"I’d never made a guitar before I made the Cloud guitar for Prince": Now the legendary six-string is expected to raise up to $600k at auction

(Image credit: Julien's Auctions)

One of Prince's famous Cloud guitars is set to go under the hammer later this month in New York, with an astonishing estimated sale price of between $400,000 and $600,000. Bids start at a cool $100k.

He said to me, you’re gonna do it. I had never built a guitar before, only repaired them. I could have refused.
Cloud Luthier Dave Rusan

Cloud 3, the specific six-string in question, was, like the other Clouds out there, built by Dave Rusan for The Purple One. Completed in 1985, it became one of Prince's most trusted live weapons throughout his imperial phase, featuring heavily on the Purple Rain (1985), Parade (1986), Sign of the Times (1987), Lovesexy (1988-89), Nude (1990), and Diamonds & Pearls (1992) tours, before one lucky fan won the axe in a radio promo during 1993's Act 1 tour.

Originally painted white, the guitar has also been Peach for the Sign Of The Times outings, before finally sporting the current 'Lemon Yellow Shimrin' look it retains to this day,

Cloud 3 has a 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.

Though Julien's Auctions have out that $600k top bar on the sale, it's possible Cloud 3 could threaten the Blue Teal Cloud's record of $700k – information that's unlikely to brighten the day of previous owners who reportedly sold the guitar for £4,200 in 2005 and less than £59,000 on eBay. Now, however, Julien's' rock-solid provenance work has launched its value into – sorry about this – the clouds.

Astonishingly, luthier Dave Rusan told psaudio.com that the first guitar he ever built was a Prince-commissioned Cloud. "I’d never made a guitar before I made the “Cloud” guitar for Prince," he told the site. "He had somebody else in town who was gonna make the one for the [Purple Rain] movie, but they had a falling out just before it was supposed to be made. So it was overdue.

"Prince had been coming to the store where I worked, and I had a shop in the basement..."

"He said he needs a guitar made," continued Rusan, "and he said to me, you’re gonna do it. I had never built a guitar before, only repaired them. I could have refused.

"I remember thinking, what the hell am I gonna do about this? But it’s amazing what you can do sometimes if you’re put on the spot. If it goes to hell in a handbasket, they can’t kill me. So I said "sure, let’s go.'"

The Cloud 3 will go under the hammer alongside a slew of other iconic guitars as part of Julien's' Music Icons exhibition and sale, which also includes John Lennon's long-lost Framus 12-string Hootenanny acoustic.

Music Icons is open to for public viewing 15-18 May at the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, and 22-28 May at Hard Rock Cafe, Times Square, New York. The actual auction will take place on May 29 and 30.

For more information about Music Icons, visit Julien's.