The instrument, personally-owned and played by Prince, was custom-made by Minneapolis luthier Kurt Nelson in the early 1990s. The neck-through guitar features a bright yellow finish, gold hardware and cloud-inspired designs to the body, horn and headstock, as well as 18 black Prince symbols on the fretboard and the top of the neck.
The battery plate also bears an affixed “PRN Musical Corp.” label, which is marked “PM 16200.”
The guitar comes with a pearloid guitar pick with Prince symbol; the original purple hardshell carrying case with matching plush interior and faux reptile scale exterior; and a detailed letter of provenance from Nelson.
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(Image credit: RR Auction)
(Image credit: RR Auction)
(Image credit: RR Auction)
(Image credit: RR Auction)
Additional materials include: Nelson’s original clear plastic guitar pattern sheet, with matching Cloud outline in black felt tip; a Plexiglas cut-out of the upper body with telltale upper horn; and a yellow handkerchief given to Nelson by Paisley Park to color match with the guitar.
RR purports the guitar to be in “fine” condition, “with a repair to the headstock's uppermost point, a couple small chips to paint (near neck pickup and lower bout), some faint scattered scuffs to back, and a few instances of flaking to interior of swirl designs.”
According to RR Auction, a condition report from guitar specialist Chris Lamy confirms the guitar’s stage-used condition, in part:
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“There appears to be an extremely small finish chip towards the lower bout and another near pickup. There is some wear on the frets indicating the guitar has been played. The strings are old and appeared rather fragile and did have some buildup on them, again, indicative this guitar has been played...
“There is repaired headstock damage to the bass side horn of the headstock and it does detract or impact playability. I have seen this exact damage on another Cloud and it may just be a weak point on the headstock.”
The yellow Cloud Guitar is estimated to sell for $60,000. For more information, head to RR Auction.
Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.
