I worked for a company that sold to music stores. And somehow. My boss got contract. With Tom sholz to sell to. Music stores. I got the first demo. I sat put on headphones. Couldn’t believe it . I felt like I was in the future !There was 7 sales people. We each sold over 1,500 of them for the Christmas rush to stores ( we were commissioned sales. ). We were celebrating. We were rich. !!!Then the box came in. November. . It Had 6. Of them. That’s it !tom was making them himself. He was not prepared. To make thousands we kept looking In the box in case we missed one. . It took “a long time “ before. He was able to make a lot of them. Seemed like over a year. Or two a few here and there would roll in But at least I had the very first one .
Yes he actually was. By himself .And those 6 went to owners girlfriend that sold. We were all bummed. I couldn’t say a word because I got the demo. ( and he let me keep it. And he was not a type person to give away stuff. . I kept my mouth shut. I thought if I complained. The owner would say. Ok big mouth Sell you’re demo ! And there was nothing anyone could do . I don’t think Tom was prepared for the sales. He had to hire help ,and them teach Them etc to his standards which was extremely high. That’s why they still work. If they were not banged up .
I still have my Rockman X-100, rack mount Sustainor & Chorus Delay, and Bass Rockman, the only guitar amps I use in my recording studio. During Boston's 1987 Third Stage Tour, I found out where the band was staying, we decided to go there for Brunch on Sunday. I felt so silly, but I took the face plate off my Sustainor and brought it with me. In the restaurant lobby I met and talked with Boston drummer Jim Masdea, and showed Jim the Rockman face plate, he laughed and said... "Oh wow, Tom would love that, that's his fun!" Then we walked out back where all the condo's were, we didn't go far, we didn't see anybody out there. We were just about to turn & leave, and in the distance I see a tall thin man with long dark hair walking with a little boy. I teased my girlfriend saying that's Tom Scholz, she hit me, stop teasing me that can't be him. We got a little closer, me still talking her into that it is Tom, her hitting me more but starting to believe me that it was Tom even though I knew it wasn't. Then as they were slowly walking toward us, nobody else around, my God it actually was Tom Scholz. Longer story shorter we talked a bit,i I thanked him for his music saying we were big fans, he was polite but reserved saying thank you. As I turned to leave, I almost forgot, and said... "Oh, and Tom, I'm not just a fan, I'm a customer also. He looked confused like what? Then I pulled out my Rockman face plate, and he got this huge smile and started laughing. We talked for a while, and I got my picture with him, still with his huge smile on from the crazy Boston fan who decided to bring his Rockman face plate with him, in the rare chance he might meet him, and meet him I did. I still have that awesome picture of me & Tom in my recording studio. Rockman still lives! All 3 of mine still work & sound like new.
I remember my friend having a Rockman in the 80's. He played a Gibson Les Paul Custom Heritage Cherry Sunburst with flip out speed winder tuners that he ordered in the 80's for $1200 LOL. That Rockman sounds awesome.
Nostalgia activated! I had a Rockman x100 in the late 80's and stupidly sold it at some point 🤦♂ I used to sit with my headphones on playing the clean part of Hysteria for hours on end. These days I have to make do with the Satriani add-on for AmpliTube that has a Rockman emulator. Awesome video Marty!
Man...love Boston and always have such respect for inventors like EVH and Tom Scholz. Being an Electrical Engineer myself it was so cool that he was an EE as well and made this gear. I have a Power Soak and for previous set-ups it came in handy to be able to play at a reasonable volume without losing all the tone. Cool gear Marty!!!
You're welcome! I have so much respect for you guys that understand all this electrical stuff. It makes absolutely no sense to me lol! I would love to have a power soak.
If you are a fan of ZZ top or Def Leppard you should love this equipment. The ZZ top sound was a modified Rockman that eliminated the "Chorus" feature. This sounded amazing thru my studio monitors. The delay had incredible stereo seperation. AND I think that this was possibly the first system that would easily do a wet/dry/wet sound. Those pickups sound amazing in that guitar! Do you have a link on where to get them so an average joe like me could get some? Just kidding. Thanks for the upload. Appreciate all you do.
It is always good to try those vintage tools that made history. Sholz was an inventor and a visionary who inspired many musicians around the world. Great video, Marty!
Wow! Great stuff, Marty! I remembering being with a couple of my cousins up in Delaware on a road trip - not long after Third Stage came out, and I could NOT wait to get my hands on the cassette tape. I had only heard maybe one or two songs. My Mom and Dad gave me $20 or $30 bucks, and one of my cousins ran me up to the Mall where we were all visiting. I grabbed it, along with another tape (I think it was KISS - Asylum... also awesome), and holy crap!! Boston absolutely blew me away. What a sound in 1985. We BLASTED that thing in Billy's 82 (ish) Montecarlo! Black with Tee-Tops. We thought we were so cool ! Hahaha.
Fantastic video! I have been playing thru a Rockman XP100 for over 30 years and when it comes to big sound, I haven’t found anything that beats it. Sholz was a genius!
Bitchen Marty. Sounds like Tom Shultz too. Great effects and it looks so easy to use. I’m keeping my eyes open for one or both of them. Plus as usual, your playing is awesome. Hysteria is my favorite album by Def Leppard. Thanks dude for the demonstration.
Thanks for the video. The Rockman has an awesome sound that so many people used back in the day. I’m looking forward to some more Rockman videos in the future.
I had the Distortion Generator years ago and sold it. Not quite my biggest mistake ever, but a close second or third. :) Correcting mistakes of the past are so costly these days! But I'm on the lookout for a deal. Anyways. a fantastic demo, friend! I love your demos and delivery! All the best to you! Don't change a thing!!! :)
I have the echo unit , had it for years now and out of all the echo/delays I have ever used it's by far the best. It's not very pedalboard friendly but It is simply amazing!
I have the Rockman XP100 Stereo amp. My buddy got it new as a b-day present in the 80’s. Last year he gave it to me. I had no idea they were made in such low numbers and are fetching around $2K per unit nowadays. I love that thing so much fun to play with.
I used to have one of those soloists…it sounded exactly like Boston…I have no idea where it went…wish I still had it…great stuff Marty…btw…I miss radio shack…they saved my ass many times 👍
Funny with all the digital modeling available, none can recreate that exact sound/tone which is the exact sound/tone used for that classic Boston tone and more. It’s instantaneously immediately there with the two SRD products.
I always loved the multi guitar sound of Boston. I just picked up a boss ps6 harmonist pedal, not just to get Boston tones, but also for some Van Hagar stuff. Great video as always!!
This is so cool….I still have my Sustainor,Chorus,and Stereo Echo..Very cool devices…The Sustainor was actually the first Modeler..it was the first unit to mimic a mic’ed up guitar sound in the studio…and it was all analog,even the cab sim..Those things had to be expensive to make,as they were not cheap back in the 80’s…The echo was $225 or so back in 88,which was a lot of money back then……I run my modules thru my AxeFXIII and it’s instant Def Leppard..Great video..Thanks for showing off your Rockman stuff!!!
@@Ranch5150SkinWalker The Rockman chorus I have is literally the best sounding chorus I have ever used….Tom made some really great stuff…All the Rockman gear was so far ahead of it’s time…
I bought myself a Rockman at the end of 2001. I loved the sound, but I was no fan of how impossible it would’ve been to integrate it into a standard rig. It also helped me to figure out that what I was looking for was not the Boston tone from *Third Stage* and afterward or the *Boston* debut (though I always love hearing both); the “sweet spot” is *Don’t Look Back.* I was toying with the Goat Generator, a stompbox from a Japanese builder called Rancher. Loved the sound, but the white noise I got when I lowered my guitar volume was annoying. Then, in February 2024, I purchased a Boss GX-100 and almost instantly patched in that distortion tone. The stereo echo sounds excellent. What would make it complete would be if To, had included a pair of expression pedal in’s on the back for controlling delay time and feedback. Then, somebody could’ve turned that beast into a hyperspace pedal.
I got my rockman X100 in either 1991 or 92, it was the second model design that did away with the battery adapter and instead used 8 AA batteries, I did t see the back of yours Marty but on the back of mine there was a sm adjustment screw type thing that let you adjust the overall main gain setting, I never really changed that except to make sure it was on 11 lol, I used mine for about 5 yrs in my band, repaired it who knows how many times cause it got abused. But I loved it, now I want one again, I just looked on reverb and found one for 196.00 which is not bad I guess. Great video Marty 🤘
When you play that little bit of "We're Ready" it just blows my mind. That sound is amazing. A lot of memories come back. Thanks for the demo. I also like how you mix a little VH with your Boston. Thanks cool 😂😂
I love these effects, but never had the pleasure of playing through them myself. They should reissue all the units, update the cable connections and add a rechargeable battery to the Rockman and perhaps wireless connectivity. Someone would make a fortune. There’s nothing like a Rockman that I know of (except the Boss headphones). I’ll just be happy with the Rockman profile pack on my Kemper, from Big Hairy Profiles (Michael Nielsen). Great demo!
Dude, I just posted on social a couple days ago about how I miss Radio Shack… we’re not the only ones. Good stuff! Always been a huge Boston fan. Got to see them a few years back at the outdoor venue on the Biltmore Estate at sunset… man, that was great!
Man, immediately with the first chords I heard the opening of Third Stage’s Amanda. Thanks for getting the rig together and all the cords to make this Marty. 😅🙏☮️
I remember the first time my friend plugged his Les Paul into his Rockman. Mind blown...... I saved up and got myself a Bassman. Damn that thing chewed through batteries. Of course the AC adapter was separate...Scholz was a shrewd business man too. Still have the thing boxed up somewhere.
Cool, I used to have the headphone Rockman back in the day. I have no idea what happened to it. But, the TH-U RockGuy plugin from Overloud does a fantastic job of reproducing the Rockman sound.
IK Multimedia has a couple Rockman models in the Joe Satriani pack too, which are also very good (for digital emulations). I have the TH-U one too. Also regret trading in (in the late '90s) an original Rockman Distortion Generator I had bought when they 1st came out.
I've still have my hot-watt, the same kind of thing! Back in the day 70s-80s, I used it for effects running into my amp! I was poor at the time! Lol😅 thanks Marty
Dude!!!! you gave me inspiration to break out my rockman 1/2 racks and run it through my daws. I just realized when you were playing Amanda, I can get perfect tone for take it easy - Jackson brown. i did however get rid of my rockman and x100 both to girls that were taking lessons from me in the 90s, im sure you know how that goes. i still have the sustainor and the eq from my rockman1/2 racks, cant remember why i got rid of my echo. i was thinking of getting the rockman stuff for thu, not sure if its needed, but sure does bring back memories of my 80s day.
Hello Marty, This was really good 👍👍👍👍👍👍. I look forward to hearing about your next video on this set up. Sounded great. Stay safe and well and keep Rocking. Signed John (Zepbass) Gregory from Munster Indiana.
First time on your channel..nice tutorial.. great sound...also looks like a digitech 2120 hiding on the floor...i have one myself loll.from back in the day
Awesome demo Marty! IK Multimedia Amplitude 5 Max has the Boston 100/Rockman and the tones I am getting from it are freaking awesome and it nails all of Tom's incredible guitar tones.
Sounds great Marty. Mine is the lesser Soloist version. It came with the Rockadapter but I'm missing the weird +6, -6 volt power supply. Battery compartment looks brand new though. Doubt it's ever had a battery in it. Oh well, it was a freebie!
"Almost sounds like there's compression in there" 16:20 while playing one of the (greatest) and most compressed units to ever be manufactured :) Super funny
Excellent!!!! 😁🎸 Thanks a million for showing this. I want one! Yes, I miss Radio Shack too man. I just did a gig with this Echoplex Delay that I just got. Ran my EVH Striped Series Strat into EVH Wah, to Phase 90, to 5150 Overdrive, to Boss DS1 disengaged mostly, to Boss Super Chorus, to Echoplex to amp with a little reverb. U think I got the chain correct? 😁 I dial back the super chorus to sound a lot like VH 80s and 90s sound to my ears.
Great demo. It is so unfortunate that the current Rockman Guitar Ace being sold by Dunlop sounds nothing like the X100. I made the mistake of buying one.
You should see if you can find those two Jacks and replace them it's easy you know how to solder get some solder Wick or solder sucker and suck the solder out of the holes and put new ones in. some tuner cleaner and clean up all the pots and stuff it'll be like brand new🤔😐😁😀
Marty, what is the difference between the stereo echo and a digital delay and can you get the same affect out of the digital delay pedal is you’re getting out of that stereo echo? I have a Keasley reverb delay pedal.
The stereo echo is a delay. The main differences would be in the length of delay you can use and other things, for instance on the front panel of them rockman you can place the delay left or right and balance out the MS left and right. There are so many options out there. Some delay pedals have a 100 settings in it. The rockman has several that are very usable and sound great.
You Dickwadd! Incomplete demo: the Edge channel is best used while adjusting the guitar volume down and up, just like cleaning up the tone of a fuzz using the guitar volume!
I had the power soak attenuator running on my 72 super lead 100w marshall, it sounded pretty good I should have kept that rig, and the 78 with the master volume the, 2 full stacks were the setup for a hardcore band in the early 80s. It's all good I have 2 2204 full stacks and 2 carvin 100w full stacks mixed in with 4 solid state stacks pretty sonic.
he really lost me when he wanted to switch from echo and chorus all the time whilst switching the volume knob lmao! i just heard him being confused and didnt know why
if you listen carefully to the first Boston albums these units do not sound like what's on those records. when Scholz recorded those first two albums the Rockman was not invented yet. with Third Stage we started to hear more of the Rockman sounds
I'm not from Kentucky. I am from Indianapolis, In. I am sorry I couldn't tell you a club. I definitely want to meet and see you play. I really enjoy your videos. Please keep them coming. Could you play Triumph
I have alot of rockman stuff 2 sustainer, distort gen, eq, chorus echo, power soak. Rockman. mine is in better shape though. wish they sounded as good as those
Rockmans so cool! Part of it is nostalgia for me as well as my love of Boston. The other part they sound great! Amazing how this stuff has held up so well.
The rockman was designed to use headphones so I ran a stereo out cable split to mono left right into the quarter inch inputs left and right on the stereo echo. From there I went left and right out to my recording console. You could use a clean power amp head like a mosfet or hafler stereo head and run direct into that. I wouldn't recommend running to it a guitar amp. Since a guitar amp designed to sound like a guitar amp.
The Rockman is finally outdated. Call it "vintage" or whatever, but there's way better headphone amps these days that blow it away, such asthe Fender Mustang Micro plus which is smaller and way more versatile. I've wanted to relive the past by getting another Rockman, but I'm over it now. For one thing, why should I pay 2-3 times what I paid for it new, for a "vintage", worn electronic device that is near it's lifespan, when I can buy something new, with 100's of sounds, at a fraction of the price. Do the math.
That is so cool! Billy Gibbons used in Eliminator as well. Sound was amazing.Still is! Thanks for this great videos you direct and produce. We the people of rock love them..
