Your Opinion

[REO Speedweasel]

I'm not real hot on the tone of my recent attempt (think there's too much chorusing going on)...

Alright, so I did get all my Rockmodules eventually (a DG, SC, SE, Sus 100) with the except of the Octopus which should be here today.

Over the weekend I futzed with them all trying different sounds (I also have 2x15band & 2x31band rackmount EQs to futz with) and my consensus was:

The Sustainor's (100) clean kicked ass (but I knew this)
The Sustainor and Dist Gen's distortion are just "meh" at best (hello, solid state)
The Stereo Echo and Stereo Chorus are prolly 2 of the best analog units to come out of the 80's

So with that wrapped up... I thought to myself, "well if I want to sound like the Third Stage album that's easy - use the Sus or DG with Auto Clean etc" (here's the actual clip I made in stereo: http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=12829144)

"but I'm looking at 1st album tone..."

So, went back to my slaved tube amp rig. Combined with the Stereo Chorus (no echo this time) and I came up this:

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=12832700

So what do you think? I think it has too much chorus.

Also does anyone have the full, accurate guitar tab for Peace of Mind? I know Guitar mag back in '87 (IIRC) tabbed it out

[Guitarvamp]

The Sustainor and Dist Gen's distortion are just "meh" at best (hello, solid state)

Compared to what? A 5150? A Krank or a Diezel? Maybe Rockmans don't have all the oomph that a Pantera album has... oh, wait. That was solid state. Cannibal Corpse and Death both used solid state heads. George Lynch not only invented a solid state head for Randall, but also used Rockmans. There's nothing wrong with solid state.

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=12832700

So what do you think? I think it has too much chorus.

Less distortion, more compression, and more layers. Layer layer layer.
The problem with tube amps and how most people use them, is that they are getting mainly preamp distortion (12ax7).

That's only a third of the character.

You also need to drive the power tubes and speakers. That takes volume. Lots of it.

Along with that comes a natural compression.

Jark really covers this and all the details on his web page: http://www.rockman.fr/Products/Concept.htm

[REO Speedweasel]

Compared to what? A 5150? A Krank or a Diezel? Maybe Rockmans don't have all the oomph that a Pantera album has... oh, wait. That was solid state. Cannibal Corpse and Death both used solid state heads. George Lynch not only invented a solid state head for Randall, but also used Rockmans. There's nothing wrong with solid state.

In my 30+ years of playing, I have yet to meet a SS distorted tone I dug. But if I had no tube amps to pick from, the Rockman would probably be the one I would pick.

Less distortion, more compression, and more layers. Layer layer layer.
The problem with tube amps and how most people use them, is that they are getting mainly preamp distortion (12ax7).

That's only a third of the character.

You also need to drive the power tubes and speakers. That takes volume. Lots of it.

Along with that comes a natural compression.

The amp here is running a slaved configuration... basically an almost-cranked JTM45 (which I've modded)... going into a '67 Fender Deluxe.

The JTM45 I bought used and put a PTP board in it with all mid-60s correct component values, NOS tubes, Mercury Mags OT, etc... back in 2003. Then last year I decided to do a little more tweaking, changed the NFB tap and value, changed the tone stack and wired it up for EL34s (using 6CA7s currently). I also purchased a variac and biased the amp at ~40mA running at 100V. It's more of a JTM50 mutt now. No master volume BS here!

The basic signal chain:

Guitar
|
Badgerplex Trilogy (Echoplex preamp utilizing a TIS58 running at ~22v)
|
MXR 6-Band EQ (the "Scholz" settings)
|
modded JTM45 --> HotPlate (set to load)
|
Suhr ISO Line Out (takes amp spkr out and converts to line level)
|
MXR SmartGate
|
'67 Fender Deluxe

Mic'd with Shure SM57... into DAW. From there I ran the mic'd signal to the Rockman Stereo Chorus and Stereo Echo... and back in to the DAW (in stereo).

The one thing I didn't do was EQ in the DAW... but I don't think that's it.

===

Now, I know Scholz had a "doubler" of some sort way back when, and there is talk of him using the first Eventide Harmonizer (H910) on the 1st album.

(an internet search for this comes up with this example):

http://www.hugeracksinc.com/forum/viewt ... 20&start=0

The H910 was released in 1975.

Tom Scholz used a couple of H910's on the first Boston release, which contributed significantly to the "sound" on that album, combined with his engineering talent. He later in the 80's, designed his Rockman Chorus unit to incorporate some design aspects of the H910's micropitch shift capability, which is how he set them when he recorded that first album. The H910 was used on many many popular recordings from '75-'84, and was most commonly used at micropitch shift settings. The H910 is by far the "warmest" souding Harmonizer. The H910 combined with a Tri-Stereo Chorus/Leslie, is superbly PHAT and delicious. javascript:emoticon('8)')

The pre '82 MXR Stereo Chorus (AC powered yellow one) and the Rockman Chorus when set correctly are the closest sounding pedal/half rack to an Eventide H910 that is set to micropitch shifting. Both these units must be used at semi-pro line levels to acheive this. javascript:emoticon('')

So here I'm trying to do the Chorus, when it is possible that is the incorrect device to use. Interestingly, the very first electronic chorus didn't even come out until 1976:

Roland's Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble, released in 1976, is renowned as the 'Mother of Chorus'

So my best guess with the all data here is he did not use chorus on the 1st album. Probably a combination of Harmonizers and of course manual doubling. Back to the drawing board! I think this time I will record dry so I can futz with different settings, etc... One idea that comes to mind is turning off the modulation on the Stereo Chorus...