Rocktron Silver Dragon 12AX7 Tube Distortion Pedal

[DCZX]

Has anyone played one of these? Do they sound any good?

http://www.rocktron.com/products/silver.html

I just ordered a Warp Factor, but this thing looks cool, and it has a tube. I'm still leary of whether a tube pedal will be any better on my solid state amp than a solid state pedal.

[Inazone]

Re: Rocktron Silver Dragon 12AX7 Tube Distortion Pedal

I've never tried the Rocktron, but I'll sum up for you my experience combining solid state and tube gear:

Solid state preamp + tube power amp > tube preamp + solid state power amp

My gigging setup is, among other things, an ART Xtreme pedal into a Peavey Classic 50. It's the old `70s version that has a single-channel (clean) solid state preamp and two 6L6 tubes in the power section. At normal playing volumes, the Xtreme pedal through the Classic's power amp is a thing of beauty. My brother uses an old DOD FX7 pedal through the clean channel of a Peavey Heritage VTX tube head, with similar results.

However, we used to share a practice space with a guitarist who ran a tube Mesa preamp into a solid state head. I forget what brand, but it was a horrid combination. The preamp had a nice distorted sound, perfect for metal, but the solid state head just couldn't hold up at a reasonable volume. He tried EQs, an old Aphex Aural Exciter, different pickups...all sounded like ass.

[SeventhSon]

Re: Rocktron Silver Dragon 12AX7 Tube Distortion Pedal

Fwiw, the Rocktron Silver Dragon got a great review in Guitar One, but it's pretty expensive. Also, I think the way they name the controls is kind of ghey.

[DCZX]

Re: Rocktron Silver Dragon 12AX7 Tube Distortion P

Thanks for the info on your setup Inazone. I'll look for that review... it's not too expensive compared to other "tube" pedals I've seen though.

[thetroy]

Re: Rocktron Silver Dragon 12AX7 Tube Distortion P

Looks like a power metal pedal. Guess I'll have to get one when I make my Trogdor custom guitar!