BRAND -ROCKMAN MODEL -Sustainor 200 FUNCTION - Electric Guitar Preamp The Rockman Sustainor is a cool little unit, and has a lot of potential when used with the Rockman EQ units, as well as with other tube power amps. I like to use it as a preamp to a tube amp such as a Mesa Boogie Mark I that uses Sylvania 6L6GC's, which of course have a lot of head room, and are very punchy even when not overdriven. The key is to run the Rockman through the amp without overdriving the amp into distortion. Otherwise it just sounds like muddy hell. The clean punchy tubes add the beef and rounded low end that the Rockman unit lacks. I actually really like the semi-clean setting into the Boogie. This is a Model 200 unit which are built better and sound better than the model 100 units. The Model 200 units were started around late 1988 I believe. Dunlop still repair these units, however they are usually very reliable.  Introduction The Sustainor is the heart of every Rockman rig. It is certainly the most complex and the most charismatic of the Rockmodules: its development required several years from a complete team of engineers, probably working separately on sections of the Sustainor. Though its sound signature is immediately recognizable, the possibilities and versatility of the Rockman Sustainor are almost endless, still over twenty years later. Certainly the first high-end analog amp simulator ever built, the Sustainor is, still today, an outstanding device, far above the classical preamp image that some people have of it. Objective and history The basis of the Rockman Sustainor is the amp simulation of the Rockman headphones amps. If one considers that the Rockman and the X100 are semi-professional devices, then the Sustainor stands as the professional extrapolation: while the headphone amps are based on four preset sounds, the Sustainor was extended by several complex, smart and useful inventions. The Rockman headphone amp was created by Tom Scholz and issued in 1982. SR&D improved it continuously between 1982 and 1986, without significant changes: only minor circuit tweakings. In the meantime, Tom Scholz had imagined the improvements that would give birth to the Sustainor: Adjustable gain stages, volume controls and filters. A noise reduction circuit: the Smart Gate A truly amazing feature: the Autoclean A 4x12' cab simulation: the Phase Notcher When did the studies for the Sustainor begin? Probably right after the issue of the Rockman: 4 years is not much when the deal is to stuff 1kg of components in the volume of a pocket book! All in all, the Rockman Sustainor was issued as a commercial product in January 1986, along with the Rockman Chorus/Delay. The Sustainor, like all the Rockman products, was continously improved. The first commercial items correspond to the REV03, knowing the last commercial release, in 1989, was REV09. The first models had this blue logo that make us call them "Blue face", and the rear plate was stamped "100" (as a matter of fact, all the Rockmodules are stamped 100 and it's more an enclosure type than anything else). SR&D sold almost 9000 Sustainors in 1986. In February or March 1987 (circa S/N 10000), the rear plate was stamped 100A, and the blue logo was still here. These 100A Sustainors have nothing special: they are just the last Blue-Face Sustainors, a sort of transition model before the change of logo. In October 1987, the logo on the frontplates of the Rockmodules (i.e. the Sustainor, the Chorus/Delay and the Instrument EQ) received a white logo instead of the original blue one. The Chorus/Delay was actually discontinued, and the existence of white-faced C/D's or blue-faceed EQ's as commercial products is not proved. The change of logo was accompanied, for the Sustainor, by a change of rear plate: it was now stamped 200 instead of 100. The front plate was slightly modified, and all these changes make us speak about the Sustainor 200, though the 200 is just a continuous improvement of the 100, not a different product. All in all: A total of over 21000 Sustainors were made and sold between 1986 and 1992 The early Sustainors are called 100 or "blue face" and can be identified by their blue logo The later Sustainors are called 200 or "white face" and can be identified by their white logo Inside the Module The Sustainor is complex. Very complex. While the amp simulation circuit of the original Rockman took only 6 OpAmps controled by only one mechanical switch, the Sustainor is made of 28 Opamps with a complete network of mechanical and J-FET switches. ACCESSORIES - Includes ONLY what is shown in the photos. NO additional accessories.  PHYSICAL CONDITION - Good: The face look excellent for the age of the item. WORKING CONDITION - Very Good TOTAL PRE-SHIP WEIGHT - 1 lb 14 oz TOTAL PRE-SHIP DIMS- 8.5" x 8" x 2"