Please fill me in on Dragon II pickups.

I like humbuckers that remind me of vintage 50's Gibson humbuckers and neither of the Dragons did.
Nah, I don't think that was ever their intent. They are more "modern", though I found the 2s cleaned up a bit easier rolling off the vol.

However, his pickups today are much, much better.
I don't like the term "better" as that always depends on what someone is looking for. But yes, if "vintage" is your thing, then many of the newer pups are geared that way.
 
Nah, I don't think that was ever their intent. They are more "modern", though I found the 2s cleaned up a bit easier rolling off the vol.


I don't like the term "better" as that always depends on what someone is looking for. But yes, if "vintage" is your thing, then many of the newer pups are geared that way.
I think Paul thinks they're "better" too. lol! Although he might use another word: "Different".

At about 11:30 Paul starts using that word.

 
Last edited:
I have a custom 22 that came with Dragon 2 pickups. I found them to be very mid range focused and muddy. I swapped them out for a set of Dragon 1s and the guitar came to life. My hunch is Dragon 2s may sound better in a guitar with brighter tone woods, like in a guitar with a maple neck or maybe even something made out of walnut.
 
I have a custom 22 that came with Dragon 2 pickups. I found them to be very mid range focused and muddy. I swapped them out for a set of Dragon 1s and the guitar came to life. My hunch is Dragon 2s may sound better in a guitar with brighter tone woods, like in a guitar with a maple neck or maybe even something made out of walnut.
Almost everyone who has owned both sets seems to prefer the Dragon I set.

It's just an awesome set of pickups for Blues Rock and hard Rock.

Strong vintage 50's tones from the neck pickup and a powerful bridge pickup voiced for near perfect overdrive tones through a great pedal and amp.

Nice single coil tones with the rotary switch.

The neck pickup seems about the same in the Dragon II's but the bridge pickup lacks the high output and big, smooth tone of the Dragon I.

A Duncan JB doesn't sound exactly the same but can play the same music and get really close to that sound.

So will a Suhr SSH+.
 
Last edited:
Yes. D 2s are 12 and 8

PRS-PickupsChart.jpg
Out of curiosity, has this grid been updated to include more recent pickups, and if so, where I can find it?

thanks!
 
I have a Dragon 2 treble in my Soltero, and I love it. I've heard alot about them sounding sterile, but I don't hear it. Sounds dandy to me. Not as hot as the OG Dragon 1's, they remind me of a hot PAF with more mids, but I like em.

I noticed peeps saying the 2's might be better in a guitar that's basically not made of mahogany. So....I wonder how they'd sound in a Fender Alder body. As it just so happens, I have another Frankensky project in the pipeline. I might give a Dragon 2 set a go on that.
 
I have a Dragon 2 treble in my Soltero, and I love it. I've heard alot about them sounding sterile, but I don't hear it. Sounds dandy to me. Not as hot as the OG Dragon 1's, they remind me of a hot PAF with more mids, but I like em.

I noticed peeps saying the 2's might be better in a guitar that's basically not made of mahogany. So....I wonder how they'd sound in a Fender Alder body. As it just so happens, I have another Frankensky project in the pipeline. I might give a Dragon 2 set a go on that.
dibs on one of your homoncul(ae?) someday.
 
All this talk about weak/sterile/thin Dragon II pickups has me thinking that a lot of guys have wired their guitars up wrong, or they completely don't know how to set pickup heights. I don't mean to disrespect any of you who have/had them and genuinely don't prefer them to other pickups; but I'm just saying I have a set and they're a completely viable regular/mainstream broad-based versatile sounding set of pickups. They're not like, "OMG WTF is this tin foil garbage s***?", they're actually decent pickups.
 
...they're actually decent pickups.
Yes. They are.

The bridge pickup in the Dragon II set suffers only in comparison to the Dragon I which has a killer 80's and 90's hard rock tone, especially when played through an overdriven tube amp using a great overdrive pedal.

The Dragon I gets a soaring tone that the Dragon II doesn't quite get.

The drawback of the Dragon I is that it's a little one dimensional for classic blues, jazz and rock. A big block of thick solid sound without a lot of space or "breath".

Which is why I also have guitars with medium output "paf" style humbuckers.
 
Last edited:
All this talk about weak/sterile/thin Dragon II pickups has me thinking that a lot of guys have wired their guitars up wrong, or they completely don't know how to set pickup heights. I don't mean to disrespect any of you who have/had them and genuinely don't prefer them to other pickups; but I'm just saying I have a set and they're a completely viable regular/mainstream broad-based versatile sounding set of pickups. They're not like, "OMG WTF is this tin foil garbage s***?", they're actually decent pickups.
Well...if I were to choose a setup reason why certain pickups sound sterile, it would be pickup height. It's kinda shocking how much difference small adjustments can make. That said, pickup height setup isnt rocket science. There's the old "nickel technique", stick two nickels atop the bass side of a pickup, one on the other, raise pickup till they touch the strings, and boom, yer done. It works damn well and factory specs arent far off, so a good place to tweak to taste from.

I think alot of the complaint against Dragon 2's is based on two factors: Dragon 1's and dinero. Dragon 1's are objectively hotter, livelier pickups. No arguing that. I would surmise it came as a wee shock when newer PRS guitars came out with the 2's installed, and you expect Dragon 1 sounds, and...it just aint there. PRS strikes me as one of those companies that never feels like they fully nailed something, they are totally willing to scuttle previous ideas and go in a different direction. Most of the time it works out, with the Dragon 2's...I guess not so hot.

...get it? Hot? Right, pun because its a pickup? Right, yeah?....*hangs head in shame*

Err, anyway...price. D2's cost $150-ish per pickup generally. That's quite up there, so we have alot of competition to consider before cselecting this as an aftermarket choice. I like D2's myself, but at that price range we are getting into things like Bareknuckle, and specifically a very similar deigned hot PAF pickup style, the Abraxas model, is just a superior pickup all around and costs the roughly the same. I would choose D2's only if the price was right on the used market, and even at the $100 range (which is only where I would consider buying a used D2) theres alot of competition, and pickups I still like a bit better. I would say its rather hyperbolic to be super critical of the D2, but I cant say there arent better options out there for your buck.
 
Back
Top