REVIEW MXR X100 ROCKMAN REISSUE, IN A GUITAR PEDAL: Does it Rock?

The original Rockman X100 captured the unique guitar tones Tom Scholz brought to the band called Boston. Riding on the wake of popularity caused by the Sony Walkman, the Rockman was a compact, battery powered appliance that could be used with an included set of headphones to provide a wide range of guitar tones. Using a mini TRS splitter cable you could get the headphone sound out of the Rockman and into your recordings, many artists used this technique to record hit tunes that did not sound like Boston, thus making the Rockman a real tool for the masses. Those plucky Dunlop engineers in their MXR lab have now reconstituted the Rockman tone and packed it into a stomp box the same size as an original Phase 90. I’ve had the new one in my hands for a couple of months, how did they do? Is it good?

click to enlarge

Today we're testing a new pedal from MXR, it's a remake of an all-in-one, guitar-amp processor, and headphone amp (think "Walkman" for guitar) invented and manufactured by Tom Scholz (of band Boston fame). It was marketed in the early 1980's to fund his life while fighting with his recording company. For my testing I used a customized, Gibson Les Paul Special with two Seymour Duncan (Slash) pickups. Tom Scholz famously played Les Paul guitars (as did I back in that era) so my Special seemed appropriate for this review.   

THE SOUND - Does it Rock?

Does the new Rockman X100 sound like the old ones? Yes and no. Yes, the classic “Edge” and “Dist” modes are here and they sound like the old one. I never spent a lot of time with the original Rockman in the clean modes so it is difficult for me to say if this clone nails the old one or not. The clean sounds in the new MXR Rockman X100 are nice but not totally inspiring by today’s standards. To get the best tone out of the new Rockman you need to use it with a “FRFR- full range, flat response” amplification system, or just plug the output directly into your DAW and record the “fully produced” rock guitar tone. Also intact is the preset, analog chorus sound, turn it on and you get the famous swirling tone of the original.

You’re going to want a bass guitar part to go along with the MXR Rockman tone because the high pass filtering is strong with this one. I was really surprised by how little bottom-end is left to the tone after Rockman processing. The compression is also dialed up to 11, no worries about any annoying peaks when you play through this pedal - all that compression is probably to blame for the high background noise many users are complaining about - to them I ask "ever play through a cranked Marshall stack with a compressor and distortion pedal?" - that set up also has a lot of background noise :-)

THE BUILD - The obvious things

The MXR Rockman can be used like a stomp box, you can plug in and out of it with standard guitar cords and use the foot switch to turn it on and off in your guitar signal path. A single red LED tells you if the pedal is engaged or not, plus it uses standard 9-volt DC power at 120 mA (it comes with a DC power adapter so it can be powered by a wall outlet).

I used the Levitate pedal for echo and reverb, click to enlarge

No reverb echo - The new X100 does not have any reverb-echo effect. On the original, the internal reverb sound was a series of short echoes spaced very close. While not a great reverb it added a dimension I missed on the new one, though it’s easily curable (by spending more money) with a reverb pedal placed after the X100. 

Not stereo out of the box - The original Rockman had a rich sounding chorus which danced around your head if you listened with the included stereo headphones. The MXR Rockman comes with mono output and chorus effect, but you can remove the back, flip the hidden switch and use a TRS splitter cable to get a stereo chorus effect out of the box. The bad news is, with it in the stereo mode, the output is compromised for mono and you get a volume difference when bypassing the pedal.  

No mechanical switches - The original Rockman had slide switches to set the crunch and clean modes. On the MXR version you switch between the four amp presets by pressing a little button to cycle through the presets, LEDs show you which preset you’re using. The chorus sound is also controlled with a little button that toggles chorus effect on and off. 

No headphone output - The original Rockman had two headphone output jacks, there are no headphone outputs on the MXR Rockman. 

Works on standard 9-volt DC power - connects using Roland spec: The original Rockman used eight AA batteries and they only lasted for a couple of hours. The MXR Rockman is outfitted with a standard DC power connector - no more AA batteries. It draws 120 mA according to the downloadable manual.

Includes AC power supply - The MXR Rockman comes packed with a cute little A.C. power supply to reduce battery waste on the planet.

Preset indicator lights stay ON when bypassed, click to enlarge

Lights on when bypassed - There are four LED on the new Rockman to indicate which of the four modes you’re in. There is another LED to indicate if Chorus is turned on or off.  These status indicator lights never turn off when the power is on and a guitar cord plug is inserted into the input. 

Sturdy enclosure - The original Scholz Rockman was built into a plastic enclosure which had a belt clip so you could actually wear it. The original featured innovative electronic construction with double circuit boards which folded together like a semi-conductor sandwich. The MXR Rockman is less than half the size of the original and is built into a cast aluminum enclosure which looks to be the same size as a classic MXR Phase 90 from the 1970’s.

Chorus sound — very fat sound for chorus aficionados, but only two settings, ON and OFF. 

LIKES

• Small size stomp box
• Standard 9-volt power
• Metal enclosure
• Tone - nails classic Scholz Rockman distortion sounds
• Great tool for recording rock guitar (provided you like that flavor)

DISLIKES

• The premium price
• No manual in the box
• No Reverb
• No headphone output
• No stereo output jack(s)
• Switching to stereo is awkward
• Mono is compromised when set to stereo (awkward to switch back to mono)
• Background Noise - not worse than the original but just as bad
• Chorus is only on and off, no adjustments

EPILOGUE

I’m glad MXR made this pedal. The first Boston album was a game changer for me — I was already interested in recording but after learning what Scholz did to make that record I was on a burning mission to get my own Marshall stacks, multitrack tape decks and a solid basement studio where I could get on with recording my own songs. 

The MXR Rockman is expensive for what it is. I don’t know why they went with the internal switch for stereo because it’s awkward and dumb from a user standpoint. If Boss made this pedal it would have two output jacks, one for mono and a second for stereo. I don’t know why they did not give it Reverb - budget for that because you’re going to want some — maybe they thought this would help sell MXR Reverb pedals. I don’t like the tiny pushbuttons for selecting MODE and Chorus on-off either. Clearly the designers did not ask for my user input ;-) 

In spite of all its shortcomings the MXR Rockman X100 lives up to the original’s legacy and keeps the core “Boston” tone alive, totally intact and ready to grace lots of new recordings. 

Thanks for reading High on Technology, Good Music To You!

©2025 by Mark King, it’s not ok to copy or quote without written permission from the author.

Get out there and create something beautiful 8-)

ADDENDUM 1.0 - I bought my MXR Rockman from an independent music store in Nashville via Reverb dot com. $229 with free shipping.

ADDENDUM 2.0 - While not exactly the Rockman, the Line6 Pod Express is lower in price and in general has a lot of cool sounds, a headphone amp and reverb all included for only $179 with free shipping. Here is the Pod Express review on High on Technology.