Rockman Acoustic Guitar Pedal

Give it an 8, since there are only 4 knobs, but it's hard to hear the difference between the Vol and Gain knobs. Gain is supposed to control compression, but it's pretty subtle. The other two, Top and Body, are basically treble and bass, but optimized by Rockman for acoustic flavors.

I'm using this to add EQ to a set of RMC piezo transducers that are preset to a nice mellow tone. I tried the Acoustic pedal on a Parker FLY in the store and was impressed. It basically adds shimmer and a sort of bronze-string jangle that's just what I was looking for, but the high strings are now kinda thin-sounding. Adding Body doesn't help, just makes everything boomier. So it's a one trick pony, with just a narrow range of usable control, but I didn't want an over-all eq, just to nail more glitter. It works! Granted, I can dial in some clean guitar to flesh out the high strings, since my guitar has separate outs for the mag pickups. I haven't tried the pedal using the mags. Also, haven't noticed any noise...that noisy one described here musta been broken!

Seems quite solid...I got the wall wart with its thin cord for use at home...no worries, but it's still brand new.

Haven't needed any support.

This thing does almost exactly what I wanted, i.e., it adds a cool character to something that's already working well. I'm a little disappointed by the high-string response, but imagine that could vary considerably with other guitars and amps. Definitely audition with return option! In my multi-output (direct-to-mixer) setup, similar to Godin LGX or Parker, it also allows me to blend in a great clean, pointed attack on top of distorted sounds coming from the mag pickups. I'm very pleased.

Use is straightforward; plug in, adjust the treble and bass response with the two middle knobs, adjust the input gain to set the attack/articulation, and set the output volume for desired level.

My test setup consisted of 3 bandmates, a Taylor 810 acoustic with a Fishman "Natural" Matrix Acoustic pickup, a PRS CE electric, a Fender Blues DeVille 212 (all tube) amp, a borrowed Strat-copy electric, and a borrowed Ross (model # unk) solid state amp. Through the DeVille's clean channel at low volumes, the consensus was that the pedal made the Taylor sound thin and cheap. It totally cut the midrange. With the PRS (which is what I really bought it for--to leave the Taylor at home), it did add a snappy dimension to the sound, but the midrange again was cut and turning up the bottom end only made the bass strings unacceptably boomy. The consensus again was that the PRS sounded better by itself and that the pedal made it sound cheap. The clean channel settings were not touched during the comparison. Next, the Strat copy was plugged into the pedal and into the Ross solid state amp. On this guitar the consensus was that the pedal fattened the sound up somewhat and did not detract from the original sound quality. Even in this setup though, the most distracting aspect was the noise generated by the pedal. Very audible hissing. No way you could use this thing for recording and definitely not solo. You would need lots of ambient noise to cover this thing. The noise was not quite as loud through the solid state amp and the Strat-copy's pickups, but still very audible. The pedal was sent back the next morning. BTW, I did not utilize an AC adapter; two brand spanking new alkaline 9Vs were used. Note: this thing is an 18V device!

Didn't keep it long enough, but one of the plastic battery clips broke free from the cover just putting the batteries in the first time. It was reglued with superglue. Other than that, it seemed to be made fairly solid.

I was trying to find a source for the pedal and called Dunlop, who handles sales and service for Rockman products now evidently. They seemed good enough over the phone. The fact that this thing is an 18V product was confusing to the dealer I was referred to. I could not have purchased the power supply from the dealer if I had wanted to. I would've had to order it direct from Dunlop. Pretty convoluted setup.

I would spend the money on something else!

I find that it is real easy to use. the book is short but helpful. You even get some sample settings and a place to write down your favorite two settings.

I thought it sounds very good. It mimicks an acoustic guitar pretty well.

I just got it today, so I cannot say how reliable it is. It does take two (2) nine volt batteries or you can get a power supply for it.

I called the company to get some info on it before I bought it, and they were really cool.

It will help me out a lot. I play in a band that covers Country and Classic Rock and Roll. With this pedal, I won't have but an acoustic with built in electronics. That saves me about $400.00. I also won't have to stop and change guitars, just step on the button.