1984 Prince "Cloud"

The Cloud guitar was first seen in the movie Purple Rain. There were four of these originally built by David Husain, a luthier at Minneapolis music store Knut Koupee.

 

The original Cloud guitars boasted all-maple, neck-through construction with Love Symbol inlays at the fret markers. They had a 24 ¾-inch scale length with 22 medium jumbo frets and a 12” radius. They were loaded with an EMG 81 in the bridge position and an EMG SA single-coil in the neck position with one volume, one tone, and a three-way pickup selector. The Cloud guitars had a brass nut and truss rod cover and Schaller hardware was gold-plated.

 

The Cloud guitars began life as O’Hagan Nightwatch guitars with correct three-piece neck-through-body construction.  Bodies were cut down and maple wings were attached and re-shaped to create the signature Cloud shape, based on a bass guitar acquired by Prince in the late 1970s that was designed and built by luthier Jeff Levin under the name Sardonyx.  The shape of that bass was an extrapolation of the Gibson F-style mandolin, upscaled for the much larger instrument.  Prince brought the Sardonyx bass to his local Minneapolis music store Knut Koupée, and requested a white guitar version with gold hardware and EMG pickups. Owned by Karl Dedolph and Jeff Hill, Knut had recently acquired a large inventory of guitars, parts, and tools from the recently defunct O’Hagan Guitars brand which included the completed husks of Shark and Nightwatch guitars. Using the center portions of these husks for the Cloud was the best way to complete the job in the time allotted. “I was under a lot of pressure to do them quick, and I made everything except the neck,” Cloud builder Dave Rusan recounts over the phone. “I didn’t have a lot of jigs so there are some variations in the scroll carvings, but they’re all really close.”   The O’Hagan guitars used a three-piece neck-through construction, a feature that can be found on all of the original Cloud guitars.  Still, some alterations had to be made.  As stock, O’Hagan guitars had a humbucker in the neck position, which was filled and re-routed for Prince’s selection of a single coil sized EMG. The original tuner holes also had to be filled and re-located, switch additional wood attached and re-shaped into the instantly recognizable, asymmetrical Cloud headstock.  Distinctive Cloud shape, multiple layers of paint, 25” scale length neck-through-body construction, 22 frets on a painted fretboard with dry transfer “Love Symbol” position markers, a mix of brass and gold-plated hardware, EMG pickups, Schaller 455 wraparound bridge, West German Schaller tuners, and a brass nut.
 

Only four original Knut Koupée Cloud guitars were ever played by Prince throughout the years.  Every original Cloud guitar was finished in the same color at first:  White.  From 1984-1993 Prince played the four original Clouds, and yes, he also threw them...  A lot ... requiring alot of maintenance.  In later years, when Prince would either damage them in use or demand a change to fit his ever-evolving tastes, they would each be refinished in a number of colors –– and quickly, too.  Luthier Barry Haugen, who worked at Knut Koupée from 1984-1992, would often only have a matter of days to weeks to get the job done.  According to Guitar Historian John Woodland, Clouds 1 and 3 had a similar paint trajectory: white, peach, and finally yellow, whereas Clouds 2 and 4 received different paint layers, including blue and black.   Each time they were re-painted, the bodies were over-sprayed or stripped entirely if extensive repairs were needed, the frets would be pulled (thanks to Prince’s uncommon preference for painted fretboards) and the fret position markers would be re-applied with a fresh Letraset dry transfer sheet. The position markers included spades, Roman numerals, or Prince’s trademarked “Love Symbol.”

In 1992, Prince inked a historic 100 million dollar record contract with Warner Brothers, and Cloud 3 was present and photographed at the signing.  As time wore on he became more and more dissatisfied with the contract, eventually changing his name to an unpronounceable symbol in 1993.  That year, he donated and gave away the remaining three of the four original Knut-made Clouds. 

 

1983 Prince Cloud #1 National Museum of American History (Image #3)   -  Cloud #1 was played in Purple Rain, as well as in the 1985 music video for the single “Raspberry Beret.” It was then repainted to appear on the cover of the 1987 album Sign o’ the Times.  Prince donated Cloud 1 to the Smithsonian in 1993, where it remains to this day. 

 

1984 Prince Cloud #2 "Blue Angel" Juliens 2020 $563,500  (Image #4)  -  Cloud 2 became Prince’s Number 1 stage guitar  until it suffered a headstock break and was left un-repaired and unplayable, the same condition as when sold by Julien’s in 2020.  This guitar is now on display at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

 

1985 Prince Cloud #3  Juliens 2024 $910,000 (Image #5)  -  Cloud 3 was originally painted white in 1985 by guitar and amp guru Mark Sampson, who was employed at Knut Koupée.  It was later stripped by Barry Haugen and painted Peach for Prince’s Sign ‘O The Times, and later in “Lemon Yellow Shimrin” by Haugen, who still retains the original can of paint in his personal collection.  This is the finish that remains on the instrument to this day.  This guitar was used on-stage by Prince during the following tours: Purple Rain (1985), Parade (1986), Sign of the Times (1987), Lovesexy (1988-89), Nude (1990), Diamonds & Pearls (1992), and was given away during the beginning of the Act 1 tour in 1993. 

 

1985 Prince Cloud #4  -  Cloud #4 was built in 1985 for the Purple Rain tour, originally painted white with gold and brass hardware.  It was later refinished in black (1986), then black with Batman decals (1989), and finally black with Roman numeral decals (1990).  It was used during the Batman and Graffiti Bridge projects and appeared in the Nude tourbook.  It was then given away to a fan at a televised concert in Germany in conjunction with MTV in 1989.  It's location and ownership are currently unknown...

 

There are additional Cloud replicas which were built starting in 1993 by Andy Beech, Prince’s guitar tech at the time, numbered, and included a Certificate of Authenticity, but were not actually played by Prince himself.   (Image #6)

 

Additionally, Schecter was commissioned to build a limited run of replicas in 2019 that were available only through Prince’s website and at his live shows. These were available in bolt-on and neck-through body types with Seymour Duncan-designed pickups and Grover machine heads. Some later examples of these had a 25 ½-inch scale and were missing the brass nut and truss rod cover.   MSRP $1750

The Love Symbol guitar

• Another notable guitar model in Prince’s stable is the Love Symbol. Originally built by German luthier Jerry Auerswald, the original was made from antique maple and painted gold. It is a neck-through design with 24 frets, a 24 ¾-inch scale, and the same EMG pickups as the Cloud guitars. The bridge was made by Jerry and was equipped with Schaller M6 machine heads.
• Only two original Love Symbol guitars were built by Auerswald - a white and a black one.  These were made from mahogany and as such, they were not very durable, especially considering that Prince loved to throw his guitar up in the air and let it crash to the stage. As such, the lower horn on the white model has been reglued.
• Other models of the Symbol were built by Schecter in its USA facility, with one being equipped with a Floyd Rose.

 

1973-79 Hohner H.S. Anderson Mad Cat

• Prince used a H.S. Anderson-designed Hohner T-style "Mad Cat" on albums like Purple Rain, 1999, and Musicology as well as the guitar solo on an all-star version of the Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” with Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and others at the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction where at the end of the song, Prince takes off his guitar and throws it up in the air…and it never comes down... According to Takumi, he caught the guitar off-camera and promptly handed it to Oprah Winfrey. According to the people at Paisley Park, Oprah ended up giving the guitar back to Prince at some point. We can assume that the Mad Cats are safely stored in some deep underground bunker at Paisley Park….

 

The Mach Five guitar is a Custom 2024 Prince '84 "Cloud" finished in Purple to commemorate it's introduction to the world in the 1984 movie "Purple Rain" (Image #1)

1. The Mach Five guitar

2. Prince

3. Cloud 1

4. Cloud 2

5. Cloud 3

6. Cloud guitar directory

7. Love Symbol guitar

8. Mad Cat guitar

9. Orange Prince by Andy Warhol 1984

Prince - Purple Rain (Official Video)

Prince, Tom Petty, Steve Winwood, Jeff Lynne, more - "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" | 2004 Induction

Prince (musician) - Wikipedia