Prince's iconic Yellow Cloud guitar up for auction

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Custom-made electric saw heavy use from 1988 to 1994

The late, impossibly great Prince was synonymous with eccentric guitar designs, but among the most iconic was the Cloud - and the Purple One's beloved yellow axe is now heading under the hammer with Heritage Auctions.

Like Prince's other Clouds, the instrument was made by guitar tech Zeke Clark, but this particular model was Prince's main guitar from 1988 through to 1994, and appeared across many of his videos (including Cream and Gett Off), tours and album recordings.

According to Clark, Prince broke the neck of the guitar during a French TV show in 1994, which the tech then repaired, while installing the first Floyd Rose locking vibrato Prince ever played.

After this, the guitar continued to see use in the studio, before Prince switched over to instruments bearing his Love Symbol during his dispute with Warner Records.

Spec-wise, it's packing Schaller tuners and a Floyd Rose Original vibrato - all gold - plus EMG single coil (neck) and humbucker (bridge) pickups. Gotta love those inlays, too.

On the rear of the guitar, a label reads 'Property of PRN MUSIC CORP. PM 16644' - PM 16643 was the first guitar Zeke Clark made for Prince, making this the second.

Current owner, Prince fan (and non-musician) Richard Leece, purchased the guitar for $30,000 a year ago, but following the musician's death, claims "something as valuable as this could be too risky to continue to have in my possession".

The Cloud guitar will be sold in Beverly Hills, California on 24 June, with an opening bid of $30,000 (£20,000). It's not the only Prince guitar to hit the headlines lately, either, as we got hands-on with Prince's last guitar.

Michael Astley-Brown
Michael Astley-Brown

Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism, and has spent the past decade writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as a decade-and-a-half performing in bands of variable genre (and quality). In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.

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