The Dragon

James Stephanidis

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Joined
Dec 21, 2021
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26
I pulled the trigger and was able to snag one of the 40th Anniversary McCarty Dirty Dragon guitars from my local guitar shop. It is an amazing instrument in every detail, sort of. It plays beautifully. The new McCarty III pickups sound clear and concise. I'm loving it. The dragon is best viewed in some strong light to see all the various colors and how they change as the viewing angle is changed. Very good artistry in the inlay work.

The "sort of" remark comes from the stain detail on the back of the neck. Once I was over the ohhing and ahhing of the dragon, I then noticed the large blotches of stain drips on the neck. Also, part of the neck is satin and part glossy. A step was missed somewhere on this particular guitar neck. On a Private Stock "limited edition" model, I would have expected some extra attention to the detail. It's a correctable issue. The PTC has requested to have the guitar sent in for repair. Great customer service.

Aside from the stain issue, the guitar is perfect in visual appearance and in playability. I have been playing it every day.

The other error that I noticed was in the certificate of authentication document that comes with the private stock guitars. The McCarty dragon uses non-locking tuners. The certificate list locking tuners. A small factual error, but, this may be misunderstood years down the road if I ever decide to sell it. The certificate won't match the guitar as it came from the factory. I've submitted a request for an updated COA which the PTC has corrected and resent an updated COA. Again, great customer service. Thank you!!

Issues occur but in the end, PRS will make it right. Rock on!
 
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Here are a couple of photos, the first one is the Dragon in its case. The second photo shows the stain drip I referenced.
r3PQsCU.jpeg

iZtc7Ng.jpeg
 
Isn't that wood natural mineral streaks?
when you look at different angles, you can see where the stain pooled to an area. If you look closely, it doesn't flow with the grain in that area. Also, the area looks more like bare wood where the stain didn't get to.

To make sure we're looking at the same thing. I circled the area where it pooled.
3hMeFwF.jpeg
 
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Are you able to feel those spots? It can be hard to tell when something is part of the natural wood. Different parts of the wood take stain better than others. That is the peril of working with a natural material. If you can feel them, you could probably use some oooo steel whool to smooth them out and blend them in. Of course, I am sure PRS will address it since it is a new instrument and I would recommend letting them do that.
 
Are you able to feel those spots? It can be hard to tell when something is part of the natural wood. Different parts of the wood take stain better than others. That is the peril of working with a natural material. If you can feel them, you could probably use some oooo steel whool to smooth them out and blend them in. Of course, I am sure PRS will address it since it is a new instrument and I would recommend letting them do that.
It’s actually very smooth. I’m assuming it’s a very thin coating to give the wood a darker coloring. It’s shiny in the right light where the rest of the neck is somewhat satin. At this point, I would prefer the experts to address it since it is under warranty and I don’t want to make it worse unless they come back with an easy fix as you suggested.
 
Very informative thread OP!

I'm in the queue for one of these beasts. I will be checking it out 1000%. I know it's going to rock my world!
 
Very informative thread OP!

I'm in the queue for one of these beasts. I will be checking it out 1000%. I know it's going to rock my world!
I was in a state of disbelief for the longest time after I brought mine home. This is definitely my dream guitar. I don't think I could create a private stock on my own that would give me this much satisfaction. The whole experience of listening to the tone, and playing it, is on a different level than my core's, CE's and SE's that I love to play. I hope you love yours as much as I do. Watch Paul's video on the website, towards the end, he switches back to the neck pickup, noodles around a bit and then looks up with an expression of satisfaction and then grins. I share the same sentiment, showmanship or not.
 
when you look at different angles, you can see where the stain pooled to an area. If you look closely, it doesn't flow with the grain in that area. Also, the area looks more like bare wood where the stain didn't get to.

To make sure we're looking at the same thing. I circled the area where it pooled.
3hMeFwF.jpeg
Here is a different angle that shows the drip. The other areas are spotty like this drip.
ZOZVDhk.jpeg
 
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