# People that have owned a Framus Dragon...



## 7deadlysins666 (Feb 12, 2010)

Tell me your complete honest opinions on this amp. I am really thinking hard about snatching one up, but I can't try it out because no one close has one. From the clips and videos that I have heard I like the sound of the Dragon with a Maxon better than the Cobra hands down. But clips only help so much.

I would be running it through a Peavey 5150 4x12 and Peavey Windsor 4x12 cabs temporarily until I can afford some better cabs and I will also probably be using a Proco Rat, which I like better than the Maxon/Ibanez mainly because it does the same thing but just a bit different than the rest. I would also be using a Lexicon MX200 through the effects loop for reverb/chorus/delay and would not run anything else other than a pedal tuner. Everything of course will eventually go into a furman as well.


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## JJ Rodriguez (Feb 12, 2010)

I loved mine. I sold it just because I went to the Axe FX. If you get one, do NOT use JJ tubes in it. I had nothing but bad luck with them in my Dragon, but as soon as I went to Tung-Sol, all the problems went away.

They're a darker sounding amp. They're pretty tight, and have a lot of mids. It's a really nice amp. The MIDI on it is an awesome feature too, easy to program channel switching.


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## Jogeta (Feb 12, 2010)

i've not owned one, but two of my friends do/did!

Piggy (San Sebastian/Wearenumbernine) used his crazy orange tolex one when he played in Ghosts Over Japan (and also Presoulnation!) and it _always_ sounded killer! And he used the crunch channel exclusively - with no overdrive pedals or anything!
With that said, it took him ages to get the tone he wanted. We went to practice one day and all the dials got changed en-route and it sounded shit (compared to before) and took him a quite a while to get it right again.

Swizz from Empires Fade has one, and it always sounds really good too! I'm not sure what channels he uses, but I know he has a Maxon OD808 that is always on. His sound is more high gain than Piggys, with a bit less mids - and everything is really clear! You can hear every note in every chord!

They are both really good players (with good ears) and I'm sure this will have something to do with the sounds they pull out of these amps 

In short - I've heard them on stage opposite Peavey 6505s and 6505IIs (including mine), Dual Recs, Uberschalls, Herberts and all sorts of Marshalls..... and they always hold their own!

I'm going to get one eventually! MIDI features just sweeten the deal! 


Dragon + GSP1101 = unopposable epic flexible win!


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## 7deadlysins666 (Feb 12, 2010)

Jogeta said:


> i've not owned one, but two of my friends do/did!
> 
> Piggy (San Sebastian/Wearenumbernine) used his crazy orange tolex one when he played in Ghosts Over Japan (and also Presoulnation!) and it _always_ sounded killer! And he used the crunch channel exclusively - with no overdrive pedals or anything!
> With that said, it took him ages to get the tone he wanted. We went to practice one day and all the dials got changed en-route and it sounded shit (compared to before) and took him a quite a while to get it right again.
> ...




That helps me out quite a lot, both of you guys have. I know both are saying it is a darker amp. Maybe its the Maxon running through it but it sounded like a 6505/Mesa bastard child on steroids. What type of guitars were played through them? Looks like my next guitar is going to be one of the Schecter V-7's which is all mahogany. Sounded KILLER through a 6505, but I don't want it to be Too dark. I usually like my tone bright, but I have been getting into the darker amps lately. As long as it is clear and crushing at the same time it can be dark. 


Oh and are you talking about JJ Preamp tubes, power tubes, or both? I have a Tungsol and 2 JJ high gain ECC38's in my Valveking I was going to put into the new amp but I will just get a few more Tung Sols if that is the case.


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## JJ Rodriguez (Feb 12, 2010)

Both. Try it out... but have a couple spares on hand. They don't die right away, but don't last anywhere near as long as they should. I put 3 sets of power amp tubes in the Dragon, and replaced several pre-amp tubes, and I owned it maybe a year. I thought it was the amp, but like I said, once I put Tung Sol in it, it worked fine.

I played all mahogany guitars through it and it sounded great. I have a variety of guitars/pickups and they all sounded good. It is very clear and articulate, it just happens to be dark. Distorted chords sounded great through it.


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## Jogeta (Feb 12, 2010)

7deadlysins666 said:


> What type of guitars were played through them?



Piggy used his Blackmachine B6 with custom wound Warpigs, and Swizz uses his Caparison TATII (EMGs with 18v mod)

the attached pic is Piggys old rig  (the ISP is now mine mwahaha)
can't find a pic of Swizz's rig, but i'll hassle him about it


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## TMM (Feb 12, 2010)

7deadlysins666 said:


> Maybe its the Maxon running through it but it sounded like a 6505/Mesa bastard child on steroids.



The tonality and responsiveness is not really similar to either of those amps. It's much more in the 'Marshally' tone range, though it sounds better than any Marshall I've ever heard. Like I said in the PM, too, the low end is huge from the Dragon, so it will probably convince you to get new cabs, as I don't believe either of those will handle the kind of low end it can produce very well. You can, of course, keep it dialled-down while you have those cabs, but once you hear the amp with the low end turned up a little (and by a little, I mean above 3), you'll want to leave it that way, because it sounds awesome.

Comparing it to the Cobra, both amps have insane low end, but the Dragon is more focused, has a little less gain, with bouncy responsiveness, and has more of a dry feel to it, where the Cobra is super-saturated, and has a more liquid tone and feel. In a word, I'd describe the Dragon's OD as 'roaring', while the Cobra is more 'searing', if that makes any sense.


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## 7deadlysins666 (Feb 12, 2010)

Thanks again guys. I will look into new cabs as well.... I can get a pretty good deal on some Madison cabs with V30s... just hope I can get a decent amount out of the peavey cabs haha.


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## JJ Rodriguez (Feb 12, 2010)

TMM said:


> Like I said in the PM, too, the low end is huge from the Dragon



This times 10 million 

The first time I cranked my Dragon, I literally shook a light fixture off a ceiling and it shattered on the floor. Now that's metal


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## 7deadlysins666 (Feb 12, 2010)

Thank you all again. That is very metal JJ! Looks like as long as I can find one for the right price when the tax money gets here my GAS will get the best of me on this one.


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## metalvince333 (Feb 13, 2010)

Ohhhh guys...you make my dragon AAS go crazy!!I own a ruby riot wich doesnt look or have the reputation of being a metal amp and holy crap...I get my favorite tones ever! I just need a job and then ill maybe sell my hughes & kettner to get a dragon with a good cab, probably the matching one.


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## JeffFromMtl (Feb 13, 2010)

I currently own JJ's old Dragon, and all I can really do is second what everyone else has been saying. This amp really is the definition of density in tone. It's just so dark-sounding, and thick would even be an understatement. Just huge, huge roaring tone! As for cabs, I've found the best compliment to the Dragon is a Mesa Rectifier 4x12. I tried an Orange 4x12 which also sounded awesome, but sounded a bit brighter in the midrange and a Marshall 1960A, which sounded a little too crispy/fizzy for my liking. The Recto cab just emphasizes the thickness of this amp's voicing.


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## Nightcrawler (Feb 14, 2010)

I'm interested in this amp as well. Heard the clean tone was nice and it's rather quiet, which are both good qualities. However, can it do different metal tones. ie/ black/death/thrash/sludge or is it mostly a one trick pony?


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## lewbob (Feb 14, 2010)

i really want to try out a dragon or get hold of one ! currently running a cobra and whilst its the tone i want would be nice to see what the dragon sounds like a/b with the cobra in person !!


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## fallenz3ro (Feb 14, 2010)

7deadlysins666 said:


> Thank you all again. That is very metal JJ! Looks like as long as I can find one for the right price when the tax money gets here my GAS will get the best of me on this one.



Hate to refer to other forums and stuff....

But do you post on Harmony Central? The last time we had a DC Ampfest, someone brought his dragon and it sounded great. He still has it...so if we have another amp fest, you should come check it out!


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## Zugster (Feb 14, 2010)

I had a Dragon for a while. Loved it, but decided to go in the rack direction with a GSP1101 + power amp. The Dragon went to my son who is very happy with it. The low end is great and the cleans were really a pleasant surpirse. The lead channel when boosted with a bloody nurder tubescreamer was absolutely metal.

One thing though. There were different versions of the Dragon. Some older ones had bias that was inaccessible and in newer versions its accessible without opening the cover plate. That's what you want.


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## thefoldaaron (Feb 26, 2010)

Ive played with one for 3 yrs now and i love it. Its very versatile. Clean channel with a tube screamer sounds warm and punchy. The mid gain channel is ok but i hardly ever use it. The lead ch is alot like a Bogner or older marshall 800. Alot of mid range punch. 
Im selling my Dragon head and cab if youre interested. Been kept safe in calzone road cases!


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## JJ Rodriguez (Feb 26, 2010)

Nightcrawler said:


> I'm interested in this amp as well. Heard the clean tone was nice and it's rather quiet, which are both good qualities. However, can it do different metal tones. ie/ black/death/thrash/sludge or is it mostly a one trick pony?



Well, it can be quiet if you turn down the volume 

Also has 2 master volumes, so you can dial in your clean channel at a really low volume from the pre-amp to make sure it doesn't break up at all, then crank the second master and use that. It's also MIDI switchable/programmable, so the setting will be there once you hit that patch on your MIDI controller.


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## 7deadlysins666 (Feb 26, 2010)

Today is the day. I will be ordering an amp today. Here is my problem:

At this point there are 3 amps that I really like and want but the delimma I am having is pretty much if I buy the Framus, which I think will be the best out of the three, I will not be able to buy all the other equipment that I want, if I buy the Mesa I will be able to buy all the equipment that I want, and the Soldano I will be able to buy most. 

Framus Dragon - 1299
Soldano Hot Rod 50 - 999
Mesa Single Rect - 799

The Soldano is also a 1 channel amp, which I can make work by rolling my volume back and I LOVE the Soldano crunch, but I think I would have to end up investing in another amp for the clean. I am Really lusting after the Framus, but I feel like I am going to need a new cab for it, which I won't be able to buy because I am also buying a Schecter V-7. I also need some cables, a Proco Rat to boost it, and a footswitch for my Lexicon, which I won't be able to afford if I get the Framus. I am going to try to talk them down on the Dragon because I have seen them go for $900 before, if they will take $1099 for it it would work out perfectly. I couldn't buy a new cab, but I would have about $100 for new cables and the Rat (which I can get for $50).


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## JJ Rodriguez (Feb 26, 2010)

Well, you might want to be careful. If someone offered me $900 for my Dragon I would have told them to go fuck themselves  $1300 used is a fairly decent deal, considering they go for more than twice that new, street price.

For $900, I'd assume something was wrong with the amp, or it was beat to shit. I wouldn't have taken anything under his price for my Dragon. I can't remember what I ended up selling it to Jeff for but I'm sure it was around that price.


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## Zugster (Mar 6, 2010)

My son has my Dragon now. With an Orange 2x12 - the older kind, oversized, deep and make of thicker plywood. He was playing his 7 string RG with Dimarzios through it today. Sounded totally sick.


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## Knucklebut420 (Nov 23, 2011)

I run 4 amps for my tone and an array of guitars.. I run,(97)Framus Dragon,(81)JCM800,Mesa Boogie 50 caliber(original small tubes),and a (72)Fender Twin Reverb(modifieded to early 60,s Blackface)Mesa Boogie Simul-Class 295 Power amp, Into 6 1960 A+B Cabs,and Head Switching Systems to tie it all in.Lemme tell ya.the earth moves when its all cookin hehe.All in All I LOVE the Framus!!


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## Deliverowned (Nov 24, 2011)

dont even try, necro bump


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