SO is it EMGs 81 or 85 at the bridge that Prince is using on cloud guitar and what at the neck?
And how can u b sure!

babar141 said:

Well, I do know that his are special in that, they're not new, they're probably 2-3 years old, so you'll need to find some pickups that are 2-3 yrs old and have been played on a nightly basis, although, I'd say you're pretty safe going with some pickups that are 4-6 yrs old that were played every OTHER night.

Well. For that matter, if you can find some that are 9-12 yrs old that have been played every third night, I suppose that would do as well. But be careful, remember that he doesn't use those EMG pickups on every song - and even on different songs, he might select a different pickup - so, then be careful to pick out some pickups that have been played every night for 2-3 years but NOT played entirely on just one pickup.

Also, take into consideration the string height. His strings are pretty low, so there will probably be more wear and tear on his pickups from the strings rubbing on the pickups occasionally, and THAT could definitely impact the EMG's tone slightly.

And dont forget that his guitars are moved nightly, so when you buy your pickups, it might be a good idea to run them through the dryer for about 3 weeks (on COOL, not HOT... duuh).

I'd say, once you've done all that to the pickups, you might be safe in sounding NOTHING like Prince. Most of a player's tone is in his fingers. NOT in the guitar. Give Prince a Mexican Strat with $3 pickups and he'll sound like Prince. Hand PRINCE's cloud guitar to you, and you WONT sound like Prince. It's just a matter of detail man. Accept it. Honestly, I'm not saying you can't play. I'm sure you can play great, but, just let it go.

"Give Prince a Mexican Strat with $3 pickups and he'll sound like Prince"

Of course he will sound like Prince, beucause it will be Prince playing, but the tone will be different, it would be probably ugly. All guitar players that have a great or very good tone uses great guitar. Maple, mohogony, GOTOH bridges, fender/gibson/Duncan/Emg pick ups, and so on.

NO MORE CLOUD GUITAR THREADS!!!

Its just a guitar only this one will make you look like a Prince clone. The ones on NPGMC are cheap copies that cost $3000 & thats the end of it!

I partially agree. However, some guitars have a very recognizable sound. My Les Paul for instance, makes everything I play sound uncannily like Gary Moore but on my tele's I don't sound a bit like the guy. And some strats sound so damn Mark Knopfler-ish clean it's scary. So while these guitars won't make you play like these players in a million years, I DO believe some tones can be copied pretty effectively. If you watch the Prince and the Revolution live video, during Purple Rain P starts out on the Hohner then switches to the Cloud. You can hear how really different the guitars sound with the same player, the same rig and the same song.



otan said:[quote]

babar141 said:

7salles said:

I disagree with you entirely 7.

Great components might improve the tone and will definitely make the playing easier, but more than HALF the tone in a guitar comes from the hands. I always use my guitar player as a perfect example. He and I would go to the guitar store and try out everything - Squires, Les Pauls, PRS, hollowbody, solidbody. INVARIABLY, his playing sounded like his playing, regardless what amp/guitar combination. Sure, you could tell it was humbuckers or single coils, heavy distorion or clean, but it STILL always sounded like him.

So go ahead, buy every effect and pickup and amp and neck and tuner and cord that Prince uses, and then ask youself how come you STILL don't sound like him.

Check into my previous thread, where I suggest having your ankles removed to drop you down to under 5 feet tall, and then remove a knuckle from each finger to get your fingers as short as his, and then spend 30 years going through his career. THEN, MAYBE then you might sound just like him.

HECTIM U R SPOT ON THATS WHAT IM TALKIN BOUT!!!

I also think but a lot of a player's tone is in their fingers but I agree with hectim. Check out Let's Go Crazy from the Prince And The Revolution Live video too, where he also plays the Hohner. The tone is very much different from when he plays it on the Cloud (Lovesexy live, Rave etc). Sorry cloud9mission, but as a Prince guitar obsessive I want more Cloud guitar threads!

Gee!
I'm afraid the Cloud tone is due to the wood as much as the pickups though. Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne) plays a les paul with EMG's - that means same scale length as the cloud, same neck-through body construction as the cloud, same bridge pickup as the cloud. Yet have you ever heard an Ozzy album and thought "hey that sounds like Prince?" Me neither.

DISCLAIMER:
Hectim believes tone is also largely dependend on picks, strings, effects, amps and last but not least your playing style.

babar141 said:

yes your right!!! HECTIM

Yeah okay, yes, it's the guitar and all the other stuff. My original crabby point tho, was, obsessing over the exact pickups, pedals, cables, picks, string winder and guitar strap is just a little much. The quest for tone is in your fingers and your heart. You won't sound just like Prince. And why would you want to? Take that quest for tone and then go into your own direction, using Prince as a signpost to point you in the direction of finding your own tone. And when people hear you, they'll say "wow you sound a lot like Prince, but you've definitely got your own thing going" and you can smile, knowing that you're growing, not just copping.

That's all I'm saying. Prince's choice of enamel coating on the guitar is just a little too much to give a rat's ass over.

But then again, I picked a guitar hero that just played a strat, whatever strat was nearby. So it's easy for me to say "give it up". So I'll shut up now.

babar141 said:

OK OK im stepping off...

Hey don't stop now, this stuff is better than therapy!

babar141 said:

The initial question didnt say that the guy wanted to play like prince. It was just a question about Prince's Pick-up's. Why the person wanted to know this was not clear, perhaps it was just out of interest and not because he wants to copy princes sound/style. Everybody is so quick to say 'get your own stlye' blah blah blah 'dont copy so and so's style' even when it isnt sugested in the initial question that this is the reason for asking the question. Why do people do this?

otan said:

howcomeudontcallme said:

Babar said:



http://www.prince.org/msg/15/66687

I'm not trying to be snotty or putting them down. I'm just saying that they would find more satisfaction in taking that sound and then trying to move forward with it, rather than trying to sound exactly like someone else.

otan said:

Im sure u are not trying to put people down. on the contrary, u have proved helpful to me numerous times with regard to musical queries. However, i do think that people often over-stress the importance of obtaining your own stlye of playing. Simply put, some people just want to emulate. Personally, i dont think that there is anything wrong with that. each to their own i guess.

i don't know, maybe i'm too young, but i don't think that prince would sound like Prince playing a plywood guitar, with a ceramic pick uo on the bridge, and 0,14 gauge strings. i doubt. :/

cloud9mission said:

HAHAHA glady thats not up 2 u 2 diside weither we talk about the CLOUD GUITAR !! And although i'm not an expert on guitars,i know 1 thing : it's not JUST a guitar even i hear the difference between the cloud or the symbol guitar !! And another thing just because somebody tries 2 build the same guitar as Prince does not make him a clone !! AND IF U DONT KNOW THE ANSWER 2 THE QUESTION THAT BABAR ASKED ...JUST SHUT UP !! allready DAMN!

Im sure u are not trying to put people down. on the contrary, u have proved helpful to me numerous times with regard to musical queries. However, i do think that people often over-stress the importance of obtaining your own stlye of playing. Simply put, some people just want to emulate. Personally, i dont think that there is anything wrong with that. each to their own i guess.[/quote]


U just took the words out my mouth ...each 2 their own!
if a person wants 2 try 2 sound like Prince its their choise... i just wanted 2 say 2 Babar141...I don't know the answer 2 ur question ...but it seems that nobody does and GOOD LUCK with the guitar!

Just lock this mutha already.

I'm so sick of all the mindless bullshit and debating over the tools that make music. (Just for the record, I love the musicians here and I love Ben and the Org for setting this up.)

While this is the musicians' forum and people can do whatever they want, let's deal with music and not argue about the tools. It really is pointless.

Post your sound of the EMG's or the god-foresaken Cloud guitar and then ask how one could make it sound like the intro to a certain Prince song with whatever tools you have. You would get much better results than this entire thread has gotten.

I think that those who are looking to emulate prince in cloud guitar structure and/or sound should look back at the previous, well detailed threads that the guys here have contributed to, and then be damn well satisfied that that is the closest you are ever gonna get to the man.


HEY, I HAVE A PROPOSITION!

Why not prepare some sort of FAQ on the prince setup, focusing on that damn cloud guitar? Truth is I know shit about the cloud, and in all honesty, don't give a friggedy-doo-dahs! about it, unless ofcourse one happened to fall in my lap...I'm far too concerned about trying to get my own sound right, rather than worry about someother poor mofo's gedup. But you guys Otan, fender, Hectim, Slave know more about it - you're just the ones that come to mind at the moment, but anyone as well as, reckon a Cloud Guitar FAQ would be a groovey thang? I could use my internet sleuth powers to chip in if need be...

Maybe we could also have one about the bone structure of prince's fretting hand, for those that are into surgical rearrangement of their fingers in order to complement the perfect tone! Ok that bit was a joke...

But the cloud faq...any takers?

[Edits of contextual clarity that probably make the pit deeper, and of profanity. hehe. I said fani!]
[This message was edited Wed Nov 5 16:25:36 PST 2003 by MaggotBrain]

MaggotBrain said:[quote]I think that those who are looking to emulate prince in cloud guitar structure and/or sound should look back at the previous, well detailed threads that the guys here have contributed to, and then be damn well satisfied that that is the closest you are ever gonna get to the man

Why not prepare some sort of FAQ on the prince setup, focusing on that damn cloud guitar? Truth is I know shit about the cloud, and in all honesty, don't give a fuck


is this me being stupid or what?!? somebody is asking a simple question...2 answers r possible...and if u u dont give a fuck as u say it so nicely... Y bother 2 write?

damn it, if prince pick up zakk wildy guitar on the zakk gear and then if he does some power chords and some fast licks with artificial harmonics he would still sound like Prince? i doubt, what the hell people are trying to say, if you pick the same guitar prince is playing and if you play the same lick that he played, it would sound SOOO differente? i am not talking about the phrases and improvisation, but just the TONE, it does not make sense to me what soem guy are trying to say. If prince study two hands tapping and pick van halen guitar he will sound like the cliche prince? heeelll no!

THANK U RACHEL,HECTIM,HOWCOMEUDONTCALLME, and any1 trying 2 back me up! it was a only a question, I DONT WANT 2PLAY LIKE PRINCE, I just have a great interest in this! Thats all, i didnt know it would upset so many people on this topic!!

Slave2daGroove said:

Thats the point I was trying to make though I could have worded it better. I like chatting guitars as much as the next person especially when its Prince related but seriously, we've had about 6 threads about the Cloud Guitar over the last month or two & they all ask or state the same things. Im sure any further questions about the guitar can be found on one of those threads & it would be nice to discuss something different

racheltheorgangrinder said:

Yeah, so anyway...are you for a FAQ or against a FAQ? For FAQ's sake. My response was towards the culmination of several thousand cloud-related threads. All's fair yeah, but it seems that this is obviously a hot topic that isnt likely to go away, and I merely suggested that a fuck could be an effective remedy. I'm following these cloud threads just 'cause I'm intrigued as to whether he sticks something magical in his chain that I haven't heard before, but really I know nothing about his setup and don't intend to follow it.

But the point is, lots of people do. Hence my suggestion, despite my position on the fence. M'kay?

Oh yes. I meant FAQ. Not 'fuck'. Oops...sorry!

[Kinda-Related Edit: by the way, that Mesa Boogie posting is rather interesting don't ya think?!?!]
[This message was edited Wed Nov 5 16:27:40 PST 2003 by MaggotBrain]

The org is free and so are the forums - if ppl wanna post a million threads on the cloud them let em!

Some of u sound so exclusive like 'this is for muso's only' forum - hell...unless Ben wants to add the "Prince Musical Instruments" forum then all cloud posts will go here - just accept it!

Hell i could talk about the cloud all day and like reading through the various posts - even though they look the same there is always at least one post that I learn something from. All the guy asked was about Prince's pickup choice - I never seen a thread on this before here - if there is one relating specifically to this then point us in the right direction, if not - leave the thread alone and let ppl who ARE interested in the cloud post here.

Okay, let's make a Cloud guitar FAQ, I'll happily put it on my (crappy little) site!

One more thing about imitation though: I think it's a necessary step before building your own style. Hendrix learned to play Albert King tracks note for note and at times played a flying V, just like Albert. SRV could play Hendrix tracks spot on and used many of the same effects as Hendrix. He even had his tremelo bar put upside down to play more like Hendrix! Chuck Berry started out copying T-Bone Walker. Keith Richards started out copying Chuck Berry. Prince obviously has put a lot of energy into emulating Hendrix and Santana. Noel Gallagher plays a Gibson Les Paul Black Beauty with a Bigsby tremelo when he covers Neil Young! Imitating your heroes is an important and fun part of playing guitar. Developing your own style is another!

derek said:

Well thats what it says on the forum description

let's answer the question!

It's a 85. You can tell by listening to samples of both the 81 and the 85 at www.emginc.com