“I told him the serial number. His mind was blown – he said it was Prince’s No. 1 amp on the Purple Rain tour”: How an ’80s session guitar icon accidentally ended up with the ultimate Prince amp

Amp Week 2026: With credits including David Lee Roth, Run-DMC and Robert Palmer, Eddie Martinez is a session guitar legend.

His chart-dominating career ran in parallel with Prince, who quickly established himself as a music icon with the likes of Let’s Go Crazy, When Doves Cry and Purple Rain.

The pair knew each other before Prince hit it big. But their connection would run far deeper when Martinez bought – albeit unintentionally – Prince’s most beloved guitar amp from the halcyon Purple Rain era: a heavily modified Mesa/Boogie Coliseum 300.

The story of how he came to own the iconic head is a reminder of the unexpected joys of buying used gear. In fact, he was advised not to tell Prince, in case the Purple One asked for it back.

In his own words, Martinez tells the story of how a search for a backup combo led him to a piece of amp history…

It was May 29, 2011. I was at home playing my guitar, and for some reason, acquiring another amp popped into my thoughts. [Laughs] Mind you, this was quite unusual because when I go to guitar stores, I’m first looking for guitars; so looking back on that day, I believe it was more of a divine impulse.

I already had killer amps, but I was playing clubs locally with my band and needed a combo that wouldn’t be a back breaker; plus, I’m big on redundancies. I also needed something practical for small clubs.

I decided to visit one of my local guitar shops and began looking around for amps. I had looked for a good while and didn’t see anything that caught my interest.

As I was exiting, something caught my eye – a Boogie head that reminded me of the Simulclass series from the ’80s that I’d rent along with a Soldano and modded Marshalls from Andy Brauer when recording in L.A.

I asked what model Boogie it was, and the salesperson didn’t know. When I saw 6x 6L6 tubes, I knew it wasn’t a Simulclass. The only thing the salesman said was that they bought it at a Seattle guitar show and that it was allegedly once owned by Prince.

I had known Prince a bit from when we shared the bill when I was playing with Lenny White and Twennynine. We both had opened for Rick James in 1980, and we became friends with Dez [Dickerson], Andre [Cymone] and Prince.

I recall seeing Boogie amps on that first tour. I was becoming familiar with Boogie because my bandmate and brilliant guitarist Nick Moroch used a Mark 1 when we played with drummer Lenny White. But I digress…

I took a peek at the back and saw Prince’s corporate logo, “PRN Music.” It was also written in a marker on the chassis – “PrinceNumber 1.” And there’s a sticker that reads “retubed 11-88.”

There’s also “Prince Roman numeral One” written on some duct tape. I also knew Prince’s middle name was Rodgers and his surname was Nelson, hence the “PRN.” So I called my friend Artie Smith and told him about it. He suggested I call JD Dworkow.

JD worked closely with Prince and Wendy Melovin with stage gear and the guitar tech backline vibe for the entire Purple Rain tour. Plus I’ve known JD for years, and he’s worked with so many huge artists and bands.

He’s a total pro. I described the amp to JD and told him the serial number, “K303.” His mind was blown; he said it was Prince’s Number 1 amp on the Purple Rain tour. The dots were starting to connect because it was correlating to everything I was seeing written on the chassis of the amp. After JD told me that, I knew this was the real deal and bought it.

That was May 29, 2011, and although it wasn’t a backup combo amp that I was originally looking for, it was quite historically significant. I had fallen upstairs with such an incredible and iconic find. [Laughs]

I reached out to Boogie and my rep – who shall remain nameless and who is no longer there – confirmed it was an amp that, at one time, belonged to Prince.

He also asked if I knew Prince and I told him that I did, but it had been years since I’d seen him. He also suggested that I don’t let him know about the amp because he preferred the clean sound on this amp in my possession.

There was a tone of reticence in his dialog with me about digging deeper into the amp's history. At least that’s what I felt, so I stopped communicating with him. Remember, Prince was still very much alive when I first communicated with Boogie about the amp.

It wasn’t until 2019 that I reached out to Mike Bendinelli at Mesa/Boogie, and he gave me the full story. The amp model is called The Coliseum 300 series. The amp was later modified by Mike himself to the 2C+, which is the coveted mod. It’s a beast of an amp, packing 6x 6L6s and delivering 180 watts.

The clean sound is so good, and I can see why Prince dug it so much. The crunch side of the amp is monstrous and huge-sounding. I owe Mike a huge debt of gratitude for providing a letter of provenance and the historical context for such an iconic and important amp.

• For more stories, tips and insights on all things amplified, check out the rest of our Amp Week coverage.