The Boston Marshall Rig, recreated

[darthoverdrive]

Thanks for the video, It was interesting to see another person’s quest for the sound. I had envisioned Tom using a combination of eq’s and homemade effects to get the ‘Boston sound’. That and some cool recording tricks. But like they say there is more than one way to skin a cat. I’ve tinkered with circuits in the past, mostly to bump up the mids and they come fairly close to the sounds of the first LP. But that’s the key word, close. The Rockman line lets you recreate the sound of the later albums but it was always the first LP that I liked the most.

BTW where can I get one of those Boston picks to make my playing a little less sucky? My ‘Pick Of Destiny’ isn’t performing as well as the movie led me to believe it would.

[eicca]

BTW where can I get one of those Boston picks to make my playing a little less sucky? My ‘Pick Of Destiny’ isn’t performing as well as the movie led me to believe it would.

Lol I got mine from Tom’s wife after one of the shows. Sadly I don’t think it works as well as I convinced myself it does

[RockmanCentralBob]

The Rockman line lets you recreate the sound of the later albums but it was always the first LP that I liked the most.

This is a common misconception.

I think a bigger reason the later albums with the Rockman sound different is more due to changes he made in mixing and EQ'ing.

I've got the MXR 6 Band EQ, a Marshall JVM HJS and a Torpedo Live, and by the time I'm done EQ'ing and processing it, it sounds like my Rev 20 Sustainor. It's very, very close.

So I firmly believe that you can get the first 2 albums sound out of a Sustainor if you work at it. At the end of the day, it mostly comes down to pre and post EQ'ing, and then layering of tracks.

From there, it's more important how well (accurately) you can play the parts as to how close it will sound to the record.

[eicca]

The Rockman line lets you recreate the sound of the later albums but it was always the first LP that I liked the most.

This is a common misconception.

I think a bigger reason the later albums with the Rockman sound different is more due to changes he made in mixing and EQ'ing.

I've got the MXR 6 Band EQ, a Marshall JVM HJS and a Torpedo Live, and by the time I'm done EQ'ing and processing it, it sounds like my Rev 20 Sustainor. It's very, very close.

So I firmly believe that you can get the first 2 albums sound out of a Sustainor if you work at it. At the end of the day, it mostly comes down to pre and post EQ'ing, and then layering of tracks.

From there, it's more important how well (accurately) you can play the parts as to how close it will sound to the record.

This is very true. Tom mentioned that he pulled out the Marshall rig for a few tracks of Life, Love and Hope. It's hard to tell which ones unless you listen real close.

[RockmanCentralBob]

And by the way, I think the current lineup sounds 1,000 times better than ANY former incarnation of the band. And I mean that from EVERY aspect... guitar tones, playing ability of the musicians (Tom included), and especially the backing vocals. I would even say that as far as HOW Tommy sings the songs (his cadence), he sounds closer to the record than Brad did on many songs. That said, Brad's vocal tone was unbelievable and unrivaled.

[Moonracer]

And by the way, I think the current lineup sounds 1,000 times better than ANY former incarnation of the band. And I mean that from EVERY aspect... guitar tones, playing ability of the musicians (Tom included), and especially the backing vocals. I would even say that as far as HOW Tommy sings the songs (his cadence), he sounds closer to the record than Brad did on many songs. That said, Brad's vocal tone was unbelievable and unrivaled.

I totally agree with you. I was at the Moncton show in 2015 ( which was not even planned on their tour but they played there anyway) and listening to the band playing "Peace of mind", I thought it sounded like the first album.