MXR unleashes Rockman X100 pedal edition of Tom Scholz's celebrated signature Headphone Amp and Signal Processor from 1984

Famously Tom Scholz was the principal talent and main guitarist for the band Boston (More than a Feeling / Don’t Look Back / Long Time / Amanda etc.). He was an innovator for sure - and he created the Rockman brand to produce those devices he used in his own productions and live playback.

Core to his sound was his Power Soak Resistive Load Box - which resulted in a somewhat Mid-Rangey singing lead tone - which he further texturised with a chorus and echo - to deliver his signature sound - that can be heard on so many recordings, and not just his own. His signature sound is not a million miles away from Brian May’s, where Brian relied on his RangeMaster and Wireless system to generate much of his tone. Those two core tonalities are certainly adjacent to each other - while not exactly the same - but with very similar dynamics!

Tom’s first Rockman device was out in 1982, and there were several subsequent products with that name - including his 1984 X100 edition which became the mainstay of that era. While a wide variety of notable artists made use of that technology - including Steve Stevens (Flesh for Fantasy - 1983), Joe Satriani (Not of This Earth - 1986), and Def Lepard (Hysteria - 1987).

Jim Dunlop / MXR has ’bottled’ that sound in its X100 Rockman pedal - which is based on the 1984 X100 box featured in the above visual! Its topology is slightly different, and the pedal has no echo element - but the pedal is very much a practical facsimile of that celebrated device.

Controls - Gain Mode : Clean 2 / Clean 1 / Edge / Distortion, Volume (Master), Input Gain / Compression, Chorus : Off/On, Internal Mono > Stereo Output Switch (via TRS Cable), CTRL - Remote Gain Mode Switch - e.g. MXR Tap.

This is one of those instant 80’s pedals - and it sounds at its best with the Chorus on and the Input Gain fairly cranked - you’re instantly transported back to that era! It happens to be a sound I really love, and I will for sure be getting one of these in fairly pronto! A lot of players really love the Cleans generated by this device - while I will be using it more for those signature rockier / saturated tones!

The MXR Rockman X100 goes for $229 / £249, and is already at dealers and selling fast! You can read more about it on the MXR Website, and check out the Manual!