Framus Dragon: Opinions?

[War_in_D]

Got someone wanting to trade me a Framus Dragon half stack. I'm familiar with the brand, but never heard one in person. Anyone with any experience with them?

 

[RaceU4her]

I remember them popular in the hcaf days, never hear about them anymore though

 

[stratjacket]

I had one about 12-15years ago, not sure. Had it for a few years. I really liked it. Takes pedals well to make it go chugga chugga but can clean up to nice cleans. I really enjoyed it. I had an Engl Fireball and Diamond Nitro at the time and I played the Dragon way more. Way under valued amps in my opinion that never really took off.

I don't know what you're offered on trade so can't speak to that. but the Framus Dragon is a cool amp.

 

[napalmdeath]

I think Killswitch Engage used those for a bit.

If it was clean, and works out in your favor, snag it. I heard great tones from them back in those HCAF days, I'd love to try one. I played a Cobra at a GC once, and it sounded pretty killer, (but had some issues that were probably tubes).

 

[itsgoodnow]

It’s the end of heartache tone. Rose of Sharyn was a cobra.

The dragon has more Marshall qualities. The cobra is a slo clone. I had a dragon I had Jerry from FJA convert into a cobra with mods. They’re cool but had reliability issues. Also tone was heavily affected by the effect loop position.

Pair the dragon with a ts9 and it rocks

 

[Erock]

I had a Cobra with the matching greenback cab, and thought it sounded great. It could breath fire dialed with a boost. The insides looked like a printer though, and you could wipe off the silk screen by looking at it wrong.


edit: the Cobra, courtesy of HCAF.

 

[War_in_D]

Thanks for all the input, I think I'm going to pass on the trade offer.

 

[Smash]

No matter how good an amp sounds, if there is a ribon connector and or molex connectors, it is a hard no

 

[ners]

I briefly looked into one and my TLDR is that they're poorly built tweaked SLOs.

If that's the tone you're after there are better options, like a Mezzabarbera or something

 

[skoora]

No matter how good an amp sounds, if there is a ribon connector and or molex connectors, it is a hard no

That is going to be almost any high gain, multi channel head made today.

 

[rottingcorpse]

The loops on the Framus cobra and dragon absolutely suck balls. I had both at the beginning of my "high gain" amp quest in 2007 or so. They both sounded good, but they were made of glass and broke easily. No bueno.

 

[PurityS.L.G]

Yeah Framus has KSE to thank for their short lived popularity for sure! I’ve owned V2 without ext bias and V3 w/ ext bias of both the Dragon and Cobra. The Dragon is like a drier grainier JCM800 with enormous low end. The Cobra was a super tight dry SLO/Recto. Both needed channel volume cranked and a boost to sound their best. Those were fun amps at the time but they were not reliable at all.

I own a Dragon 412 cab and it sounds fantastic. I recommend grabbing one for cheap if you ever have the opportunity.

 

[Smash]

That is going to be almost any high gain, multi channel head made today.

I dont do channel changers. So no big deal

 

[Omnipotent1]

No matter how good an amp sounds, if there is a ribon connector and or molex connectors, it is a hard no

Could you elaborate?

 

[Smash]

Could you elaborate?

I want a turret board mostly, but a well designed pcb is probably best for reliability.

If you have a turretboard done by someone that gives a shit and knows what they are doing, man that is a reliable amp.

Molex connectors have a huge failure rate as they are tiny pins. Ribbons are just so goddamned lazy imo

 

[Omnipotent1]

I want a turret board mostly, but a well designed pcb is probably best for reliability.

If you have a turretboard done by someone that gives a shit and knows what they are doing, man that is a reliable amp.

Molex connectors have a huge failure rate as they are tiny pins. Ribbons are just so goddamned lazy imo

Understood! I never paid any attention to the different boards used, but have scratched my head at the radically different constructions.. Thank you for explaining. To dumble it down.. lol classic precision handmade Swiss watch vs digitally printed (yet reliable) smart watch.

 

[anomaly]

Lamb Of God also used the Cobra for a short while. They sound killer to me.

 

[Omnipotent1]

Lamb Of God also used the Cobra for a short while. They sound killer to me.

Good info- dope band Live or on albums?

 

[cobrahead1030]

Good info- dope band Live or on albums?

I know they used them live, I think they may have played them on Palaces Burn.

I actually cranked up my old Cobra the other day. Fingers crossed; I’ve mine since ‘04 with no issues.

 

[Erock]

I know they used them live, I think they may have played them on Palaces Burn.

I actually cranked up my old Cobra the other day. Fingers crossed; I’ve mine since ‘04 with no issues.

not gonna lie, I was all paranoid at the time that it was going to shit the bed on me. I really liked the sound, and at least should have kept the greenie loaded 4x12. I would like to still have that amp these days.