Tom Sholz's Rockman?

[Punx]

One of the best guitar albums i've ever heard is Boston's debut album. Amazing production. Therefore i'm looking to buy a Rockman Sustainor. i've found a couple on ebay and various shops. however i don't have the slightest idea what a good price for one is. Also i noticed there are a few different modules. Specifically xp100 and Sustainor. I believe the Sustainor is the one i want but i'm not familiar enough with any of them. I would prefer the half rack model as opposed to the soloist walkman version. I also don't want to buy the Guitar Ace or whatever the new company is. Any light you guys can shed on the subject would be greatly appreciated

[doorknocker]

Originally posted by Punx:
One of the best guitar albums i've ever heard is Boston's debut album. Amazing production. Therefore i'm looking to buy a Rockman Sustainor.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Are you sure you're gonna sound like Boston afterwards? Remember that the whole chain (Player-Gear-Engineer-Mix etc) makes up the sound, although the player surely is the most important indigrent.... The Rockman was on of the first commercially produced direct boxes, there's been a lot happening in the meantime. What about the Tech 21 PSA-1 (just bought one on e-bay [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] ) or the POD? Although I never tried the Rockman nor listened much to Boston except 'More than a feeling` (surely a great song!) I'm sure that heavy compression, not just on guitar, is a key element in the Boston sound...and I also guess a Les Paul would be essential.......

Andi

[GORILLA]

HOLY COW!!!! They still make those Tom Sholz's walkman Rockmans? I had one about 15 years ago...I use to just clip it on my belt, plug in, put the head phones on and go CRAZY!!
Yeah, Amplitube>>> McDsp Compressor bank and a Les Paul should do the trick!! Or a wah at half pedal!!!!! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Ala Micheal Schenker-UFO-

[Punx]

I have a Les Paul (doesn't have the cool mighty mouse on it like his does though) and obvioulsy I have compressors, POD and all that other stuff, but I can't quite get what i'm looking for. I've messed around with Amplitube a bit and I get pretty close. So I figure if i tried all the alternatives might as well just go to the source.

[Homebelly]

The one to look for is the original ROCKMAN,,i think Sholtz sold it all to some one,,i'm not sure who,,and thats when all the variations came out,,the original was the bomb for that generic 80's sound,,it had a chourus and delay on it and was compressed to hell,,i went after one after reading that BILLY GIBBONS had used one on the ELIMINATER record,,it sounds cool as a DI and also if you run it through a power amp and out of a cab,,,i used mine so much it eventualy fell to pieces,,to the point that not even the magic GAFFA tape could save it,,but then the POD came along,,still it would be cool if LINE6 added a ROCKMAN model to its software,,

[jcoker]

Originally posted by uiop:

The one to look for is the original ROCKMAN

<
Ditto...if you can find the original in good shape, get it.

it sounds cool as a DI and also if you run it through a power amp and out of a cab,,,

<
Yep...I used mine live and in the studio. The distortion circuit was great for recording leads.

i used mine so much it eventualy fell to pieces,,

<
Yeah...mine did too. I tried fixing it but I ended up buying a better tube amp rig.

Bottomline...if I could find another original Rockman, in good shape, I would buy it in a hearbeat, and take better care of it [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Good luck!

[rfreeman]

The rack mount versions will give you all that the portables will and then some. I've used both extensively. The sustainor is a dual channel preamp with compression, noise gate and various levels of distortion. Part of the classic Boston sound is the chorus so you will need the chorus half rack as well. I have one in my rack but Im not home right now and cant recall the name of it. If you are interested in more info email me. I used one in a live setup successfully for years. The rack maount versions are also a little more roadworthy than the old portables (I wore out my portable too.) BUT I found after going to a POD just how noisy these thing are in the studio. With a good noise gate or some processing though its possible to get good recordings. Def Leppard also recorded the whole Hysteria album direct through Rockmans. In 1986 I paid just under $200 a piece for the half rack units. I will never part with mine just for nostalgic reasons. Later.

[Punx]

What's the difference between the distortion generatior and the sustainor?

[jcoker]

Originally posted by Punx:
What's the difference between the distortion generatior and the sustainor?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Not sure I'm answering this correctly because I never saw/used the Rockman rackmount, but the 'distortion' setting on the non-rackmount box was more of a 'crunch' distortion sound, great for rhtymn guitar progressions depending on the guitar. At the time I used an old tele, and it sounded great thru the Rockman distortion circuit. But...I also used the 'distortion' setting for most of my leads, again with my tele. As for the 'sustainor' setting, I used it occasionally for leads, but it was a bit too much distortion/sustain for my taste. But again, it depends on the guitar and of course personal taste. I will say this, I was familiar with Boston and that sound, when I bought the Rockman, but that was *not* the reason I bought it. When I plugged in and put it on the 'distortion' setting I had finally found a distortion circuit that sounded good to my ears. I've never heard a better one since. Again personal taste. I guess what I'm saying is, I think the engineering that went into making the original Rockman was pretty good and I think that a musician had a lot of input into its sound. I guess that would be Tom Shultz? And...bottomline...find a Rockman that you can play thru and let *your* ears be the judge [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Hope this helps.