PRS Dragon - #9 - In excess of £15K

guitars4you

Plenty of info via this link - https://guitar.com/news/gear-news/prs-namm-2020-dragon-guitar-35th-anniversary/

A run of 135 and you'll need in excess of £15K to acquire one

guitars4you

guitars4you

ChuckManual

I admire the artistry at work here - but, as with all the Dragon guitars over the years, I think the inlay would look better on boxes and whatnot...

andy1839

I was waiting for these to come out.

Quite disappointed.  I'd rather have one of the 2003 dragons for that money.

I was hoping for better colours, rosewood neck, or at least a figured maple one. And in a 594 or hollowbody style.

That's quite a high run number too.

Dominic

Totally agree
It would confuse the life out of me both trying to play it and trying to come to terms with the fact that it's the same price as a Harley Davidson or a used Porsche Caymen
On the other hand you can't play Smoke on the Water on either the bike or the car .

guitars4you

andy1839 said:

I was waiting for these to come out.

Quite disappointed.  I'd rather have one of the 2003 dragons for that money.

I was hoping for better colours, rosewood neck, or at least a figured maple one. And in a 594 or hollowbody style.

That's quite a high run number too.

A higher run than I'd have guessed and IMO diminishes its 'exclusivity'  - Good point about a 594 style and at least that would be somewhat of a 'fresh' approach

ICBM

guitars4you said:

Slightly of-topic I know, but this pic really brings it out...

Am I the only one who finds the lower cutaway on PRSs extremely ugly? In my opinion the body outline should follow the lower edge of the maple cap. I've owned five PRSs and I still can't get past that.

I'm not really keen on this one anyway - the 'flame' at the headstock in particular spoils it. I do like some Dragons too, so I'm not just a bling-hater - oddly, when it's this far over the top much I find it less offensive than the usual cherry-burst/quilt-maple/gold-hardware ones. My favourites are the 30th Anniversary and the 2000.

Kalimna

Not-entirely-limited-run aside, I really quite like that. I actually think it's a little classier than previous Dragons. And the body carries over the 'Dragon Breath' burst from their 'ordinary' range....

Philly_Q

Lovely workmanship as always, but I think the body looks a bit low-key in comparison with the extravagance of the neck.

And maybe it's just a personal bugbear, but I always think black pickups in black mounting rings make a core PRS look like an SE.

Whitecat

Looks fabulous, but “only” 135... yeesh. Not exactly exclusive. 

RaymondLin

Whitecat said:

Looks fabulous, but “only” 135... yeesh. Not exactly exclusive. 

There are less PRS multi foil finish than dragons.  Rather large limited edition.

Twinfan

You could get a Private Stock the same as that, minus the inlay for ~£9k.  So with a run of 135, not exactly small, you're paying £6k for the dragon inlay.

I expect plenty to hang on dealer walls for a while before being discounted to shift them - and I say that as a big PRS fan.

guitars4you

Twinfan said:

You could get a Private Stock the same as that, minus the inlay for ~£9k.  So with a run of 135, not exactly small, you're paying £6k for the dragon inlay.

I expect plenty to hang on dealer walls for a while before being discounted to shift them - and I say that as a big PRS fan.

Or you could find 2 or 3 very clean but used Private Stock models for 15K - And all very nice as well

The Singlecut with pernambuco that you purchased from me was one of my favourite PS models - I think you still own it 

I'm not against the idea of a 15K outlay - But I'd prefer the 15 K to be over a number of years and have 3-5 different PRS models - Starting with the original spec'd Modern Eagle ( I still own the faded blue jean stop tail that is ultra faded)

webrthomson

I like it - it's so over the top it *almost* works

Stupid price though!

artiebear

guitars4you said:

Twinfan said:

You could get a Private Stock the same as that, minus the inlay for ~£9k.  So with a run of 135, not exactly small, you're paying £6k for the dragon inlay.

I expect plenty to hang on dealer walls for a while before being discounted to shift them - and I say that as a big PRS fan.

Or you could find 2 or 3 very clean but used Private Stock models for 15K - And all very nice as well

The Singlecut with pernambuco that you purchased from me was one of my favourite PS models - I think you still own it 

I'm not against the idea of a 15K outlay - But I'd prefer the 15 K to be over a number of years and have 3-5 different PRS models - Starting with the original spec'd Modern Eagle ( I still own the faded blue jean stop tail that is ultra faded)

If it's about quality of woods (particularly aesthetically )I would be inclined to delve back a little further to a time when a 10 top really was that and the signature was a step above again. I see so many modern PRS guitars using the Private stock or Wood Library angle to set them apart that would once have been one of the aforementioned designations. It does seem that people are laying out a lot of cash for supposedly limited exclusivity ( Dragons excluded as they are more for the compulsive collectors ) and top woods, when the same grades are out there for a lot less money , even amongst some of the earlier Artist pack guitars. I do like PRS guitars, I still have 5 , but the youngest is probably 20 years old now and none of the PRS marketing since has really made me want to run out and get my hands on a new one.

guitars4you

artiebear said:

guitars4you said:

Twinfan said:

You could get a Private Stock the same as that, minus the inlay for ~£9k.  So with a run of 135, not exactly small, you're paying £6k for the dragon inlay.

I expect plenty to hang on dealer walls for a while before being discounted to shift them - and I say that as a big PRS fan.

Or you could find 2 or 3 very clean but used Private Stock models for 15K - And all very nice as well

The Singlecut with pernambuco that you purchased from me was one of my favourite PS models - I think you still own it 

I'm not against the idea of a 15K outlay - But I'd prefer the 15 K to be over a number of years and have 3-5 different PRS models - Starting with the original spec'd Modern Eagle ( I still own the faded blue jean stop tail that is ultra faded)

If it's about quality of woods (particularly aesthetically )I would be inclined to delve back a little further to a time when a 10 top really was that and the signature was a step above again. I see so many modern PRS guitars using the Private stock or Wood Library angle to set them apart that would once have been one of the aforementioned designations. It does seem that people are laying out a lot of cash for supposedly limited exclusivity ( Dragons excluded as they are more for the compulsive collectors ) and top woods, when the same grades are out there for a lot less money , even amongst some of the earlier Artist pack guitars. I do like PRS guitars, I still have 5 , but the youngest is probably 20 years old now and none of the PRS marketing since has really made me want to run out and get my hands on a new one.

I think a 594 Semi Hollow has been the only recent addition in the last 5 years, or so, that would entice me

Agree that the Wood Library approach has saturated the market to much

Agree that many good options to look at from the back catalogue - And not all expensive - I had a nice Korina Mira a week ago that was a lot of nice guitar for a touch over 1K

Philly_Q

guitars4you said:
Agree that many good options to look at from the back catalogue - And not all expensive - I had a nice Korina Mira a week ago that was a lot of nice guitar for a touch over 1K

I saw that on your site and felt a twinge of GAS, but it had already been sold.

guitars4you

Philly_Q said:

guitars4you said:
Agree that many good options to look at from the back catalogue - And not all expensive - I had a nice Korina Mira a week ago that was a lot of nice guitar for a touch over 1K

I saw that on your site and felt a twinge of GAS, but it had already been sold.

Went to a good home - Regular guy I know - A lot of guitar for the money and not to different in price to an S2 version

Twinfan

guitars4you said:

The Singlecut with pernambuco that you purchased from me was one of my favourite PS models - I think you still own it 

I do indeed - it's better than any LP I've ever played or owned.  Awesome guitar.

OnTheHunt

The lighter area in the finish is supposed to represent a dragon fire breath apparently - but, if so, it's originating at the arse end of the dragon on the fretboard.  Myself and the wife know this guitar as the '£15k Dragon Fart'.