PRS Dragon Guitars: EVERY Dragon! (Updated for November 2024)
Published on 12 November 2024
Beowulf.
St George.
Siegfried.
Heracles.
Tarhunz.
Tokoyo.
Susanoo-n-Mikoto.
Bilbo Baggins.
Paul Reed Smith.
What do all of these people have in common?
No, they are not all fictional: there’s really no proof about whether Beowulf existed or not. So, what links this disparate group of mighty figures?
That’s right: they’ve all grappled with dragons in their time. Heroes one and all, but one of that list is perhaps more relevant to us guitar fans than the others. Yes, as far back as 1992, Paul Reed Smith has been able to indulge his inner Dungeons & Dragons fan by issuing a range of special PRS Dragon guitars that have now, appropriately enough, become as legendary as the animals themselves.
Contents
The PRS Dragon - Dreams Becoming Reality
NEW for 2024: Private Stock 40th Anniversary McCarty Dragon
The PRS Dragon - Dreams Becoming Reality
PRS Dragon guitars are created very infrequently, often when company anniversaries arise. Always incredible to look at, each Dragon design is different from the last, and created in very, very small quantities. These celebratory guitars were actually a life-long ambition for the company’s leader. As Paul himself said:
“When I was a teenager, I had a dream about a guitar with a dragon inlaid down the neck, and in 1992, I was able to realise that dream for the first time. It has become an important part of our history to celebrate the technology that allows us to create these intricate inlays and the idea that dreams can become reality.”
For PRS fans, it’s always a major announcement when a new Dragon swoops in: whether those fans are justifiably in the market for such top-priced museum pieces or not, the anticipation from the PRS fanbase is palpable. Everyone loves these Dragons!
In fact, to date, there have been only 9 dragon guitar models from PRS, all with incredibly artful inlay work depicting a different dragon design in a variety of poses, all living on different parts of the instrument. This is, of course, created on top of an already stunning PRS guitar (the model differs), built with Private Stock-quality wood and appointments. These things are exquisite.
We recently had the indecently gorgeous 35th Anniversary Dragon guitar in stock, and its appearance has inspired me to look back on over 30 years of fire-breathing monsters from the deepest, darkest caves and lairs of Maryland. Dare you venture with me as I search for the Dragons?
The OG - Dragon I
Here’s the first ever PRS dragon! This falls in line with Paul’s crazy dream of a dragon inlaid neck, a theme that often - but not always - occurs on these guitars.
This first dragon appeared in 1992 and features a wide fat neck, offering more space for that astounding 201-piece dragon inlay! It’s made with abalone of various colours, and Mother of Pearl. Fifty of these were created worldwide.
The Sequel - Dragon II
PRS waited only a year before issuing a successor to the dragon throne, as it were. 1993’s bat-winged dragon is, if anything, even more iconic than the original. Just like the dragons you’ll find in fantasy novels, these creatures hoard gold: this guitar’s inlaid headstock signature being a prime example.
Dragon III
Another year passes, and a dragon returns to terrorise the land once again. ‘Trucks of gold’ were apparently delivered to Pearl Works, the company hired to create the intricate inlay work.
This Dragon III closely resembles a Custom 22 with a stoptail. Like most of the dragons, there were actually a range of colours available, something that isn’t always immediately clear, given how scarce these beasts are. One hundred of these Dragons were unleashed to the public in 1994.
Dragon 2000
Six years passed with no sightings of dragons in the sky. The millennium, however, signalled the return of dragons, with a quite spectacular Dragon 2000 model being made in a very limited edition. Only 50 of these wonderful creatures were created, but just look at that top! PRS tops are often cause for comment, but they don’t always have majestically bejewelled monsters breathing fire on top of the impressive figured maple.
This was the first time the dragon appeared on the guitar’s body. It increased the weight, but it clearly also increased the ‘awesome’. A good trade-off, in my opinion.
Dragon 2002
2002’s dragon was once again strikingly different to what came before, in a number of ways. First off, there was no full dragon body but instead a zoomed-in dragon face, all intricate and mean, covering up 90% of the guitar’s entire top!
It’s quite a statement piece, and the head is so big it actually spills over into the fingerboard, too. The detail is crazy here, with hundreds of precious stone pieces, abalone, pearl and more contributing to the effect.
Significantly, this was also the first ever dragon to use a Singlecut body. To date, it remains the only one. There were one hundred of these beautifully frightful dragons created.
20th Anniversary Dragon
Possibly the most gloriously over-the-top dragon yet, the 20th Anniversary Dragon depicts two fierce creatures locked in a deadly battle, their tails uncoiling along the lengths of two guitar necks.
Two necks? Yes indeed, this one is a double neck! A 6 string and a 12 string neck make this instrument one hell of a statement piece. A staggering 863 pieces of shell, stone, metal and wood were used in the dramatic depiction that unfolds across the expansive figured maple top. There’s Brazilian rosewood, gold and solid mahogany aplenty on this absolute masterpiece.
25th Anniversary Dragon
It obviously took a while to recover from that double-neck, because there wasn’t another dragon guitar until 2010. This one matches a Santana body with a return to the fingerboard-dwelling dragon of yore. This, though, differs from the others by being a close up of the fiend’s face and claws, reaching from the 23rd fret right back past the nut to the truss rod. This dragon was limited to 60 pieces.
30th Anniversary Dragon
It’s a return to the body inlays for the 30th Anniversary model, and appropriately, this handsome dragon was designed by Dungeons & Dragons artist Jeff Easley.
It poses atop a quite magnificent Private Stock grade maple top, and its tail whips into the Madagascan rosewood fingerboard.
285 separate parts (jade, azurite, pyrite and more) were required to bring this monster to life, and he sits on a top that has been hand-carved to ‘Pre-Factory’ contours. Best PRS Dragon ever? Possibly! It’s not like any of them aren’t magnificent, but this one is superb.
35th Anniversary Dragon
This newest addition to the family of Dragons brings us up to date. Created in 2020, the 35th Anniversary Dragon - the first in five years - is the one we briefly had available. I’m running out of adjectives to describe the beauty of these instruments, but this ‘Frostbite’ monster is a stunning addition to the collection.
This time, our creature returns to the fingerboard (ziricote here) and breathes flame into the truss rod cover, a lovely flash of bold colour on an otherwise awesomely austere colourway. In addition to what must be one of the most jaw-dropping slices of maple in existence, this guitar features green abalone, black Mother of Pearl, sand-shaded Holly and many more ingredients. What an obviously incredible instrument!
NEW for 2024: Private Stock 40th Anniversary McCarty Dragon
Swooping in towards us from a dark, brooding sky is this brand new Dragon model! This Private Stock McCarty Dragon is a celebration of 40 years of PRS (it’s early: PRS’s anniversary is actually 2025 but we’re getting this beast early), and it’s as spectacular as you’d hope.
The dragon art is once again designed by a Dungeons & Dragons artist (this time it is Jeff Easley), and the stunning inlay work contains over 200 individual pieces of opal, Juna and Mother of Pearl. This is inlaid on a fingerboard made of Gaboon ebony and Pale Moon ebony, on top of a ziricote neck. Incredible stuff!
There are 165 of these winged creatures in existence, armed with McCarty III pickups and finished in Burnt Chestnut.
Watch the Skies
So, you have now met the entire PRS Dragon family. Which was your favourite? Another fun question is: when will we see another? It’s impossible to know, really. Unlike, say, a game of Skyrim, where the dragons announce themselves by yelling at you and trying to set you on fire, these Dragons just appear out of the mists of Maryland, without prior warning. We’ll keep watching the skies for you and we’ll sound the alarm wherever we see a PRS Dragon on the horizon, but in the meantime, enjoy those images above, because guitar eye-candy does not get any better than that!
