Rockman Combinator

[normen]

Hey,

I was looking into getting a "Rockman", the small headphone guitar preamp that was designed by Bostons Tom Scholz and basically was THE Boston guitar sound. It was also used by many artists in the 70s and 80s like ZZ Top and others. I owned one a long time ago but sold it, not knowing that I'd crave to have that sound again. So while I am still looking for one on eBay I also decided to have a whack at creating that sound in a Combinator.

Download it here

Screen Shot:


Quick Sound Demo:

(Chorus+Reverb / No FX / Chorus / Chorus+Reverb)

I guess its not a 100% accurate emulation, I did it from memory and with some of the info thats available online. The special sound is mainly coming from the EQ curve that Tom used to emulate the response of a cabinet. When I get my hands on a real one I might update the combinator to be an even closer emulation.

Have fun with it, any feedback is welcome.

Normen

[Rice]

Very cool and I think I can get some use out of it...thanks-a-bunch Norman!

[alex]

I didn't know the rockman, but your combi sounds great, polished and refined! Thank you for sharing!
Ciao

[normen]

Thanks guys, happy its useful to somebody.

[motuscott]

Had a guitarist friend/partner/enemy who use to regularly knock me off my drum stool with the feedback from a Rockman into some ridiculous solid state amp. My hammer, anvil, and stirrup will never forgive him. He's dead and burning in hell, where I suspect we'll recreate that scenario for all time when I join him there.
ta, Normen

[grumo]

Nice one! My ears aren't precisely golden, but that «More than a feeling» riff sounds pretty spot-on to me, thanks for sharing!

[Yonatan]

I like what I hear! Thanks for sharing the work.

[bpmorton]

what version of Reason was this made in? I have a problem with my version of Reason seeing some of the combinators that I've downloaded from here. I'm running version 8.3

[normen]

what version of Reason was this made in? I have a problem with my version of Reason seeing some of the combinators that I've downloaded from here. I'm running version 8.3

It was made in 8.3, no idea what your issue might be.

Edit: Do you mean Reason doesn't open when you double-click the .cmb file? What happens when you open it from Reason? (Make a combinator and press its "load" button, then navigate to the file)

[bpmorton]

it must be a problem with my computer. I have a bunch of downloaded combi's in a folder but only some of them show up in Reason's browser. If I double click on the combi in the folder it opens in Reason and it then shows up in the browser. If I click on another combi in that folder it shows up in the browser but then the last combi I opened up disappears from the browser.

[Namahs Amrak]

Thanks Normen, we need more guitar combinators. I'm looking forward to giving this a bash soon (I quickly put a few MIDI notes in and applied your patch, sounds great).

And FYI it seems to work OK in 7.1. All devices are FSB stock (ie no different to 8.3)

[Yonatan]

Great one! Thanks!

[Ostermilk]

Oh yeah!

Now that combi Normen is a thing of beauty. and pure joy.

I have to leave now as I have to practise some new contorted faces to go with the sustained feedback...

Yup, I think I'll run with this one.

[pedrocaetanos]

Thank you Normen
Superb!

[normen]

I just got an original Rockman X100(!) for 100€ on eBay - the guy sold some stuff out of a bankruptcy and apparently didn't know what he had there. Thats the price of the current Rockman which is a far cry from its old counterparts. The X100 is one of the most sought after Rockmans (Rockmen?) and apparently the one that Tom himself still uses for practicing. It had a more of a distortion than overdrive sound based on LED distortion. When it arrives I might update the combinator (or make another one) based on the original device.

[anko]

just noticed this thread because of last bump. downloaded. thanks!

[anko]

@Ostermilk ... You know they say guitar solo face is the same as your sex face?

[pedrocaetanos]

I just got an original Rockman X100(!) for 100€ on eBay - the guy sold some stuff out of a bankruptcy and apparently didn't know what he had there. Thats the price of the current Rockman which is a far cry from its old counterparts. The X100 is one of the most sought after Rockmans (Rockmen?) and apparently the one that Tom himself still uses for practicing. It had a more of a distortion than overdrive sound based on LED distortion. When it arrives I might update the combinator (or make another one) based on the original device.

Great idea!

[Trefor]

Sounds just like a real one Normen.

[Benedict]

Thanks Normen