NAMM 2025: The coolest guitar pedal at the show? MXR Rockman X100

The original Rockman X100 headphone amp was invented by Boston lead guitarist and electronics engineer Tom Scholz. This small device released in 1982 and changed the landscape of how guitar players practiced and recorded forever.

To say it was revolutionary doesn’t quite do it justice. This small, battery-powered device provided studio-quality sound with built-in effects like chorus, echo, and compression.

In fact, it was used by popular artists like Boston (of course!), Def Leppard, ZZ Top, and Journey to name a few. Despite being such a simple device in theory, the sounds it created sounded huge on tape.

Rockman units fetch a healthy price on the used market these days, putting one of the most unique guitar devices out of the reach of many players.

But MXR has the solution.

MXR Rockman X100

At the NAMM show MXR introduced one of the most interesting pieces of guitar gear this year – the Rockman X100 guitar pedal.

The original unit had a uniquely complex compression circuit that maintained signal fidelity at any of the four presets (clean to sustain). MXR’s version has the same circuit, including the MN3007 bucket brigade chip of the original, with a few modern tweaks.

Timing constants are tuned for a slow release on the clean settings and a fast release on the dirty sounds. The amount of compression is based on the input gain level.

Just like the original Rockman there are four preset sounds, selectable via the MODE button. There are two clean sounds with different EQ curves and two dirty presets. Gain staging it set through two sliders. One handles input gain and the other output volume.

The MXR Rockman X100 is available right now for $229.99.