Rewinding to 1982, E.T. ruled the box office, and Michael Jackson’s Thriller ascended to the top of the pop charts. Meanwhile, Tom Scholz of Boston fame designed and debuted the Rockman X100, a headphone amplifier with built-in effects and studio-magic capabilities that would go on to define the guitar-driven, chorus-laden sound of 1980s arena rock. Scholz, an MIT-schooled engineer, had spent countless hours experimenting with guitars, amplifiers, and effects, which resulted in “The Boston Tone” and, ultimately, his line of Rockman gear. Fast-forward to 2025, MXR has harnessed the same vitality, technology, and mystical sonic power of the original Rockman X100 in a new, compact, and dynamic stompbox preamp pedal. The Rockman X100 pedal features four distinct preset modes — two clean and two dirty — that, with the help of a complicated compression circuit, capture the same shimmering cleans and distorted depths of the original presets. To further tailor your levels and complement the dynamics of the preset modes, the Rockman X100 includes Volume and Input Gain sliders that allow you to directly control how your incoming signal interacts with both the preamp and your amplifier, ensuring a precisely dialed-in tone. Lastly, the Rockman X100 comes equipped with the same MN3007 bucket brigade chip found in the classic model. Indeed, Sweetwater guitarists have discovered a sea of sprawling, shimmering chorus, all available with the simple push of a button. The original Rockman X100 helped shape a guitar tone that inspired players throughout the ’80s and beyond; the redefined Rockman X100 from MXR is poised to carry that flag forward and continue to inspire generations of guitar players for decades to come.