Dilemma: Savage or Dragon and Blackmore..?

[Faust2016]

Some of you might know my situation. In short it goes like this:I'm selling the Dragon and WTB an ENGL Savage..

 

But there seems to be little interest for my Dragon in Holland.

The thing with my Dragon is that I don't really like the 3rd channel anymore, nor do I feel like buying new tubes/fix my TS9/put different pickups in my guitar(s) and then still not be entirely happy.

That is why I was planning on buying a Savage, cause I played one and it was amazing

 

But yeah.. Since the Blackmore is voiced similiar to the Savage and I've heard some nice clips and it isn't too expensive/rare on the used market I was thinking I might be better off saving up for a Blackmore and then just keep my Dragon, cuz I LOVE the clean and crunch channels. And honestly I don't really want to sell it, cause I think I'll miss it . It would probably take about 3-4 months to get enough money for a Blackmore.

 

But how close can the Blackmore get to the ch.4 toanz of the Savage?

And what would you guys do if you were in my situation ( I need some different points of view ) ?

[Chrisjd]

I owned a savage 120, but have not played a blackmore yet. From what I have been told though, the savage is kind of like a more versatile, big brother to the blackmore. I supposedely sounds similar, but more metal than the blackmore.

[TheAmazingBlob]

While I can't really tell you how the Blackmore compares to the Savage from experience, I can tell you that the Blackmore is {censored}ing AWESOME . I could easily see myself using the Blackmore for a long, long time, except that now I want to try a Savage

The Savage is supposed to have a bit more gain, bass, saturation (though I find the Blackmore to have more than enough on tap), and the Blackmore is supposed to be a bit more versatile in terms of open rock tones and stuff.

[TheAmazingBlob]

I owned a savage 120, but have not played a blackmore yet. From what I have been told though, the savage is kind of like a more versatile, big brother to the blackmore. I supposedely sounds similar, but more metal than the blackmore.

You should get another Savage, and then we could A/B them somtime :poke:

[Uncle_Milton]

faust - what's the guitar in your avatar?

[chrispsullivan]

blackmore isnt as modern, from my understanding

[PurityS.L.G.]

I have both the Dragon and the Savage and man I could'nt be happier. I'm gonna post pics and a review later tonight or tomorrow morning on both of them.

Good luck on getting a Savage used. Those {censored}ers are RARE! I got lucky with mine. I had to tug it out of him but I got it.

Although the versatility of the Savage would keep you happy, I garauntee you would miss your Dragon. They are two completely different birds.

The Blackmore's Ch. 4 (hi gain) is comparable to Ch 3 of the Savage. You can boost Ch. 4 of the Blackmore and get tones fairly close to Ch. 4 of the Savage. Plus, two heads are better than one. It's always nice to have a back up incase one of them malfunctions or better yet to have two different tone machines on tap.

BTW, I would go the extra mile and do a bias and retube on the Dragon. The results may suprise you.

[Faust2016]

faust - what's the guitar in your avatar?

It's a Ran Custom.. Here's some more pics

[Faust2016]

While I can't really tell you how the Blackmore compares to the Savage from experience, I can tell you that the Blackmore is {censored}ing AWESOME . I could easily see myself using the Blackmore for a long, long time, except that now I want to try a Savage The Savage is supposed to have a bit more gain, bass, saturation (though I find the Blackmore to have more than enough on tap), and the Blackmore is supposed to be a bit more versatile in terms of open rock tones and stuff.

Does the fact that the Blackmore has only 1 eq bother you? Do you set the eq for one channel/sound and than the rest gets compromised much, or doesn't it bother you at all?

[Faust2016]

I have both the Dragon and the Savage and man I could'nt be happier. I'm gonna post pics and a review later tonight or tomorrow morning on both of them. Good luck on getting a Savage used. Those {censored}ers are RARE! I got lucky with mine. I had to tug it out of him but I got it. Although the versatility of the Savage would keep you happy, I garauntee you would miss your Dragon. They are two completely different birds. The Blackmore's Ch. 4 (hi gain) is comparable to Ch 3 of the Savage. You can boost Ch. 4 of the Blackmore and get tones fairly close to Ch. 4 of the Savage. Plus, two heads are better than one. It's always nice to have a back up incase one of them malfunctions or better yet to have two different tone machines on tap. BTW, I would go the extra mile and do a bias and retube on the Dragon. The results may suprise you.

What version of the Dragon did you get? Done any research on preamp tube combinations yet?
I still have JJ's in the pre (from the previous owner)
And yes.. Two heads is better than one, but on the other hand I wonder if my playing is good enough to justify having two heads. But I can always practice more .
The Savage is rare indeed.. In the last 4 months I've seen only 1 on the local used market

[TheAmazingBlob]

Does the fact that the Blackmore has only 1 eq bother you? Do you set the eq for one channel/sound and than the rest gets compromised much, or doesn't it bother you at all?

Well, I'm on channel 4 about 95% of the time, and on channel 1 the rest of time, so I'm not really the best guy to ask. But yeah, I set up my EQ for channel 4, and I think the cleans sound quite good, better than the shared-EQ Mark III and 5150 I owned.

 

From the very little time I've spent with it, channel 2 seems pretty harsh with my settings, and channel 3 sounds awesome. But for the 1 or 2 rock covers my band does, I can easily run over and turn down the treble on channel 2 for that song and it sounds awesome too.

 

So basically, no, it doesn't bother me. My only issue is channel 2, which I don't really have much use for (as channel 3 sounds great for rock as well).

[Faust2016]

Well, I'm on channel 4 about 95% of the time, and on channel 1 the rest of time, so I'm not really the best guy to ask. But yeah, I set up my EQ for channel 4, and I think the cleans sound quite good, better than the shared-EQ Mark III and 5150 I owned. From the very little time I've spent with it, channel 2 seems pretty harsh with my settings, and channel 3 sounds awesome. But for the 1 or 2 rock covers my band does, I can easily run over and turn down the treble on channel 2 for that song and it sounds awesome too. So basically, no, it doesn't bother me. My only issue is channel 2, which I don't really have much use for (as channel 3 sounds great for rock as well).

Ok that's another good thing
Will have to find a job now to make money for a Blackmore. I was just enjoying my 'vacation'.. I hate gas

[PurityS.L.G.]

What version of the Dragon did you get? Done any research on preamp tube combinations yet? I still have JJ's in the pre (from the previous owner) And yes.. Two heads is better than one, but on the other hand I wonder if my playing is good enough to justify having two heads. But I can always practice more . The Savage is rare indeed.. In the last 4 months I've seen only 1 on the local used market

My Dragon is a V3 with the stock EH tubes, but that will be changing within a few weeks

I loved the Ruby ELBSTR's and the JJ E34L's in my Cobra I had so I might grab another set of either one of those. I may even try out some Svetlana's. My friend Brian has a quad of his in his Dragon and it sounds sweet!

As far as the pre's go, I'm most likey gonna go with Chinese 9th gen tubes with a Penta or a Tad in the V1 slot. I'm going to do a lot of experimenting in the coming weeks.