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The real strength of this pedal is in its balance and transparency. It offers a single stage, broad frequency boost to give your tube amp a serious front-end push. If you just need more volume for clean leads and solos, and you want to preserve the essential tone of your rig, the Dragon’s transparency makes it a very good pick. Up to about noon, it made my Tele’s single coils sound beefier through several different amps, but with no extra brightness, midrange hump, or loss of clarity on the low end.
If you’re looking for a boost that you can leave on, turn the Dragon up past noon—it’ll kick a clean amp into a bit of a sweat, giving your signal more sparkle and animation, while providing a touch of grit when you dig in. It’s very sensitive, and responds admirably to changes in playing dynamics. For a real kick, use it to push an amp that’s already working overtime into some sweet, rich clipping. At 13dB of overall boost, the Dragon is less extravagant than many other similar pedals, but it doesn’t seem to need any more.
Also worthy of special mention, Lizard Leg sent us “The Box.” It’s a small, standalone 9V DC adaptor that runs on batteries. With no more unscrewing every enclosure for battery access, and no need to find a spot for another wall wart, it made the job of reviewing a big pile of pedals much simpler. It is sold separately, but at only $15 when you order a pedal it’s a nobrainer. – CB
Buy If...
you want a muscular, well-built boost that won’t add its own signature to your tone.
Skip If...
you’re looking to boost a specific frequency range.
Rating...
MSRP $179 (US delivery) - Lizard Leg Effects - lizardlegeffects.com |
