Anybody making a Rockman copy currently?

[vetteman]

Just watched Mayfly's repair video of a vintage Rockman and need/want one!  (That I don't have to repair!)  Is there anything out there that is equivalent to it short of a whole rack system?  Always loved that Boston guitar sound and would love to be able to poorly emulate it using little to no skill at actually playing guitar. 

 

[swarfrat]

I have one in the workshop. Can't remember if it's a soloist or an x100. I can go dig it out.

 

[mayfly]

Aaron was saying that he has a broken one...

 

[Rick]

I had it in a multi effects pedal it was 20 years ago and I can't remember if it was in the Yamaha or the zoom or the line 6 kidney bean unit. 

 

[mayfly]

Check out this site for more Rockman information:

https://www.rockman.fr/Reviews/Rockman.htm

 

[mayfly]

hey!  check out near the bottom of this page:

https://www.jimdunlop.com/products/electronics/dunlop-electronics/

No chorus or echo on those ones mind you...

 

[swarfrat]

One piece of vintage DIY gear I've always been curious about and still never heard is the Anderton Quadrafuzz. Actually with reamping being a thing now, you could actually do the quadrafuzz or an actual six string hex fuzz with real tube amps.

 

[ejm]

5-21-2021

Yeah, I'd love to find a Rockman now for a sane sober earthly price.
About 20 years ago I went to a garage sale.
I passed up two of them, with the power supplies, for $20 a piece. AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
At some point in the last few years prices have gone through the roof.
Strange, since it seems like every time you see the term "Rockman" it's somebody saying how much they hate the tone, or Boston, or both.

Go to Youtube and do a search.
I saw a video a while back of Joe Satriani, using a DAW or a plug in or something.
They were comparing it to a real Rockman.

Some guys claim that they can get close with a GEQ.
I have tried using a Boss GE-7 GEQ pedal.
I personally have not had much luck, and gave up.

Before prices went into the stratosphere, I got lucky and got a Rockman Stereo Chorus/Delay half rack.
I don't use the delay hardly at all.
But that stereo chorus.........with a little reverb, split hard to left and right, it sounds like you're playing in the Taj Mahal.
I suspect that one of the secrets is that one side is dry, and the other is wet. (You can set it for other mixes as well.)
The old Peavey amps with built in stereo chorus, many of them did the same thing.
So did the Roland JC120. One speaker is wet, one is dry.
But the other thing that the SC/D does is add a delay (30ms to 60ms) to part of the chorus as well.
I suspect that the Peavey/Roland amps do not (in fact, I'm almost sure that they don't).

If you REALLY want to go down the Rockman rabbit hole of doom...........

Search Youtube for Tom Scholz: Sound Machine (it's about 9 minutes long).
He does a pretty good demo of the HyperSpace pedal.
Then, do another Youtube for scholz rockman hyperspace or some combination thereof.
There are guys that have figured out how to do it with floor modelers like the Boss or Line 6 units.
If you can't get the settings from the video, then you can probably go to the manufacturer bulletin boards and get the info from there.

I believe that the Axe FX units also have a Rockman model in them.
I'd suspect that similar units like the Kemper can do it also.

 

[vetteman]

Thanks all for the suggestions!  Been messing around with my Zoom X3 equalizer, chorus and delay as well as running both channels of my Blues Cube and though I haven't gotten all that close to the Boston sound,  I am pretty content with what I have found.  Appreciate all the support as always!  :rock-on:

 

[Steve_Karl]

Thanks for the reminder - that I have an X100 in my closet - with an AC power adapter.
I did a lot of recordings with this way back.
One of the great things I discovered about it is that I can move the FX switch to just the right position and it gets in between the positions
to a place where the FX are all off.

I need to check it over and probably give it a couple of shots of Deoxit and it'll probably be as good as new.

Have a look for something called the Mockman.
I was looking into that a long time ago.



Ahhhh ... here's the Mockman schematic

http://www.runoffgroove.com/mm2.html

 

[ejm]

As I mentioned before, I've tried and not been successful imitating the Rockman sound/tone with a graphic EQ.
But recently, prowling the internet, I came across this and tried it.
IMO it got pretty close.
YMMV.
I used a Danelectro Fish & Chips 7 band. The frequency bands are probably what is the most important thing here, and the Boss GE-7 has the same bands and is more common.

What I have found is that by using a GEQ set to some bizarre settings, along with a few other effects that guitar players already have anyway, you can get pretty close. Most guitar players already have the compressor, distortion, chorus, echo and reverb. So this GEQ box is the missing piece. It gives you fine control over the radical EQ required, the missing piece, that most guitar amps do not.

The settings:
100    -2db
200    -2
400    +7
800    +15
1.6K    -2
3.2K    0
6.4K    +2

Where to put it in the chain:
I messed with it a little the other night.
Put the compressor first.
I'd recommend putting the chorus/echo/reverb last in the chain.
You can put the GEQ either before or after the distortion, your ears will tell you.
I have heard of some guys actually using a GEQ before AND after the distortion stage, but you're on your own there.

Power supply: This Dano F&C GEQ did NOT like using the battery in this application. There were a lot of intermittent transients and crackling and oscillations and etc etc etc.

Good luck, and post back if you actually try it.

 

[Steve_Karl]

Build a Mockman!

http://www.runoffgroove.com/mm2.html

 

[ejm]

With all due respect, I listened to the Runoffgroove Mockman sound samples.
To me they sound not close to the Rockman at all.
It could be the player, or the lack of effects on the samples, but I'd try the GEQ thing first.