So it is no great surprise that I’ve used and expressed my appreciation for the tone of 3rd Power Amps over the years. Heck, one of the reasons I first started using the Kemper was so that I could get the sound of my 3rd Power amp in a portable package to take on the road for fly dates so I wouldn’t be stuck with backline amps that were beaten to death. Dylana Scott has been creating amps that take vintage tone and refine it for a long time now and her wealth of knowledge just continues to grow as she innovates, creating patented ways to give guitar players the best tone possible.
The latest of the adventures/collaborations is the new Dragon 100 amp, created for Joe Satriani for Sammy Hagar’s “Best of Both Worlds” tour. Their collaboration began as a quest to find an amp that captures the essence of early VH music but can cover everything that Joe needs for the breadth of material he plays throughout the night. It all starts with a great british overdrive tone but there are so many nuances available courtesy of the powerful little switches found all over the control panel. Here are some of the listed highlights of the amp:
THE DRAGON 100 INFO SHEET
The DRAGON 100 is a vintage inspired, modern featured 100W electric guitar amplifier designed in collaboration with Joe Satriani and 3rd Power’s Dylana Scott. It’s vintage inspiration comes from the legendary 1967/1968 Plexi Super Lead 100. It’s modern features come from the vast combined knowledge and experience of Joe and Dylana.
The DRAGON 100 encapsulates the soul and inspiration of iconic studio recorded guitar tones throughout history. At its core, the DRAGON 100 is a hand-wired, point-to-point amplifier – built with loving attention to detail, by people skilled in the craft.
When you plug your guitar into a DRAGON 100 amplifier, each note leaps out with intense passion, authority, and glorious warmth. In other words, it’s PURE CREATIVE FIRE!
FEATURES:
• British Voiced Plexi & Cascaded High Gain Preamp Section (switchable) • Switchable 400Hz Boost fattens and shapes unwound treble strings
• Dual-mode 3-Band EQ (JTM/JMP – switchable)
• Tube Buffered FX Loop (foot-switchable)
• Preamp Gain Boost (foot-switchable)
• Ultra-Presence High Frequency Shelving Filter: (1.7, 3.7, 4.3 and 5.2kHz corner frequencies) • Switchable FOCUS mode (vintage or mid-forward for more vocal-like lead tones)
• Foot Switchable MUSICAL SILENT MUTE (FX tails finish their cycle before amp goes silent)
• HybridMasterTM Volume Managment Technology (3P Patented)
Not a power-scale or power soak, Hybridmaster simultaneously controls the volume, limits the DC current and regulates the DC plate voltage of the tube circuitry
• Variable Lead Boost Control (foot-switchable)
• Quad Svetlana Brown-base EL34 Power Tubes (100W Operation)
• Aluminum Chassis for fast response and enhanced fidelity
• Chassis and Transformer Layout Based on the legendary 1967/68 Plexi • Premium, Sealed-action Potentiomenters by Tokyo Cosmos Electronics • Back-panel Bias Test Points and Adjustment Pot
• Custom Wound USA-made Power & Output Transformers by Heyboer
• 4 Button Pro Foot Switch & 7 Pin Cable (included)
• Hand-wired and Hand Built in Nashville, TN
• Limited Lifetime Warranty
The innovative features like the 400Hz mid bump, high freq shelving settings, plexi/jtm mode, cascading gain, hybrid master, and gain boost are all so useful that I don’t know how we’ve lived without these things for so long. I kinda have the same feeling when talking to people about the Kemper, like “why can’t real amps have a ‘definition’ or ‘clarity’ knob?”
The end result is an amp that can sound sweet or angry, rude and pissed off or creamy and smooth, depending on your playing style and how you set the amp. At its core it captures a 68 Plexi tone but has so much ability to fine tune to your taste that it’s truly a fun experience to play and hear.
All that is to say that I had a great time profiling this amp. While I am just a dumb ol’ country guitar player and can’t do EVH licks justice, it still makes me feel a bit like a rock star. I tried to capture everything that I would need onstage and on tour as well as snapshots of most of the many setting variations available. I think it all comes down to the fine tuning aspect, balancing the rich lows with the smooth top end, with almost any amount of gain necessary.
I did a lot of Liquid Profiles of this amp so that gain/eq adjustments sound natural as well as a collection of “generic” profiles that ulitize the original (and great) Kemper tone stack eq. The end result is a fun collection of great guitar tones that satisfy all of your Plexi needs for the foreseeable future. And if you still need tweakability, you still have access to all of the Kemper amp parameters and fx at your disposal.
Also included are 3 Performances of some of my favorites and some that are personalized tweaks done by Dylana based on her years of recording and working closely with Joe and what his needs are. I hope you enjoy it and welcome the house of the Dragon to your home.
Cheers!
Mike
for more information go to: https://3rdpower.com/dragon-series/