Rocktron Silver Dragon

First, you will never find a more die hard "tone whore" out there than me. I build my own amps per Leo Fender's original designs, mostly tweed era. My clean sound is extremely important to me, new amps that are not hand wired simply don't do it for me...and if you have played 50s/early 60s Fender amps...you understand exactly what I am talking about, don't you?

That said, I need a moderately distorted and heavily distorted sound for certain situtations: slide guitar and blues guitar.

This pedal is more satisfying in this catagory than most, well actually all others. Personally I've played over 100 distortion boxes...this Rocktron Silver Dragon is simply the best.

No pedal, new or vintage is more versitile than this Silver Dragon, none deliver the range of tones and volumes that this pedal does. No it's not a vintage tube screamer, but I'd take this pedal over a vintage tube screamer any gig, every gig.

The fact 1/2 of this pedal runs on a tube makes it's quality dependent on that tube, which is good. I've had mine for 2 years, I'd replace it without thinking twice if it gets lost or stolen.

Perfect Rocktron, perfect.

Pretty easy to use, responds well with changes in the amp or EQ settings of my rack. The manual explains everything, including the somewhat noob-confusing names. If you are a guitarist, easy to use. If tones don't sound proper, go to your amp, or other places and dial them in a bit better, and go back to the pedal and make slight adjustments to it as well.

I can get the sounds of different metal genres that I play, as well as other genres. I can approximate tones of different amps as close as I care to, and get great results. I am using this with my Peavey Rockmaster head, laney cab, Ibanez or Hamer guitars, and one of two boss SD-1/DS-1 if needed. This pedal would be noisy if you set both distortions full, had the eq's set really high (past 5/12:00), and/or had the volume incredibly loud, especially if the pedals vol didnt match the amp. The effects always sound good, though if you set the distortions all the way to 0 and don't have much distortion coming elsewhere, it's a bit lacking, but could appeal to blues and country folks if they wanted a bit more a of rock-type firey sound.

Seems sturdy enough. My other Rocktron pedals are still going strong. Time will tell.

Never dealt with this company.

I play metal guitar, with the occasional drift into blues, classical or rock territories. It's a good match and could be used for a multitude of genres, but always leaning towards the more extremes of these genres. I have been playing five years, and my other reviews show what I own, such as my recent review for the Boss SD-1. I'd get this again, whether or not the tube is actually fundamental in it's tone, I don't really care. I love the fact it works with my amp like a rhythm dist and a lead dist channel. I compared it with other pedals in the price range, and decided I liked this the most. I chose this because of past experiences with Rocktron. I wish the plate for the tube was a bit bigger for easier switching. It helps me make music in the areas of extreme metal, which I have been looking for.

Manual is very helpful. Got good tones right out of the box.

Very noisy but it is a gain pedal so what do you expect. It is funny cause I have a mesa rectoverb and this pedal sounds exactly like the dirty channel but I like it better cause I can keep the output sound around the same level as the clean channel on the amp. I don't even know why I have my Mesa anymore. This thing is awesome.

Like a rock.

I have had a bunch of distortion pedals. I like this one the best. I took it out of my chain for a few days and used my big muff pi. I put it right back. I really like the fact that I can switch on the solid state section for solo's and have the tube channel on for rhythm work. That is the units biggest selling point. It is like having a high gain channel with a built in tube screamer. I have no use for my dirty channel on my amp anymore. This unit screams. It really does. I use it for all my aggresive rock songs such as disturbed/metallica etc. This really has helped out my soloing cause the sustain goes on for days.

Out of box, used Manufacturer suggested settings. Real Easy. Chicken nobs so not hard to tweak.

This is the BEST sounding distortion I have ever heard. Previously used a Korg AX1500G and going to this is like night and day. It brings out my active pickups as well. I use this with a Morley Wah and a Carl Martin Red Repeat and a 40V Pignose Amp....great sound. Very low noise with the Awake but some hiss with the Solid State overdrive.Not much at all....

This is my main pedal for gigging...would NOT need a backup. Very rugged casing, metal. Wouldn't Suggest dropping this thing as there is a 12AX7 tube inside.

N/A

PLay heavy rock, wanted a pedal that could handle rhythm and lead sounds...this does it. I would definitely replace this item if stolen. Really sounds great with active pickups!!

it definately takes some fiddling. I just leave the tone knobs(shriek and roar) at 1 o'clock. Put the tube stage distortion at three the solidstate distortion cranked and the breath knob at 10. I'm not sure what that knob does. I mean it changes the sound but its hard to tell how.
The switches are metal switches but they switch real easy. kinda like a guyatone pedal.

strat>dreamtone dreamcomp>silver dragon>boss ph3>budda budwah>analog yamaha flanger>boss giga delay> fender twin

Great great pedal. I love different stages of distortion, but the twin isn't enough gain for me at times. The tube stage of this pedal sounds real good and crunchy and really pushes the fender over the top. It is my ideal tone for rockin' out.

Now the slayer mode or the solid state mode is insane! better than a boss metal zone because it still has a little tubeish feel in there. GREAT for solos so much sustain that I could probably drop the compressor out of my lineup and i probably will.

Now I'm all about changing tubes and when I heard people saying they did I jumped at the chance to mod this pedal, and i figured if it was already this good, hell, I might as well make it better. Bad idea. This pedal is insane to take apart. it took more than an hour to taki apart change tubes and put back together. I put it an electro-harmonix gold pin. It didn't change the sound at all, it cut down on the noise by %6.5 and that is it. Waste of time and aggrivation. Stick with the stock tube.
It is a pretty noisy pedal if using it with your amps dirty channel, but i really don't care about noise. but it gets a nine for that because it is the noisiest distortion pedal I have ever played. but it's also the best.

Hell yeah, rocktron is solid. when I took this pedal apart i was amazed. We don't need no stinkin' backups!

oh that reminds me there was someone on here that said the tube doesn't work and there is a led under it to make it look like it is lit up.
He's half right. There is a led under it that lights up and it even fades in and out when you turn it on and off. Hey rocktron, that is super gay. But this pedal doesn't work without the tube. I tried it while i had it open. It turns on but no sound comes out. And when the tube is in, you do have to wait for it to warm up to start playing.

changing the tube voided the warranty so I will never know.

I got a hell of a deal and I love this pedal. I don't even bring the footswitch for my amp now. These are my two gain channels now.
if it were stolen I would hurt someone on my way to the store to get another one.
I have played a ton of pedals and own even more.

metal to jam it's great.

This pedal is quite easy to use, despite what some may think. The knobs do have funny names, but the manual explains it pretty well.

I have 3 main guitars, and Ibanez RG, Strat, and a Danelectro Hodad. All these sound quite good through it. The pedal can get a bit of hum when on high gain settings. The 2 band EQ on it can get some very tasty sounds. I changed out my 12ax7 for a 12at7 to reduce the gain a bit and get a smoother overdrive. The breath control doesn't seem to do too much for me, though.

I got it used with a burned out resistor supplying the tube. A run to radio-hack and I was up and running. I think it would be pretty reliable, as I don't really know what could have cause the burnout. I use it in my pedalboard with other distortion pedals. Being true backup helps in case I do have any problems. It could have been a bad tube that the previous owner had in it.

I e-mailed the company for a schematic, and recieved it 5 minutes later. They were very helpful. never had to have them do work on it, as I am pretty well versed in working on electronics.

I play a lot of stuff, and I use it for guitar and bass. It's been a great pedal so far.

The manual is JUNK.

It is really hard to dial a GOOD sound out of it. Almost impossible.

The name of the knobs and buttons are silly... Fire! shriek! Slayer? wth! hahaha morons.

Want to change tubes? good! because it will be as hard as dialing a good sound out of it. and an stock chinesse crappy 12ax7? ha! u gotta be kidding me. "What a hunk of junk!"

This pedal is big too, dont be fooled by photos. it will take the space for lets say 2 boss pedals.

Well... This is it. This pedal sounds terrible. OK, no... that was a bit impulsive. Let me say it in more elaborated words.

This pedal SUCKS a lot; the sound is basically what you can get with another metal pedal, but IT IS NOISY AS HELL. I have used metal zones, warp factors and generic metal pedals (grunge, supra distortion death metal distortions; DOD's, Digitech'Arion, Danos) you name it. The almost do the same... just a shitload of gain and high and mid cuts with some kind of controlable drive or EQ and thats it.

Yes this DO sound a bit more full and natural, it is overdriven by a tube for Christ sake, but IT IS SO NOISY that u will not find it useful in modern metal music like for silences and breakdowns. The feedback this pedal produces is amusical and annoying.

Just stick with cheap another generic metal pedal

Sure, you can use the first button; the tube distortion (the green led) it will sound as a good natural distortion (think a tube version ot the Boss ds1) but the noise (the shriek knob) WILL be there; and for a natural distortion is EXPENSIVE as hell. I suggest to try it, and then stay away from it.

The only rig I have ever listened this that this pedal sounded decend was in my old Crate bv120 Blue Voodoo head. Other than that... terrible (and mind you the amp have a better built-in tube distortion than this) Other than that it sounds aweful in marshall, bassman and devilles. ew!

It get a 4 because at least the distortion "awaken" button sounds almost decent, although this pedal price tag is horrible and the noise is just unacceptable.

YES! its HARD METAL CASING... really durable.. you can rely to kill someone you hate with it in 2 ways:

1) making his/her ears bleed
2) Stabbing someone with it. It will do that job more than one time.

Sure its hard and i have gigged with it a lot (im poor i CANT USE backups) So i think this pedal is realiable overall.

dont know. dont care. Rocktron pedal sucks most of the times. this will not be different.

This is it. This pedal is horrible. the first time i listened to it was because my friend was using my blue voodoo for a gig and he used this pedal with it. I was so in love i traded right away with him.

What an error. it was the only time the pedal sounded right.

Guitar... fender with... yes, NOISELESS!!! ha! and SG... and hum cancelling guitars basically. I like quiet settings with slow attack and bite. Amps, well Blue voodoo, Bassman, Vampire... quite some.

The error in this guitar is called the shriek knob. it is supposed to make a subtle effect... but it does just that... and horrible shriek in any setting (you CANT dial off this thing)

I change the tube with an electro harmonix, general electric and stuff. it sounded almost the same. Dont fool yourself. the tube dont make that much of a difference in this pedal, after all is an hybrid pedal, not a full tube pedal. The noises stood there... and the tube was a pain in the ass to swap.

and this cost over 100 dollars new?

even if they put away that horrible noise, the sound of the pedal is not that great. it just sound as generic as other "death metal" pedals. This pedal, even without all the flaws dont cost over $100.

No, no. If you are reading this, is because you are looking to perfect your sound... believe me friend. this IS NOT it.

for less the price you can find LOTS of better pedal than this one. In example: a Warp Factor or a metal zone. Both are horrible pedals but beat the crap out of a silver dragon any day. If you are looking for a REAL TUBE pedal.. be prepared to spend in some kind of mesa pedal pre amp or soldano... if you are looking for something realiable and cheap...

try the zoom tri metal, metal zone, warp factor, metal muff, a jackhammer or a sans amp (and basically any other pedal that is not the Silver Dragon)

IF you WANT A TUBE distortion overdrive... save up a little bit... and buy a something in the price range like SansAmp or... better YET... a Radial TONEBONE hot british. WOW. thats the best tube distortion marshall EMULATION pedal for its price. it blows the marshall jackhammer OUT of the water, into the blue... like that game smash bros... whatever dude. its awesome. Words cant explain it.

the TONEBONE sounds great; is NOT noisy at all and cost about $50 more than this silver dragonic abomination. And this sounds really awesome and is even smaller (sure in sites look bigger and the sound clips SUCKS!, but if you use one... you'll love it)

Either if you are looking to expand your sonic palette or you are looking for one heavy metal pedal... this pedal (the silver dragon) is just NOT WORTH the money or the time.

But all in all... try it before you buy it, and let you ears decide. to me... this pedal is just awful.

Pretty easy to use, the manual has an excellent starting point and from there it is just a matter of messing around with it. I suggest using a good pickup as my own formula for a good tone is a quality guitar with highend pickups and good amp (not most expensive)but technique which comes with practice is the most important. Only a professionally modified amp gets 10, because it has been modified to a specific tone.

I currently use a Ibanez with a Dimarzio Super Distortion in the bridge, with the Silver Dragon going into the clean channel of a Peavey Transtube Supreme head into a Marshall 1969B cab set @ 16ohm. This sound is pretty good but take into consideration that I have alot of other equipment (a collector) and this amp I did not want to go to waste, so I matched it with the Silver Dragon(which I also did not want to go to waste). I have many other guitars and have tried them with this setup and the best overall sound comes from the Dimarzio Super Distortion. The Silver Dragon does a good job of bringing to life a SS tube emulating amp. Definately for metal with channel 2 and a more rock/bluesy sound on 1, true bypass. Matched with a decent amp this pedal does have a great sound (very heavy with a good tone)perfect for spicing up a amp that is lacking something. I don't try and get the sounds of anybody else cuz I want to sound like myself so I can't say if you can pull a specific players sound out, but with the versatility of this pedal it is highly possible. It is very noisy coming through the amp when idle so a good noise reduction of some kind is always good,but when you are playing and rocking out your amp is usually not idle for long. So much equipment out there to choose from and in the end it boils down to taste, go out and try it see if it works for you,it works for me as a much more cheaper and great sounding alternative to it's more expensive competitors. I like playing Very heavy melodic metal and this pedal has alot of potential in that sound. If you are looking for something to help with adding tone and gain this works well.

I own a few other Rocktron products, new and used and have never had any problems. This pedal is built very sturdy and seems to be able to take a beating but I believe equipment should be taken care of. Never play out with backup, no need to as I take care of my equipment.

Never had to deal with

I have been playing 22 years, and my favorite piece of equipment is my modified Peavey Rockmaster preamp and rack setup (Brutal toneful sound). I also use a Rocktron Maxe preamp (heavy sound, good tone)amongst other equipment. If something were to happen to this pedal I would probably have it fixed in time as this setup I keep around for friends with no equipment to use when we get together and jam. This setup Ibanez(Dimarzio Super Distortion)---->Silver Dragon---->(clean Channel)---->Peavey Transtube Supreme(Head)---->Marshall 1969B cab @ 16ohm can hold it's own. For the price it cannot be beat unless you put out the money for a leejackson XLS1000p great pedal. As I said before I can play a little of everything but my main style is melodic Metal influenced by bands like Children of Bodom, Dissection but with my own touch. The Silver Dragon can definately help drive a sound in this dircection but one should always try and sound like themselves with the tools they buy. Definately worth checking out! Hope this helps! later

the names are kule but confusing . i have a lot of equipment so difficult to remember . the first channel i understand the 2nd channel seems to be for fine tuning shredding.

i use a peavey rockmaster 120 watts turns this antique into a 5150. i also use a jcm800 combo but put into a stack instead and a 4x12 peavey sheffield that sometimes makes noises an other time times sounds fine. the 4x12 is old and beat up and paid little for. Still it sounds incredible and im using he first channel not the solidstate channel which im not too keen on.This i wish i had a 30 years ago its a must have . especially for that hard rock rock cream sound. it dont do nu metal as far as ic an tell but does everything else /

seems built like a tank but has a wall wart. love if it had a real cord.but price isnt that high and ibought it used.

dont know never contacted

this is the bomb. if you want warm sustain from medium 2 heavy it rules.However,I would have preferred not the solid state 2nd channel or boost you can engage and instead a lighter tube sound thats adjustable for that slight tube driven tone. ive heard that on the mesa boogie pedal.i got plenty of pedals and this will make your tube amp sing. BUt have not tried on solid state amps. If you have a single channel tube amp and want it to do pro overdrive and sustain run and get this pedal..I was gonna modify my marshall jcm 800 into a 900 or whatever, but who needs to with this pedal. if you cant get a good overdrive sustain with this pedal stop jerkin off and practice.

once you sit down and really mess aroudn with it the different names are no problem.

washburn wi64dl->compressor->silverdragon->crate vintage club 120.

the silver dragon sounds good with the 12ax7 if you like alot of distortion, i tried a 12at7 which lowered noise and distortion a little and then a 12au7 which made a big difference and made all of the controls a little less subtle most of all the breath function was noticeable now and the the second stage was controllable. I find the best treble and bass ratio to be 3 on treble and 4 on the bass, or the suggested setting of 5 treble 6 bass is good if you want a little bit of fuzz added to the distortion.

i can really get a good early clapton/cream sound out of the first stage at about 4 and with the compressor on and distoriton at about 6 i get a tube screamer with more headroom sound that i love.

i gave it a 8 because after all the tube changing and different brands i tried the slayer mode started acting up but i fixed it by messing with the wires and switch a little.

never had to sue it.

i play mostly blues/rock some punk and a little metal occasionally and this pedal works great for all them, but that i just my personal taste as for metal i do not like the voer the top distortion, but im sure with the 12ax7 you could get those tones. What i like most about this pedal is solos on the slayer mode after the 12au7 tube is put in. In my opinion the harmonic distortion you get out of this is great and unique enough to eb noticed but it doesnt clash with other instruments and distortions.