Micro Memories: The High Tech Rockman Becomes the Sound of '80s Guitar

摘要

Every industry has its own trade show. For consumer electronics, it's CES in Las Vegas, NV, for computers, it's Comdex, and for the music instrument industry, it's NAMM - short for North American Music Merchants. In 1982, guitarist and inventor Tom Scholz - then best known for spearheading the multi-platinum group Boston - stole the show at that year's NAMM event in Atlanta, GA with a little black box that he called the Rockman. "It was just Tom, on his little pedestal with the Rockman and two headphones -one for him to listen to and the other for demonstrations," Bob Cedro, an engineer who would be hired by Scholz in the mid '80s, says. "One person heard it and he was amazed, told everybody, and, soon, the whole NAMM show was abuzz with 'you have to go see this device at the Scholz R & D booth.