Axe-Fx III users here's the tone match forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/rockman-tone-match.146198/

I had a Rockman, Hohner headless guitar and a good set of headphone while serving in the U.S. Navy in the late 80s. I shared an aircraft carrier with almost 6,000 other men, so these could easily fit in my locker and wouldn't wake everybody else up.

Def Leppard actually recorded their hysteria album with this

You can’t watch an 80’s movie without one of these in the soundtrack. The clean mode is pure Def Leppard hysteria.

This is by far to this day the best pedal for the 80s Glam, Hard Rock Ballads or Arena Rock sound. If you want your Guitar to sound like Europe, Def Leppard, Whitesnake 80s or ZZ Top Afterburner period this is the pedal/preamp.

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.

Tom was a genius and ahead of his time in designing gutiar preamps, just think how many years ago this was

Gonna hitch a ride Head for the other side Leave it all behind(!!) Never change my mind! Salute to my understanders.

Oh yes!! Thats just what we all played in the 80s! Tom Scholz is a Genius.... BOSTON had the most unique sound,opened the door to all the multi effects processors today!!! You should have done a video playing a Bunch of BOSTON's music/riffs! Thanks for the walk down memory lane

From what I've read on these it or a studio version was a standard part of most studios and was used on countless recordings, including records, commercials, pretty much everything during the 80's. I'm guessing we heard it more times than we could ever know.

I think it sounds great considering how hard it is to make cab simulation sounds right in analog domain.There is certain sonic signature in that unit that is very appealling.

This piece of gear was highly coveted back in the day for up and coming players like myself. There just wasn’t enough gear that was attainable but the Tom Scholz Gear was something you could buy to get the sound of something on an album. Great video Leon.

I used one of these in the studio in the early 80’s. It worked fine. I recently got a Yamaha THR10. What a great tool. Especially after running it through my laptop and setting the compressor and gate up.

Man this brings back some memories. Lots and lots of practicing on this when I was learning guitar back in the 80's. I used this with an MXR distortion pedal in front. At the time it was all you needed.

6:03 Now you’re breaking the chains!!! 💪

Brings back memory’s , used to sit on the floor in front of my cassette player ,had it plug into the rockman and practice. 😀

I have the X100 and Sustainor and I record and gig with them exclusively. They're definitely one-trick ponies but their place in history cannot be discounted. They really were a game changer when they first came out. A $10,000 stage stack sound in a sandwich-sized box was mind-blowing back then.

Ah!! hearing that beautiful Tom Sholtz "Rockman" stereo sound brings back that heart stopping feeling I got when I first plugged into one of those babies!! A truly beautiful part of rock history!!

The Boston's type of tone is a little bit more sophisticated than only a "Rockman" alone.

I bought one when I worked in a music store back in 1983. Cool tones, great to have practicing in hotel before gigs without having to lug practice amps around. Great memories. Thanks Leon,keep up the great work!

Ahhh...the ole Rockman. That one looks almost new, good score. Tom was definitely a bit different, I spent a few hours researching him one day...an odd bloke for sure, but man did Boston have some ahead of their time tones and studio magic. Not bad for a dude locked in the basement. His playing was pretty tasty too.

i dont know how i miss this video!!thank you Leon for sharing the preset and cabs,

Awesome demo of the Rockman man and great playing as well!

This was awesome! Every guitarist in our band back in the 80s had one of those things. Great for individual practice back at the motel rooms.

Megadeth used Rockman gear for Peace Sells. Also someone profiled the rockman on the Kemper RIg exhange.

Leon, you are the gift that keeps on giving. Thank you.

A great tour of the Rockman, Thanks!

"I woke up this morning and the sun was gone. Turned on some music to start my day..."

Dude i lived on the Rockman for my late 80's intro to garage bands, luv this video, brings back some great memories, so cool

God bless Jeff! Pretty cool! You know the older I get the more vintage gear I have! Thanks for sharing brother! Be Well! Happy New Year to All! May your blessings be many, May your wishes all come true, May you stay forever young!

Love that sound when you started playing Breaking the Chains!

What an awesome gift, to get from a fan. Been ** years , since I've heard one of those. I think it still sounds real good. Happy New Year, man.

Cool to hear the Rock Bottom riff.

Got one of these for Christmas. Loved it. Sure wish I had it today.

OMG - Nailed IT!!! excellent work sir!

Cool! I've had one for years. Bought it off my guitar teacher in the late 80's. Still fun to use every now and then. Great video!!

Beautiful lead licks, I wish I could play like that.👍🏾

Great playing! Thank you for sharing

Damn this thing does sounds Great ....... I can totally see this working fantastic in the mix ....Thank You for sharing mate \-/

I want to get one of these just to try to recreate the Def Leppard Hysteria tone.

Especially liked the Zakk Wylde coming through the Rockman! I had one of these, no idea what happened to it.

I had one one these back in the day. My dad liked it because I had headphones. Great for practicing. If you want that Boston sound they also made a distortion generator which is straight up Boston tone.

I love you man! Thanks for this one. I still have the original Rockman X100 and remember very well when it came out in 1987 :D The Distortion Generator was my go-to secret studio tool during the 90s, as a line driver, buffer, boost, direct recording, with tube amps, BBE and a rack of effects!

Great demo, Leon!

I’m obsessed with the original Rockman. And it sounded so much better being played through the 2nd guitar.

Sounds killer NICE Job!

Ran mine thru a Marshall 100w super lead 2 4 12 cabs broke down and bought the rack module same lamp thru a 2 12 ev pro lh cab my god the tones were off the charts sadly all that gear was stolen and never recovered i truely miss those days and gear but what a phenomenal time to have experienced that genre of music❤🎸 🎶

great demo, love the playing too

Great playing!

My word, this teleported me straight back to reform school, m'lord.

Very cool! Always wanted a Rockman, wish I had gotten one when they were easier to find. A metal zone and a chorus can get reasonably close to it, but it's still not quite the same. Thanks for the review!

I don't know how I missed this Vid. I had one. It was great really. Especially for that time period. It did one sound or two really really well. I especially liked the clean with the chorus. Just epic. 💟👍💟👍💟

very nice and cool sound!

I lucked into a fully functional XPR a couple of years ago. I'm always tempted to flip it, but then I play through it and change my mind.

Sounds great! 80’s!!!

I bought a Rockmount with a Rockman installed in the 90's. The power supply was replaced with a Tyco race track power supply, but the unit still works great!!

Scholz was making these sounds on Boston's first two albums in the 1970's. If you want to hear this tech in all its glory, listen to some Boston songs through a good pair of headphones. Foreplay/Long Time, Don't Look Back, and Cool The Engines are some of the best examples, in my opinion. But there are so many good ones. This sound really is timeless, rather than dated. But few, if any, other than Scholz have ever been able to incorporate it into their style.

Great Video Todd

Nice shredding at the end there….thanks…caught my hair on fire.

Great outro idea playing No More Tears with that chorus/distortion sound!

Considering this thing was made 35 years ago, it's amazing. Love the what if Boston covered Dokken and UFO. I'd read that Scholz also had two 24 track tape machines and since SMPTE didn't exist then, he printed snare drum to a track on both decks to line them up. Those who have worked with real tape know what a chore that is. Also read that Yngwie used a Rockman on the Alcatrazz album he played on.

Dude, finally someone who reviews guitar gear with old school riffs. Keep up the good work mate.

This is awesome. It might not be something to use for everything, but it still has some very usable and very characteristic sounds in it, that you probably won't get anywhere else.

Nice! I had a Rockman Soloist when I was a kid. Might still be floating around here somewhere LOL

Thanks for posting. So jealous !!

I've always wanted one!!! Tom Scholz rules!!!!!

I remember that tone.I had one back in the the 80s.Blast of the past nice!

What????? That little thing from the 80s sounds absolutely amazing. Way better than many multieffect pedals.

Breaking the Chains @ 6:00 Nice! Sounds wicked with the humbuckers.

This was my first guitar amp. My dad bought it in the late 80s and gave it to me in the late 90s. I used it with terrible headphones and it was kinda cool. It sounds way better the way you set it up.

Ive had several of them, they are very cool

I still have mine. Works great!

When I first started playing guitar around 1983/84 I desperately wanted a Rockman. The PRS sounds awesome through it.

Man I had one and miss it and wonder why they aren’t around today. They are awesome.

That’s it. I’m getting rid of my AX8 and getting a Rockman 😀

I had a Rockman XP100. I sure miss it. The cleans were amazing and the distortion was just plain awesome.

Hay mate new subscriber, the video you done on you`re soldano got me onto ya channel. ROCK ON.

This pedal sounds amazing!!! I was sold once I heard the Zakk Wylde riffs.

I had a rack-mount Rockman with a nice delay. The sound man loved it, no need to mic it, just run a line out. Wish I still had it.

I was hooked as soon as I heard Jeff Becks version of people get ready. That's the sound of my youth.

Sounds good!

I remembered these, but never played or heard one. It actually sounds really good, relatively speaking. I didn't expect it to sound like that at all. I assumed it would sound like a Peavey practice amp through headphones.

Dude starts playing Rock Bottom!!🤣🤣🤣 SCHENKER!!! You are great sir. Nice demo of a product.

Amazing how something so small was so influential. It sounds kinda crude by itself, but it is made to be placed in a mix. Once you put bass and drums under it, and keys around it, its like "Oh.... now I get it..."

I had one back in the 80's I thought it was fantastic.

Thanks for this video. I'm a session pedal steeler out of Nashville. I dug my ol' Tommy out of the box hooked it up and used it on an online dub. Holy Wow! Your right, we've come a long way in amp mods. But every once in a while it's fun to play though our toys from yesteryear.

WOW!!!! GREAT VIDEO!!!!!!! WHAT A THROW BACK!!!!!!! I still have the "Soloist" version of that with the black faceplate for the switches. My dad knew how bad I wanted a guitar/ learn guitar so he went and splurged and bought me a Magnum Les Paul copy,an old 60's West 2×12 amp and an old Fender Princeton Reverb amp. And bought me one of those "Soliist" versions. The heavy chorus that comes out that thing is like the heavy chorus Mick Mars from Motley Crue gets in the song "Home Sweet Home".

As a 40-year pro playing 7 nights a week in a top 40 rock band .. the best song I've ever had I had to rack mount version of that and I've used every effects u23 is tubes creamers every guitar amp and my favorite yeah my favorite is the rack-mountRockman...just plug it in and go and you're suddenly Def Leppard or Eddie Van Halen poor whitesnake it's the baddest animal in the world unbelievably awesome

Just about the entire hysteria album was recorded with one of those. I had one in the late 80s and used it a few times in the studio for rhythm tracks. Plug-in, tune-up, I'm ready.

A lot of guys were blending the Rockman rack modules with their main amps back then. I know Bruce Kulick and Paul Stanley did this on the Crazy Nights and Hot In The Shade tours (confirmed by Bruce himself).

I have an issue of Guitar World magazine with an article about how Hysteria was recorded and it was basically this Rockman and a Japanese strat copy with a Dimarzio Super Distortion played by both Steve Clark and Phil Collen, so the term "Def Leppard in a box" is spot on!!! Nice demo!!!

Scalloped Neck! .....Brave. I can't even imagine what would be like play one, Finger dancing without a floor . Good demo of sounds

Hey dude I have just bought the jhs rock box version off eBay , it was available here in 1985 -1989 and def leppard actually used it on the track hysteria, Sav actually played all the clean parts with it, as well as using a Rockman on other tracks . Your Rockman sounds rad . Keep rockin 🤘🏻🕶🤘🏻

I remember working in Lake Louise Alberta in 1990-2- walking around the staff residence halls around 3 in the morning playing my Gretsch and just wailing out with this head phone amp on.

I had one of those back in the 80's. Headphone jack was pretty finicky on mine, was still fun to play though.

I love that I came to this video, bc I heard George Lynch used this effect and he's playing Breaking the Chains for the demo. Thanks

I had one I think back in the day,damn,I want another one.

Badass in a little box!!!

I had one!!the mini headphone shorted out and I got the most awesome sound from it!! So I took it apart and wired a lead from the echo chip to the headphones. PERFECT 👌 Then I made a floor rack and I put the rock man in it 4 switches n stereo out!! Man the 80s. !!!!! Now I just have a AX8!!!

Instant Boston Tone. Amazing!