Rockman items FOR SALE!!!

[Sunburst]

A big part of my love for Rockman gear is the lack of choices! I remember buying my first X100 as a freshman in college back in 1986 and being blown away by both the compression and the spacious stereo field! I used it for everything - guitar, bass, and vocals - recording into my Fostex X-15 4-track! Couldn't afford the modules back then and then analog was quickly replaced by digital. For the next couple decades, I tried just about everything from Marshall and Mesa Boogie amps (owned a Fender Twin Reverb back in high school, but unless you're Steve Howe or playing in a surf band...) with vintage MXR effects to the ART SGX-2000 and several Line 6 Pod products. I still have them all (and am a big fan of Mesa Boogie amps [especially, the Mark IV for guitar and 400+ head for bass!] and MXR, but spending hours tweaking on digital multi processors... uh... not so much!). But about five years ago, after getting my X100 refurbed by Dave at PSRR, I got the bug and started putting together a Sustainor setup. And then an XPR setup. And then backups. Before long, I was arguably the biggest buyer, seller, and trader of Rockman gear!

You either love or hate the Rockman sound (I would assume everyone on this site loves it!). Some of my non-Rockman tube amp purist friends are viscerally offended by the over the top compression! While I completely respect the tone you can get out of a Fender, Marshall, or Mesa Boogie amp, each has it's limitations. Fenders are great for cleans, jazz, or the blues - you have to love the reverb - but @#$% for hard rock or metal. Marshalls are workhorses that do everything OK but their cleans can't compare to a Fender while their distortions don't in my opinion rise to the level of a Mesa Boogie (a Marshall is like playing everything on EDGE with AUTO CLEAN on a Rockman!). And Mesa Boogies do everything well but are a tweaking nightmare, especially, if you are playing different styles of music. So why not have every note in the sweet spot? And that's what the Sustainor and XPR (with their magical modular friends!) do for me!

[RockmanCentralBob]

Point taken... I do suffer from decision paralysis sometimes with too many options.

But I do like the Kemper since I can set up a performance with a Fender Twin for cleans, a Marshall Plexi for crunch, a Mesa for heavy, and a Rockman for leads. (Or virtually any other combination you can think of). And they are all in the same box. It really is a game changer since the quality is for all practical purposes indistinguishable from the real units... just quieter.

Btw, try the Marshall JVM (or HJS) and tell me that's Edge! You can get some pretty high gain out of it!! In fact, many JVM owners mod their amps to REDUCE the gain, it's so much. The HJS incorporated those mods stock to bring it under control.

[Sunburst]

Interesting points. My one complaint about the Mesa Boogie Mark IV is that the Rhythm 2 channel, which is supposed to be the Crunch channel, doesn't measure up to the Rhythm 1 (Clean) or Lead (Distortion) channel. And it's not crunchy enough (not enough gain) to be used as the rhythm distortion channel. So you have to use the Lead channel for both crunch and theoretically use the Lead EQ for lead boost (assuming you weren't going to use external effects like an MXR Micro Amp). This issue was supposedly addressed on the Mark V (I believe they added a lead boost for the Lead if not all channels) but I digress...

I'll stick to my basic assertions on the comparisons between Fender, Marshall, and Mesa Boogie amps. There are exceptions, of course. Although I don't see myself ever playing primarily through a Fender amp. A Marshall would be the easiest way to go. Mesa Boogie is the best way to go. Unless, of course, you have an awesome setup of Rockman gear! Which I do by the way...

Picked up a MINTY Sustainor 200 and Stereo Chorus on my way home from work today. Even I don't know how I do it anymore. Just got done cleaning them. Now it's time to test them. ROCKMAN ON!!!

[Desdinova]

Well being that you opened the conversation about Kemper... I have a Helix and Glenn Delaune is getting ready to drop a Scholz inspired preset that's pretty spot on as well. I'm keeping my sustainer and eq, but for live... the Helix, especially using the right Impulse Response is about spot on.

The technology of the past year between AxFX, Kemper and Helix have been a serious game changer and this is kindof only the beginning.