As well as being a noted singer, dancer and all-round great performer, Prince was also an accomplished guitarist. Many of his choice instruments perfectly reflected his flamboyant stage presence, but arguably his most famous is the curvy Cloud Guitar. And now you can play one of your very own courtesy of Schecter and the official Prince store.
Prince is reported to have first stumbled across the eye-catching design in the late 1970s, when he and bassist André Cymone were mooching around a guitar shop. A bass rocking the curves and swirls was purchased and that was that, until 1983 when Prince needed a guitar for an upcoming movie.
Four guitars based on the striking look of that bass were made by luthier Dave Rusan, which were followed by many more versions in a variety of colors. And a few of these original Cloud guitars have crossed the auction block over the years and, in doing so, have earned a place on our list of the world's most valuable guitars.
Dave Schecter's guitar company was sometimes asked to repair the instruments, and even built a limited run that were made available to fans on the icon's HitnRun tour.
More recently, Schecter-built Cloud Guitar replicas have been made available for visitors to Paisley Park production complex to purchase, but now models are being made more widely available, though only through the official Prince store.
The 2019 Cloud Guitars have a shapely mahogany body and a three piece maple neck topped by a maple fingerboard rocking Prince's Love symbol inlays. There's an active EMG 81 pickup at the bridge position, and an EMG SA at the neck, with a three-way toggle used to switch between them. Elsewhere, there's a wraparound bridge and gold hardware, including dome volume and tone controls.
The 2019 Cloud Guitar comes in either white or blue, and will ship in November with a custom hard case for US$1,750.
Product page: Cloud Guitar