist from the 80s. It sounds awesome. Uses your amp to tweak it better.Mom had my baby brother when i was a teen so i had to play with headphones in the hose for a while. Never got rid of it.

[@robertscott3399]

Is that a tire lock device in the background ?

[@None888.]

Had a distortion pedal run through mine in 85...sounded nuts

[@Leinadopi]

The Rockman Dist W Boss Katana sounded good. Maybe a little more distortion to get Poland's tone but otherwise good. 😎

[@12afael]

You are missing the stereo echo and chorus with that setup! Judas priest use the rockman sustainor on turbo, ram it down and painkiller but that model does not have the echo and chorus. Also you can try some somewhere in time not the same amp but the effects are very similar

[@neilkendall5499]

I disagree the Rockman sounds 'thin'. He's also only demonstrating the tones in isolation, but the Rockman sits perfectly within a mix, both live or on a recording. I use the Rockman tones in my band and love them. I actually use them on a modeller, with a bit of EQ, delay and chorus....and some boost for lead tone. Sounds massive, nice and big and thick, especiallly through an FRFR speaker and big PA. Rockman is the ULTIMATE guiutar tone in my opinion....screw Marshall etc. I've actually found that Marshalls sound thinner, esepciialy for lead.

[@godbyone]

I sold to music stores in 80s my boss got contract ti sell rockman to stores. The first Christmas rush . I sold hundreds to stores and. The other sales people did as well So our first big order was. Like 2000 We were excited . We got. 3 percent commission. Then the box came in we would mail out. It had. 7. wtf. Tom. Made each one. And was not ready. For the Christmas rush he was not ready . But I didn’t complain out our my boss. Gave me the first one to demo. Couple month s before. I was afraid if I complained. Well what about the one I gave u .

[@Jameschewingfoil]

You mentioned Megadeth but Def Leppard used one on Pyromania.

[@CJ-lf6nq]

I have the X-100. They are well made and sound ok but at this point it’s just a novelty thats cool to have.

[@Bearthalamass]

I had the first rockman, and a princeton.

[@anthonytsi]

Get the NUX Mighty Plug Pro. Kicks ass!

[@aeugmk2]

Sounds like you could use an eq with a gain knob on it on the front end in my opinion. You desperately need some frequencies to combat that mosquito thin sound.

[@Bongwell420]

Way back in the day had one, you could walk down the street and jam

[@springbloom5940]

I want to hear some Queensryche on it.

[@totallykoolyeah]

I had the cheap one. It's all over pyromania

[@jeffhodge7272]

The beginning of Too Late For Love sounds great.😊

[@bardicdad]

There cool if you want the Boston sound.

[@jeffhodge7272]

Put on the clean channel with the stereo chorus on.Then play the beginning of Too Late For Love by Def Leppard.

[@crazeyjoe]

James Hetfield used a Roland JC-120 for the clean tones.

[@scottdunn2178]

🎶 Highway To The Danger Zone 🎶 😅

[@musicalcompanion5890]

I was gonna give you shit for playing metallica on the bich, i felt my blood pressure go through roof, but then... you redeemed youself!

[@bobsurface908]

I think Metallica used mostly Roland amps for clean work, with their chorus. It IS shockingly similar. Makes me wonder if Roland "borrowed" the circuitry...

[@RayBecker]

I had one back in the 1980's. If you want to sound like Boston, get a Rockman. I wanted to sound like me, so I got rid of it.

[@jeffhodge7272]

I played ever song on the Back For The Attack album through it.Sounded great.

[@MrKenstar2]

Yea we do actually

[@MrJackrockerman]

Your BC Rich look very beautiful..

[@davebasch5995]

I have an early Rockman that belonged to a late friend of mine....what is it worth and who wants to buy it here? Im a drummer

[@Banditman]

It's not for metal. Pretty much anyone could tell you that. Great for hard rock, especially when paired with another sound. Try the Rockman sound paired with a 6505 for example on rhythm guitar tracks and you've got yourself a really strong hard rock sound. Still not metal, but nice heavy sound. Also, no need to spend ridiculous $$$ for it. Both Amplitube and TH-U make excellent emulations of the original Rockman units for a much cheaper cost.

[@sabrewolf1030]

IF YOUR KATANA HAS AN ACOUSTIC CHANNEL LIKE THE ARTIST 2 PUT ON ACOUSTIC RUN IT THROUGH BLUE CONPRESSOR,SUSTAINER THEN THROUGH 10 EQ MXR THEN A DIGITECH METAL MASTER ,TWEEK TO YOUR LIKING U CAN GET INSANE CRUNCHY FAT TONE ESPECIALLY WHEN PALMUTING

[@jmangi6221]

Ive got a metal ace, hehe, I never use it.🤘🤘😉

[@JuanPerez-ru5qt]

I use a boss od20. Its ok.

[@minkorrh]

I was around 14-15 when they came out. Buy one then 'OMG YES!!!' Now? No. There are plenty of better options for cheaper that can do this and much more. Like compare $300 CDN in 1985 to $150 now. It's like paying $1K now. If you're a collector it's a different story...............

[@LawrenceGoodspeed]

Third stage was recorded on a busted rockman

[@MarkTurner-vs7uc]

They are awesome. The real ines. The new ones are horrible . Nothing like it.

[@buzzcrushtrendkill]

I bought the new one from Dunlop. Absolute garbage. I did throw it away. Any modern headphone amp is far superior.

[@MrTMC70]

His name isn't Scholtz, dude...

[@jimmcdougall9973]

I hate to be the one to say this, but I think your unit is broken. It’s not producing anywhere near the lush chorus sounds and distinctive Tom Scholz distortion. Something’s wrong with it 😢

[@Scoaster86]

I don't think there is anything wrong with his device. It just doesn't give that wide chorus sound that you expect because he recorded it in mono (which I agree, with a Rockman, you shouldn't do, since the chorus being in stereo, is a big part of the sound imo). But yeah, if you record a Rockman in mono, this is what it sounds like.

[@jimmcdougall9973]

@@Scoaster86 makes sense.

[@GreatPlanet-c7o]

Kinda sounds like garbage by modern standards. Most modeling solutions will sound better.

[@thomasstahley7795]

I had the Bass one Total junk

[@robertprady885]

Scholtz played the same solo in ever song on every Boston album. Just buy a guitar processor. Pedals are passe

[@jeffhodge7272]

Umm.No.He didn't.

[@bobthebrickbuilder1876]

I'll stop the video at the very beginning and say, NO, do not buy this if you think it's going to be "useable" or sound "good". This device might have been cool in the 90s, when everything sucked ass, but nowadays, this thing is GARBAGE.

[@nunyabusiness6691]

I'll stop reading your comment after the second comma and totally disregard anything you have to say as it has no basis im reality

[@andypostema4269]

The problem is the damn Boss Katana. It's a fine amp for practicing in your room but it's a budget amp for a reason. Pair the rockman with a tube amp and it'll sound much better than this.

[@franklinking2576]

ADA DELAY RACK UNIT IS CLOSE IN SOUND 😂