Boston Is Back: Tom Scholz Talks Tone

[rbc]

Guitar Player interviewed Tom Scholz. He had his Rockman shirt on for the picture:

http://www.guitarplayer.com/artists/101 ... tone/47811

He made some brief remarks about his Marshall, Rockman and Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier rigs.

[Dale]

Took the tip and listened to "Tend my Garden"....can definitely hear the influence that the James Gang had on him. Especially the organ rhythm for the C.A. song [s]Turn it Off[/s] "Someone".

[Guitarvamp]

Nice article. About Tom's 3 rigs.... the first is the Marshall, compressor, EQs, etc to replicate the Rockman sound. Why? Does this setupdo something the Rockmans don't? The second rig is the Rockmans. No explaining needed. The third rig is a Mesa/Boogie. I'm intrigued why he would choose something like that, sounding so different than the other recognized Boston tones, how he might EQ (or not EQ) this setup, and how it is used in conjunction with the other rigs/setups/instruments/tracks.

[RockmanCentralBob]

The Rockman was designed to emulate his Marshall setup, not the other way around.

[Guitarvamp]

The Rockman was designed to emulate his Marshall setup, not the other way around.

That's my question - why use the Marshall rig when the Rockman already does that job (and much more reliably, I think)? And why use both, since they both would sound about the same?

[iZheil9152]

In the interview he said he got the organ pitch bend by manipulating the tape, but every time I see them live he uses a pitch wheel to do the effect. Being interested in organs, I would like to know how he modded his to add a pitch control. Is he slowing/speeding up the tone generator?

[RockmanCentralBob]

The Rockman was designed to emulate his Marshall setup, not the other way around.

That's my question - why use the Marshall rig when the Rockman already does that job (and much more reliably, I think)? And why use both, since they both would sound about the same?

From what he's said, he will sometimes record a part with his Marshall rig and also with his Rockman rig, and most of the time he keeps the Rockman track.

He might just use it to satisfy those that want him to go back to the Marshall rig, and also to satisfy himself that no one can really tell the difference.

I don't know about now, but on the 1st 2 albums, the Marshall sound was much rawer and thinner than the Rockman sound. He had to double track the rhythms to get the thickness he gets from a single Rockman track.

The Rev 20 shifts the frequencies to the higher end to more closely mimic how a Marshall will distort, providing a more raw sound than a normal Sustainor, while still maintaining some of that thickness that simulates the layering.