X100 is the ultimate gig device

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eicca
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X100 is the ultimate gig device

Post by eicca »

I play rhythm/effect guitar for my friend's band, and granted we do mostly pop covers for parties and stuff, but I have yet to find a tone I can't reasonably imitate with some combination of the two clean channels, my humbucker coil splits, tone knobs and the chorus setting. It'll pull off a passable acoustic (metal or nylon string) guitar, a slap bass, blues/funk guitar, stratocaster tone, you name it. We played an Adele tribute show and the X100 is all I used. So incredibly well designed.

But yeah, the drive channels are you-get-what-you-get :D
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Ash517
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Re: X100 is the ultimate gig device

Post by Ash517 »

eicca wrote:I play rhythm/effect guitar for my friend's band, and granted we do mostly pop covers for parties and stuff, but I have yet to find a tone I can't reasonably imitate with some combination of the two clean channels, my humbucker coil splits, tone knobs and the chorus setting. It'll pull off a passable acoustic (metal or nylon string) guitar, a slap bass, blues/funk guitar, stratocaster tone, you name it. We played an Adele tribute show and the X100 is all I used. So incredibly well designed.

But yeah, the drive channels are you-get-what-you-get :D
Reasons like these are why Dunlop needs to get working on a reissue X100. I imagine something like the Sansamp para-driver format would work incredibly well for this.
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RockmanCentralBob
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Re: X100 is the ultimate gig device

Post by RockmanCentralBob »

Dunlop already developed a killer X100 reissue at least 10 or 15 years ago, but shelved it because it was going to be too expensive. I talked to Bob Cedro (who designed the reissue) about it back then and he said it sounded pretty amazing.
Ash517
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Re: X100 is the ultimate gig device

Post by Ash517 »

RockmanCentralBob wrote:Dunlop already developed a killer X100 reissue at least 10 or 15 years ago, but shelved it because it was going to be too expensive. I talked to Bob Cedro (who designed the reissue) about it back then and he said it sounded pretty amazing.
I’m not sure if this makes me happy or sad. You’d think they have the budget to take the risk, they own MXR and Crybaby for God’s sake. Sorry, I’m getting all worked up :?
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eicca
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Re: X100 is the ultimate gig device

Post by eicca »

Yeah that’s the biggest disappointment I’ve ever heard... Maybe I don’t know what’s involved in manufacturing electronics, but it seems to me like building something (mostly) identical to the original X100 wouldn’t be very expensive nowadays. It looks simple (to me). :?
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RockmanCentralBob
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Re: X100 is the ultimate gig device

Post by RockmanCentralBob »

You misunderstand... they shelved it because their marketing research showed that they wouldn't sell enough units at the price point that they'd have to sell it to cover manufacturing costs + profit to make it worth it.

In other words, the price was going to be too expensive so they wouldn't sell enough of them to make it worth doing. There just wasn't enough demand at that price point given the competition at the time (I think the POD had just come out if I recall).
eicca
Posts: 97
Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2017 1:26 am

Re: X100 is the ultimate gig device

Post by eicca »

RockmanCentralBob wrote:You misunderstand... they shelved it because their marketing research showed that they wouldn't sell enough units at the price point that they'd have to sell it to cover manufacturing costs + profit to make it worth it.

In other words, the price was going to be too expensive so they wouldn't sell enough of them to make it worth doing. There just wasn't enough demand at that price point given the competition at the time (I think the POD had just come out if I recall).


That makes a lot more sense. I doubt if it would do any better today with Kemper, BIAS, AXE, etc.
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Ash517
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Re: X100 is the ultimate gig device

Post by Ash517 »

eicca wrote: That makes a lot more sense. I doubt if it would do any better today with Kemper, BIAS, AXE, etc.
True. I guess the marketing would rely on 80s nostalgia more than anything.
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JohnCT
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Re: X100 is the ultimate gig device

Post by JohnCT »

eicca wrote:Yeah that’s the biggest disappointment I’ve ever heard... Maybe I don’t know what’s involved in manufacturing electronics, but it seems to me like building something (mostly) identical to the original X100 wouldn’t be very expensive nowadays. It looks simple (to me). :?
My understanding of the Rockman X100 is that it's basically a compressor (easy), reverb (easy), EQ (easy), distortion (easy), and featured a specific response curve which mimics the mic'd response of a Marshall cabinet. That the cab simulation was done with all analogue processing is quite a feat. I think the Rockman can be redesigned to mimic the original sound using one or two ICs. Digital processing can simplify the original circuits dramatically and actually get the response curve far closer to the curve the original designers were shooting for.

I'm not a software writer, but I'd bet the entire feature and sound package can be written in software for a computer.

What I don't know is that there will be enough demand to justify the cost of engineering, building, and marketing a new digital Rockman. Perhaps if it featured more non-Rockman sounds as user options in addition to the traditional sound may make it more marketable.

Thoughts?

John
eicca
Posts: 97
Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2017 1:26 am

Re: X100 is the ultimate gig device

Post by eicca »

JohnCT wrote:
eicca wrote:Yeah that’s the biggest disappointment I’ve ever heard... Maybe I don’t know what’s involved in manufacturing electronics, but it seems to me like building something (mostly) identical to the original X100 wouldn’t be very expensive nowadays. It looks simple (to me). :?
My understanding of the Rockman X100 is that it's basically a compressor (easy), reverb (easy), EQ (easy), distortion (easy), and featured a specific response curve which mimics the mic'd response of a Marshall cabinet. That the cab simulation was done with all analogue processing is quite a feat. I think the Rockman can be redesigned to mimic the original sound using one or two ICs. Digital processing can simplify the original circuits dramatically and actually get the response curve far closer to the curve the original designers were shooting for.

I'm not a software writer, but I'd bet the entire feature and sound package can be written in software for a computer.

What I don't know is that there will be enough demand to justify the cost of engineering, building, and marketing a new digital Rockman. Perhaps if it featured more non-Rockman sounds as user options in addition to the traditional sound may make it more marketable.

Thoughts?

John
Yeah that’s where I imagine development cost would be prohibitive, and I assume just releasing a clone of the original would be the easiest. The parts look inexpensive, and the PCB is not the most complex I’ve ever seen.


Again, I don’t profess to know much.
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