Rocktron Silver Dragon - Manual (Page 11)

4) Now try the SLAYER mode.....you should be rocking now!
Note - SLAYER mode has tons of gain, but as you will hear a little goes very far.
Setting it to start at 9:00 O’clock will give you the best GAIN vs... HISS produced
at the output.
Note - BREATH Control: The Breath control has a very subtle yet noticeable effect
on the “feel” of the distortion while playing solos. This control actually changes the
symmetry of the wave form. A guitar produces sine waves. A SINE WAVE is like a
circle that has been cut in half with one half going up and the other half going
down. The half going up is know as the positive excursion and the half going down
is called the negative excursion. The Breath control allows the negative portion of
the wave form to become larger than the positive portion. This allows more
harmonics to be produced as it drives the tube. If you turn the Breath control full
counter clockwise the distortion will be symmetrical. Both positive and negative
portions are equal size.
As you turn the Breath control clockwise the negative portion will begin to increase
in size, this causes the negative portion to begin distorting before the positive
portion thus creating asymmetrical distortion. This is what adds the “character” or
“feel” in many expensive tube amplifiers. This is something that most seasoned
guitar players can feel.
It is something that is a relationship between the way the tube reacts with your given
playing style. Please experiment and have fun slaying the beast with the Silver
Dragon......