rocktron

Rocktron News: ROCK NOTES

A great source of information on who uses Rocktron!These are past news items from 1996.
12/2/96

James Murphy, former guitar player for the hard rock group, Testament, has his Sound Temple
Studio profiled in the November issue of EQ Magazine. Check out page 18, wherein Murphy’s
studio in Oakland, California is highlighted. Also, take note that Murphy is using the RSP
Technologies Saturator in that studio. Bringing tube warmth to digital recording, the Saturator
continues to be the choice for legions of great players.

Page 68 of the December issue of Electronic Musician features a profile on jazz guitarist, Henry
Robinett. Seems that Robinett, with the help of engineer Christian Heilman, built a personal studio
in which they recorded Robinett’s newest release, When Fortresses Fall. And what was their
choice for noise reduction? Rocktron’s HUSH IICX. Good to see the HUSH IICX used in Robinett’s Blue Degrees Digital project studio!

December’s Guitar Shop magazine, page 27, details the live setup for John Shanks, currently on
tour and playing guitar for Melissa Etheridge in support of her Your Little Secret cd. Shanks also
worked in the studio during the making of Secret as a guitarist, co-arranger and co-writer. Thanks
John, for choosing Rocktron as an integral part of your setup. We see in the diagram our Intellifex
effects processor, the Rocktron Power Station, and the cool, cool blue All Access footcontroller.

Guitar Player’s Special 30th Anniversary Issue (January 1997) has just hit the stands. This issue
looks at guitar players, their styles, the music trends and the gear from 1967-1997. Rocktron is
proud to find the company listed in an article titled: “Ace Hardware: The Gear That Shaped The
Way We Play”. Art Thompson takes a look at “30 or so mileposts” from the past years as he
examines musical gear that had defining impact on the guitar player. Rocktron is indeed included,
as Art Thompson states that “Rocktron’s HUSH IIC, a two-channel device that offered more than
30dB of noise reduction at all signal levels and frequencies quickly became an essential element.”
Now called the HUSH IICX, this unit is still selling well at music stores around the world. Of
course, even a HUSH Pedal is now available. Thank you Art Thompson for citing the HUSH as an important part of guitar gear history, and thank you Guitar Player. Congratulations on your 30th
Anniversary, from a company that is preparing to celebrate its 15th!

11/3/96

Neil Zaza has completed his “Burning Down Your Town” Rocktron clinic tour. The Clinics were a big success, with lot’s
of positive feedback coming back from store personal and people who attended the clinics. Bravo Neil!!!

10/22/96

Two guitarists have been added to the list of Rocktron endorsers! Chris Hicks of Reba McEntire, and John Shanks of Melissa Etheridge.

Chris uses his Rocktron VooDu Valve preamp for all live performances with Reba and will be aquiring more Rocktron gear shortly!

Melissa’s tour stoped here in Detroit on Saturday, October 19th for a performance at the Palace of Auburn Hills. John called several days before to invite us to the show. Before the show, John showed me his rig which included the Rocktron Power Station and the Intellifex, which he mainly uses for reverb effects. John’s massive setup, consisting of several Amp heads and many cool effect boxes, is all controlled with his Rocktron All Access MIDI foot controller. Also, we hooked John up with the Rocktron VooDu Valve preamp which he intends to use for recording in his home studio! When not touring, John is an active song writer/studio session player and has many credits, including songs written and recorded for Bonnie Raitt, Joe Cocker and “The Last Action Hero” movie sound track. Look for a diagram of John’s touring rig in the upcoming December issue of Guitar Shop magazine!

We’ve been saying for years that Rocktron users include a wide spectrum of players and performers. From grunge to metal to country, the best artists choose Rocktron gear. Even the “Achy Breaky” man himself, Billy Ray Cyrus chose Rocktron for his project studio. According to the October ’96 issue of EQ Magazine, (page 29), Billy Ray’s outboard gear in his project studio in Kingston Springs, Tenessee, includes the Rocktron Intellifex. A great choice for live, and for studio use, the Intellifex continues to be a standard in the industry! Thanks, Billy Ray!

10/16/96

Vintage effects are the rage these days, and the combination of retro-style effects with ’90s
effects in the Rocktron Replifex is a big hit. Seems that one of the hottest new bands to
come along is using the Replifex, as verified by the December 1996 issue of Guitar
School magazine. Tim Mahoney of the band 311 has chosen the Replifex, (see page
142) for use in the band’s fx arsenal. Just another sign that the best artists use the best
gear with Rocktron.

10/11/96

Check out the current issue of Guitar (U.S. version) wherein they detail a great rack setup
belonging to Paul Crook of Anthrax. Citing Crook as “a rising guitarist in the New York area”, they
point to his performance on the new Anthrax release “Stomp 442”. And what is in Paul Crook’s
rack? How about a Rocktron Replifex, Rocktron Intellifex, Rocktron Patchmate and a Rocktron
Pro Q!!! Paul also uses the Rocktron All Access to control his entire rack! This guy has great taste.

The original members of Journey have regrouped and are planning a massive tour. Guitarist extrordinaire, Neil Schon, will be taking the stage accompanied by Rocktron All Access foot controllers and Patchmates to manage his
numerous switching needs.

10/4/96

According to GUITAR Magazine’s German edition 5/96 which just reached us at Rocktron, Slash is using 4 of the Marshall 2555 amps, along with 4 Nady 1200 wireless systems. This is a sure
means of creating incredible noise problems for the performer. But look closely at the diagram
showing his setup, and you will find the answer to the problem: Rocktron’s HUSH noise reduction.
We must say that Slash knows his noise reduction!!

9/6/96

Gary Hoey’s new CD titled “Bug Alley” will be released by Surf Dog Records on October 23. Gary tells us he used the Intellifex, the RSP Intelliverb, the Chameleon and the VooDu Valve during the recording sessions. “Every effect you hear on this CD,” says Gary, “is Rocktron!”

Produced by the famous Roy Thomas Baker, this Hoey CD will have even wider distribution than his last few. Gary tells us that the RSP Reanimator solved some problems during recording that even some very expensive all-tube compressors could not solve. Roy Thomas Baker is said to be a big fan or the RSP Saturator as well, and it was used on bass tracks as well as some vocal tracks. We’re looking forward to the release of Bug Alley in October, and the re-release of Gary’s Christmas CD, “Ho-Ho-Hoey” in November!
Gary Hoey had a special guest on one of the tracks of his new CD, Bug Alley. Brian Setzer joined him in the making of the title track. Brian has recently done some touring and performing live on radio stations using the VooDu Valve and the Rocktron MIDI Mate controller pedal!

The September issue of Germany’s Sound Check magazine breaks down Bryan Adams rack on page 92. Listed prominently is a “Rocktron HUSH II Noise Reduction System.” Bryan has good taste, obviously!
Bryan Adams’ touring partner, Keith Scott has a rack profiled in the same magazine on page 94. You will find the Rocktron Patch Mate and a Rocktron Allen Holdsworth Juice Extractor in Keith’s rack.
Also profiled in the September Sound Check is Stevie Salas. Stevie has played with some of the most famous musicians out there, as well as releasing plenty of solo efforts. Stevie still uses the vintage Rocktron GAP1 preamp which was manufactured in the eighties! He swears by the tone!

8/26/96

November’s Guitar magazine will feature a Rocktron/Neil Zaza Giveaway Contest.
While Neil is out burning up the road on his Rocktron Clinic Tour, readers of
Guitar will get their chance to enter and win a Rocktron VooDu Valve Deluxe
Rack Combo. The VooDu Combo includes the screaming VooDu Valve tube preamp,
a Velocity© 120 power amplifier, a Rocktron MIDI Mate foot controller, two Velocity S-112 guitar cabinets, a soft rack gig bag with the big Rocktron logo, and a special cool Rocktron logo plate. Rocktron’s Rack Combos all ship pre-wired with
STRAIGHT A Gold Plated Cables, our only choice for guitar gear hookups!
Ten runner-ups will receive free Neil Zaza CD’s, “Sing” from High Chief Records.
Retail value of this great giveaway contest is over $2,800.00 USD. Get your issue,
on sale in the month of October and enter!

8/8/96

J. (White Zombie) just installed a Tsunami Chorus Pedal into his Patch Mate set up for his touring rig. He mentioned loving it’s sound and it’s road-proof chassis.— Remember to catch the “War of the Gargantuas” Tour featuring Pantera’s Dimebag Darrell, White Zombie’s J., and The Deftones’ Stephan Carpenter—All Rocktron Endorsers!!!

On Monday August 5th, we had the pleasure of having Guitarists David Barry, Larry Campbell, and guitar technitian Ron Johnson of k.d. lang stop by the Rocktron factory to take a tour of the facility and check out the latest Rocktron gear. David already uses the Rocktron All Access MIDI foot controller and the Replifex guitar effects unit in his touring rig. Larry heard the sounds David gets so he was interested in picking up some new toys as well. After demonstrating the Replifex, All Access and the Piranha preamp for Larry, he was so impressed with the sound that he purchaced all 3 units! Both David and Larry signed artist endorsment aggrements. Ron set us up with tickets and after show passes for that nights performance and the show was excelent.

Carvin Norge, Rocktron’s Norway distributor, sent us a CD recorded by Norwegian guitarist Carl August Tidemann. Carl is a Rocktron user and states in the CD liner notes: “My guitar rack is exclusively equipped with Rocktron Guitar Rack Technology” while proudly displaying the Rocktron logo. All guitar tracks on this all-instrumental solo CD were recorded with Carl’s Rocktron VooDu Valve preamp. Members of his progressive metal band “Tritonus” appear on the CD as well.

7/15/96

Tracy Chapman is getting set to begin touring in support of her new CD entitled “New Beginning” which is currently listed in Billboard’s top 10 albums. Tracy’s guitarist Linda Taylor will be using the Replifex in her live rig. Linda says “I like the Replifex for all the cool older sounding effects, especially the Rotary Speaker effect… It really provides all the effects I need for our style of music”.

Ron Johnson, guitar tech for David Barry of k.d. lang (formerly of Janet Jackson) called up to let us know that David is now using the Replifex with an All Access MIDI controller in his live rig. k.d. will be here in Detroit August 5th and Ron, David and other musicians from the band will be stopping by Rocktron to tour the factory and check out other Rocktron products!

7/9/96

Anyone watch the David Letterman show Tuesday evening, July 8th??? Musicial guest (formerly known as Prince) premiered his new material and Rocktron endorser Kat Dyson backed him up on guitar. Of course Kat was using her Voodu Deluxe Combo which features a VooDu Valve, Velocity 120, MIDI Mate and two SE112 speaker cabs. Kat swears by her Rocktron gear and simply refuses to play through anything else!

7/2/96

Andy the rack technition at Rudy’s Music in New York City informed us that he’s setting up rack systems for Will Lee of the David Letterman show, and guitarist Wayne Krantz of Steely Dan. Both riggs will include the Rocktron All Access MIDI controller and the Patch Mate switching system. Will uses 8 different floor effects which he wanted to get off the floor and neatly tucked back in his rack.

Kent Wells, guitarist for Reba McEntire, wrote us a letter to “let us know how much I enjoy your guitar rack products, both on the road and in the studio!” Kent is using a Replefex, VooDu Valve, Rack Interface and Power Station in his studio rig and an Intellifex, Power Station and Rack Interface in his touring rig. Kent exclaims “They always work great! You can hear the VooDu Valve all over Reba’s new album and it screams!” Look for the new Reba McEntire CD to be released sometime in September.

Country star Charlie Daniels reciently joined the ranks of VooDu Valve converts. When Charlie told Roger Campbell (Charlie’s guitar tech) that he wanted to go rack, Roger started searching for new rack gear. When asking around town, Roger spoke with Bud Philips, guitarist of Travis Tritt… Yeah you guessed it, Bud also uses the VooDu Valve and recomended it for Charlie. Roger says “Charlie uses it live and loves the thing”.

6/24/96

Vernon Reid – recently picked up some Rack Interfaces and Replifexes to add to his
already immense (multi-rack) setup. His tech Mark Snyder is a Rocktron devotee and
appreciates the best.

Dave Mustaine – who used the Chameleon as well as other Rocktron gear on Megadeth’s last Platinum “Euthanasia” CD. In fact, Vinnie Sansevere (Dave’s Tech) states that Dave
has a new rack featuring a Piranha, Replifex, Power Station, and Chameleon ready for the
next time they hit the road !

Labeled “The War of the Gargantuas” by Concrete Management who manages White
Zombie and Pantera..this is one tour Metalheads nationwide will not want to miss. Both
bands are currently using lots of Rocktron in their stage setups. In fact J.’s (White Zombie)
rack is a virtual Rocktron advertisement featuring: three Guitar Silencers, an All Access,
an Intellifex, a Patch Mate and a Tsunami Chorus pedal. We already know that Dimebag is
using a couple Guitar Silencer’s in his set-up.

U.K.’s Guitar Magazine for June includes an interview with Dimebag Darrell in which
his rig is detailed. Here is a direct quote from the article on page 30 in which Pantera’s
guitarist says “Even if your amp has all the gain you want, putting another form of gain
in-front of it will give you a completely different type of distortion that could be totally
crushing! Remember though, if you’ve got a lot of gain going on you’re gonna need a
noise gate to shut your shit down when you’re not playing. If I don’t have my Rocktron
Guitar Silencer running, my rig has way too much hiss and feedback going on! ”

Also on the “War of the Gargantuas” tour is Geffen Records newest metal offering, the
Deftones, who will be opening the show. Guitarist Stephan Carpenter recently picked up an
All Access, Replifex, Patch Mate, Power Station, and new sound!… He became a
Rocktron convert when the Deftones toured with Rocktron endorser Dr. Know of Bad
Brains.

Brooklyn’s Biohazard recently released their latest (and greatest) CD entitled “Mata Lead”
featuring some of the heaviest rap/rock known to man-kind. Guitarist Billy Graziadei is
also taking some newly acquired Rocktron gear out with him on their tour. His new rig
features a Replifex, All Access, and a couple of Phantom Cabs.

John Shanks – Guitarist for Melissa Etheridge recently picked up a new All Access for extensive touring.

Piranha Alert! ! ! ! Since Guitar Tech Expert Brian Doyle started working with the Red Hot
Chili Peppers, Piranha fever has struck. Silverchair did several stints with R.H.C.P. on
tour and when Silverchair’s lead singer/guitarist Daniel Johns found out that Brian used to
work with Page Hamilton from “Helmet” he HAD to meet him. On Brian’s
recommendation, Daniel took a Piranha back to Australia to use when they record their
follow-up to their double Platinum debut “Frogstomp”.

Brian did not stop there either. He loved the Piranha so much that he showed it to Axl Rose of Guns N Roses. Axl loved it so much that he ordered up an All Access, Replifex, Intellifex LTD, Power Station, and Rack Interfaces. He will be showing his
new sounds to Slash who will be showing up in a couple of weeks to start working on new
material. Hopefully their differences can be worked out and a new record will result.

August ’96 issue of Guitar Player features an article on Nashville studio players whercin
Nashville guitarist Troy Lancaster’s efforts are detailed. Check out his rig on page 71,
where you will find the Rocktron Model G612 mixer and the Rocktron Intellifex effects
processor. Troy obviously has good taste!

6/6/96

Nashville’s top session player, and Rocktron endorser, Chris Leuzinger will follow up
his work with Garth Brooks in September when he records Garth’s next CD. You can
hear Leuzinger’s work on the huge selling “Fresh Horses” CD that is helping Garth
Brooks set new sales records. Chris used Rocktron on that album, including his
Guitar Silencer with HUSH. “I use it all the time. The Silencer has been great, and it really
makes my life easier.”

Leuzinger also used the Guitar Silencer on Hal Ketchum’s new CD, a Greatest Hits
offering for which Chris recorded some new tracks. Chris reports that he uses the
Rocktron Intellifex in his demo rack “The Intellifex works well.” And to this day he is
still utilizing the Rocktron/Bradshaw switching system to control his Nashville rig.

Look for a new “Disney Country” CD, featuring artists such as Tim McGraw, Pam
Tillis and George Jones. You will find Rocktron’s favorite country player, Chris
Leuzinger using his Rocktron gear for the CD.

6/3/96

Just shipped from Rocktron to a studio in Los Angeles for recording use by Akira
Takasaki: a Piranha preamp and a Tsunami chorus pedal. Akira will be putting finishing touches on his newest CD for the Japan market. Over ten years as a Rocktron
endorser, and hundreds of thousands of CDs sold in Japan with his group “Loudness”,
Akira Takasaki has used Rocktron preamps for a very long time. He also uses the
Intellifex and Replifex units.

Working on his new CD in the States is Neil Zaza. Look for a feature ad with Neil to
appear in upcoming issues of Guitar Player and Guitar magazines promoting Neil’s fall
clinic tour in the U.S. Neil is using a wide range of Rocktron product on his new CD,
which should have worldwide release a bit later this year. Zaza visited us here at
Rocktron just a couple of weeks ago and told us he is very happy with all of his Rocktron
gear!

Catch the mention of the Rocktron HUSH The Pedal on page 78 of the July issue of
Guitar magazine. Article on Noise Gates includes The Pedal. While we do not consider
HUSH products as noise gates, we do appreciate the inclusion in an article on solving
noise problems for guitar players.

Rocktron listed by Music Trades publication as one of the Top 100 “leading music
suppliers of the music products industry.” We love the honor. Each year Music Trades
reviews the performance of the top manufacturers in the U.S. and ranks them by sales
volume. Inclusion on this list places Rocktron within the ranks of the music industry’s
top performers! While there are several thousand maufacturers within the music products
industry, members of the Top 100 list account for more than 80% of the industry’s retail
sales!

Rocktron recently shipped a Patch Mate for use by Richie Sambora on the latest Bon
Jovi tour. Sambora also uses the Rocktron Model 300G guitar compressor and has been a
Rocktron user for many years!

Also in the studio at this time, and burning up tracks with plenty of Rocktron gear is
Gary Hoey. Look for Hoey’s new CD to feature Gary doing vocals for the first time on
his releases! Hoey is also utilizing our RSP Technologies Saturator for guitar tracks,
which he says increases the “warmth” of the tracks!

Check out page 71 of the June issue of Guitar Shop in the States for a great review of the Rocktron Tsunami chorus pedal. Joe Cefalu states that “its quality should place it in the
same league as the much-coveted t.c. electronics chorus, though the Tsunami’s controls
have a deeper range.” Thanks to Shop for this great review!

The same issue of Guitar Shop has a great article on legend Jim Marshall of Marshall
Amplification. Jim’s choice for a product line to distribute in the U.K. in addition to
Marshall? Rocktron Guitar Rack Technology. The Marshall sales staff is selling and
promoting Rocktron in England and throughout the U.K. !

June issue of Guitar Shop also shows Carl Verheyen, L.A. studio wiz, who mentions
that he uses the Rocktron Juice Extractor. Actually, the Juice Extractor is no longer
manufactured, but was a product designed by Allan Holdsworth and manufactured by
Rocktron. Gone to the vintage pastures now!

Red Hot Chili Peppers picked up some HUSH Pedals while on tour in Australia very
recently. Rocktron Distributors, Downunder Musical Imports, actually met the band and
received signed t-shirts which they now proudly display in their shop!

Anyone notice the HUSH Pedal in front of Dimebag Darrell from Pantera in the June
issue of Guitar magazine in the States? Pantera has also used Rocktron’s
Guitar Silencer,
as have White Zombie and Anthrax for quite some time.

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