How Much Will You Pay for a Great Memory?
Hi folks. Sorry for the recent absence. I’ve been quite sick and while I am getting better, there is still room to improve. But lying around waiting to be able to breathe normally is boring so I decided to take a chance on a piece of new gear that is all about the mid 1970s.
I remember sitting with my Business Admin teacher in high school when the first Boston record came out. Even though the great teacher Dennis Melnyk had some years on me, he was a committed guitar player and we talked music outside of class a lot. We were both really blown away by the innovation, focused rock and the sound of that record. When I later saw the band live, they were really good, but it was definitely different. Decades later, i learned that most of the first record was done almost entirely by Tom Scholz with Brad Delp in to do the vocals and at the time of signing, the band wasn’t yet complete.
The sound was unique. I had never heard anything like it before. Circus and Creem magazine wrote about this genius named Tom Scholz whose day job was with Polaroid and who built this record in his basement. That sound by the second album became a rack device called the Rockman. Then there were belt packs delivering elements of the overall Rockman sound. Def Leppard used those tools on some of their records as did many others.
When MXR announced that they were bringing out a new Rockman, this time as a floor pedal, designed to be basically a full rig in a box with four Boston sounds, I signed up for one. As is so foolishly typical, the product was announced without a full roadmap for delivery and arrival took many months, but I have it in hand and by this time wondered if it woud be a four trick pony given how much I get out of old tube amps, racks of effects, the Quad Cortex or my Kemper. I still maintain an old Digitech 2120 (formerly 2112) because in its day it delivered more exactly like the record tones than any other preamp style device. So for the Boston rock sound, did I really need a Rockman X100.
I play for my own enjoyment only. No more gigs, no bands, just for fun, and as i have aged and attention been diverted, I can hear what I have lost in technique and skill. More wondering. Then I watched the amazing Pete Thorn nearly lose his shit recording his demo of the Rockman X100. Mr. Thorn is a wonderful musician but you can also see clearly when he is just working versus working and having a blast at the same time.
So I set the Rockman X100 to stereo output and plugged a Y connector into the box and then into two channels on a Clarett + 8Pre. The Y cable from Amazon didn’t work, of course, so i switched back to mono and had at it.
I couldn’t remember how to play any of the Boston songs, except for the main riff for Smokin’ and rather sucked at it to. So it goes.
Settings
The Rockman X100 has four defined rigs. They are labeled DIST, EDGE, CLN1 and CLN2 You select between them with a push button. As the Rockman X100 is a preamp box, it must be engaged to get sound out of it. You thus run it direct to an interface or a PA, or FRFR and NOT into a guitar amp. There is also a button to engage the Boston chorus sound. There are two sliders, one for output volume and one for input gain. That’s it, that’s all. No tap dancing or secret squirrel shit.
Usability
It could not be simpler. Anyone can use a Rockman X100 in minutes. The documentation may as well not exist. Plug it in and mess around with it. If you don’t get sounds that appeal in the first few minutes, you don’t want one.
Examples
I’m way off my game and heavily medicated so my playing is pretty terrible so the short example track is hardly decent. It is made of four sections, using the Chorus on all the time, the Volume slider at full and the input gain at about 60%. The sections are CLN2, CLN1, EDGE and DIST. The guitar used is my Parker Fly with the humbuckers and the bridge piezo active. I liked all the sounds that i got and they all sound like Boston. I was particularly impressed with CLN1 with the piezos active, it’s quite orchestral. Edge is good for single note runs or chords where you want the expected Boston mids treatment. DIST is full on rock and roll, brighter than EDGE and sounds like Scholz’s old Marshall amp. I did zero post processing in Logic, just bounced the recording right to MP3.
Wrapping Up
So is this little box worth the CAD MAP of $349.99? I’ve decided that for me it is. It gives me that now those nearly 50 year old sound sets at the push of a button. I love the music from that time and other than old blues, I play that kind of rock most of all. It’s a one and done little box that I can plug directly into my Headrush GO FRFR and be good to go. Given my propensity for complex setups and lots of Rube Goldberg contraptions, this approach is an anachronism for me and I like it a lot. Of course, if the device didn’t sound as I expected that would be irrelevant. But it does and for those who love those sounds, I recommend the pedal.
They are still a bit scarce. I got mine, as you would expect, purchased from The Arts Music Store. You can get your there too. Please do and support this awesome real guitar shop.
If you like what I do here for you, please become a supporter on Patreon. Your monthly contribution makes an enormous difference and helps me keep things going. To become a Patreon Patron, just click the link or the button below. Always feel comfortable to send in a question or to post a comment. I read them all and respond as appropriate. Thanks for your support of my work. I’m Ross Chevalier and I look forward to sharing with you again soon.
