Rocktron Silver Dragon

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.

see below

i rather liked this silver dragon. i'm shipping it back though, for no good reason. satisfied my curiosity at least, but for the money i've decided to get a tube amp (vox, $179 15 watts). this is probably the best distortion pedal i have ever played, and i've played MANY distortion pedals (you name it). it looks cool, solidly built aluminum housing. two foot switches, sturdy chicken-head knobs, which look cool and would all appear functional and give variety. HOWEVER, my only complaint is that some of the knobs really don't audibly seem to do much, if anything at all. in fact, you'd really only need one switch on this unit, far as i can tell. please, manufacturers and design engineers: don't put a knob or switch on a device unless it seriously DOES SOMETHING. that being said, when all the controls are maxed (and as i've said a couple knobs it doesn't seem to matter what the setting is, damn subtle effect if any if you ask me), this pedal provides a warm, deep, but serious distortion, almost perfect for metal, and that's undoubtedly due to the vacuum tube, which glows with an alluring orange color through its little metallic window. great sound with this distortion pedal.

blah....pretty difficult as the knobs dont do much in describing what they do...i hate stupid names.

i reviewed this pedal a long while ago, back when i was still using solid state...and i think a traynor tube head...which is equivalant to any fender all tube head...

for the last "metal" guy who posted...keep searching dude, there are way better tones out there.

im a heavy metal player myself. not a drop tunes, 5 fret trudging moron...i shred. this pedal is so damn noisy. changing the tube was a good idea...but REALLY didnt do much of anything. the "overdrive" is absolutely pointless. and the "high gain" mode isnt really "high gain"...just alot of noise. along with some distortion. but more noise than distortion...its quite frusutrating. i recorded with my band while i used this thing, and i noticed it had an odd tone...

well, a month or so ago i bought a peavey jsx...its not a metal heads dream STOCK...so i changed the tubes to 6l6gc, and all the 12ax7s to vintage phillips...and i run the gain on the ultra channel half way, and overdrive it with either a dod even harmonic overdrive or a vintgage ts-9 clone...i swear to god, its %100 the metal tone i was after...leads that cut through Paiste Rudes, and rhythms to get your bowels moving...

you think this pedal is good? buy a REAL tube head with REAL tube distortion...just because you own a tube amp dont mean shit, you shouldnt have to buy a high gain distortion stomp...and i dont have to any longer...this thing was TOOOO big for what it does. anyone heard of Home Brew Effects? check out the powerdrive...its WAY better in the sense of high gain/space. the silver dragon kind of reminded me of a mesa...noisy, shrill, and oddly toned... i use dimarzio x2n, super 2, and super distortion pickups in my usa warlock and custom built "mongrel"...so i was expecting pretty good tone, a major thanx to my pickups...but...well...when you hear distortion from a peavey/marshall/bogner/engl, you realize that this thing is pretty shitty...

terrible. the power supply got stolen, and it took them over 2 weeks to respond to my email for a new one...and the response i did get was filled with "cuz" "u" ya" and "r"...i swore i got an email from a 13 year old!





.

i play metal. 100 percent real metal. megadeth, iron maiden, children of bodom...to satch, yngwie, and symphony x... i expect good tone from the things i buy...i bought this thing under a year ago...and sold it last month. the last time i used it was around march. seriously folks, this thing is TOOOOO noisy. yes, i had a noise gate. but this DAMN thing was too noisy and didnt have enough gain on tap. talk about worthless...rocktron is pretty much shit, with the exception of the prophecy. take my advice and opinion into strong consideration...YOURE BUYING EXPENSIVE CRAP!

Couldn't be easier to use. There's just enough options here to satisfy the knob-turner in all of us without getting anywhere near overwhelming.

This is THE BEST distortion pedal I have ever had the honor of playing through and I've tried an enourmous amount of pedals and effects over the decade I've been playing. I've tried and modded just about everything by Boss and I've run a lot of Danelectro, Digitech, etc... if my local music store had it out on display I tried it.

The pedal is a full on preamp and has a lot of oomph to it. You have two stages of distortion, the first one controlled by a 12ax7 tube. I've been able to dial in a nice classic rock crunch, a la AC/DC with this. I don't use crunch much, as I am what you can consider a shredder and full on metal player. I mainly use this channel when I want something a little dirtier than clean for a lead or melody or two.

Channel 2, marked "Slayer", is full on metal style of distortion that mixes a solid state distortion with the tube stage mentioned earlier. Its a very rich, deep distortion with great sustain and responds well to your pick attack. Its perfect for palm mutes and that sort of thing since it doesn't muddy up all when you mute.

"Intensity" control does just that. It seems to respond differently (and also feed back more at higher settings) to your pick depending on where you set this one. You can get more of a bite or muddy it up a bit to your liking with this.

"Breath" controls the character of each note. Basically the shape the sine wave makes on a graph. It's a subtle effect but its there and is just something else to play with to shape your tone more.

Someone mentioned that this pedal "poisons the sound of your guitar"... which is unlikely because its True Bypass.

I didn't rate this a "10" because this thing is SO NOISY on "Slayer" mode. You almost need a noise gate if you are going to run this pedal in any sort of professional situation.

I've owned it close to a year and can't really say. It's made of aluminum and looks pretty sturdy. The tube is well protected.

N/A

As mentioned before I play shred/metal. I use a Carvin DC400 into this pedal into a Fender Deville (plus some other effects) and I get the tone I am looking for with this set up. I am stepping up to a more professional setup with a modded Mesa Rectifier, so because of this I wouldn't replace it if lost or stolen. However, this thing beats the hell outta any BOSS pedal I have ever owned, even a Robert Keeley modded Metal Zone.

My only real grip about this thing is the hissing on the high gain stage, and the SIZE of this thing. Its rougly 12 inches long and probably 4 or 5 inches deep. It was very difficult working this thing into my pedal board because of the size and orientation of the inputs and DC jack. The pedal can not be run off of batteries and is powered by a 13 volt (!) adaptor. Because of this power rating my board can't power the pedal either so I have WAY too many wires running around my set up.

All in all its a good pedal. Just wish they designed the shape a little better.

The Silver Dragon is very easy to use, and you can get a good sound out of the unit almost immediately. The manual was very useful as a starting point.
I see many people have replaced the tube, I haven't yet but may do so, to see if I can get less hiss.

I use this pedal with a Gibson 335 and a Fender Strat thru a VHT Pitbull, and love the result. Lots of gain and sustain, my only comment is a little hiss, but I do use alot of gain. Great for Hard Rock, Blues and some Metal. I find the bypass to be a true bypass and it does not color the original sound of the guitar.

The pedal seems very well made and I would use it with out a backup. The power cord is a little short.

I never had to deal with the company.

This is a great pedal for Rock, and Blues and some Metal. I don't need a channel switching amp anymore, with this pedal. I been playing for 15 years, and if the pedal were to be stolen I would replace it. I wish you could store some of the settings, but then it wouldn't cost $99.

This is an update to an earley review. Ive gotten about 6 months of use into this unit and can give a better review now.

Changing the tube and doing the 900 ohm resistor change has made this a most useful pedal. The tube was groove tube 12ax7? I can now adjust it from clean to overdriven on the first chanel and get the super drive on the second. The sound quality was greatly improved. A much more full bodied sound. I usually set the settings and forget it. I play alot of clean Or slightly driven rythyms and like the Santana type feedback lead I can get out of my semi hollow bodies. I think the secret is using a compressor before it and a chorus after. The Compressor adds a 3rd kick to the sound when you want sustain. Those who dont like this units sound probibly still wont, but those who do will get a much better Touch and feel for playing notes and chords.
I presonally use about 3 or 4 different kinds of distortions/overdrives including my marshall overdrive channels, Fender overdrive channel, A boss dual channel rack unit, An old Yamaha rack unit, An earley rocktron GEP half rack unit, A marshall Govenor, and a Morley JD10 pedal to name a few. All have their uses in studio and live. It all depends on what I'm playing and what I want to get. Anyone who thinks one unit will do it all is just hasnt got it yet. The sound on this does take some tweeking and most of all You Have To Know How To Play. This isn't a Grunge machine that makes everything sound the same. I rate this Highly for pros and Those who think theyre pros better get back out there and start playing again because youve lost youre ear. Better yet Let someone else use it live while you sit and listen. Maybe you'll begin to appreciate its sound.

Well built aluminum.

NA

Great for the Price, With a few Mods You can get a fantastic sound. Not for everyone. If you grew up on crappy transistor boxes and think they have a good sound like the Tube Screamer or MXR which are Diode clipper boxes good for you, stick with it. Less compitition for Real Musicians who earn a living playing.

The knobs have stupid names, but it is pretty easy to use.The tube is WAY harder to change then it should be, you have to take apart the whole cover, and the tube cover is too small to enen fit the tube through.

Good sounding pedal, the chinese tube is o.k. I changed it to a GT 12AX7M mullard re-issue.
This was a mistake because first, I play pretty high gain music, and second because it took forever to change the tube.The GT smoothed it out a bit but over compressed it so, I am going to switch to a 12AX7EH and see if it sounds better.

With chinese tube:9
With GT12AX7M:7

ALWAYS gig with a backup, especially tubes.

no.

I bought is 6 months ago before rocktron wised up and raised the price.Other than the dumb knob names and the tube taking forever to change it is a very good sounding pedal.