Do you find Prince's guitar sound at recent years an improvement

compared to how he sounded in the past?

Prince always had interesting guitars ,but some sounded

awfuly syntetic.

If you listen to recent performances you can

notice that he uses less effects then ever.

Distortions sound more natural,he stopped overusing wah wah.

[Edited 12/1/10 15:30pm]

Oh ... That goes without sayin'. If anyone has seen the My Guitar Gently Weeps performance will know EXACTLY where you're comin' from ...

yeah I think it is a lot less 80's sounding and more natural. I never liked the thin cloud guitar sound.

I think Prince had the worst sound

during Rave era 1998-2000

But on Hit 'n'Run 2000/2001 tour

Prince guitar sound started

to change in favor of more natural,

and he started

using Hohner again after a decade of non using it.

I think the use of the Fender Strats opened him up to new tones and sound efx. Strats sound like no other. They are very clean, crisp and clear sounding. Very precise up and down the neck. He still uses Boss stomp boxes and EMG pickups, but the sound is definitely more ROBUST. Maybe he is using new amps?

joyinrepetition said:

I think the use of the Fender Strats opened him up to new tones and sound efx. Strats sound like no other. They are very clean, crisp and clear sounding. Very precise up and down the neck. He still uses Boss stomp boxes and EMG pickups, but the sound is definitely more ROBUST. Maybe he is using new amps?

He's used Boss guitar pedals for years. He uses a wah-wah pedal (not sure which brand) and a Whammy pedal now, too. I think he uses Mesa Boogie amps now and used to use Soldano amps a long time ago. I've also seen clips of him using Marshall amps sometimes, too.

Those Fender Strats he uses are customized w/ EMG pickups and Floyd Rose tremolos, and I think the newer Hohner Tele's are made with better parts than the older ones he played in the 80s.

NDRU said:

yeah I think it is a lot less 80's sounding and more natural. I never liked the thin cloud guitar sound.

Man, I did. I've never been able to replicate it.

RodeoSchro said:

NDRU said:

yeah I think it is a lot less 80's sounding and more natural. I never liked the thin cloud guitar sound.

Man, I did. I've never been able to replicate it.

well, you know he'd say "find your own damn sound!!" (or just copy Stevie Ray Vaughn instead)

[Edited 12/1/10 14:20pm]

I know Prince used Orange Amps during his tour with Tamar

(maybe it was a tribute to Ike and Tina Turner soul revue)

thebanishedone said:

I know Prince used Orange Amps during his tour with Tamar

(maybe it was a tribute to Ike and Tina Turner soul revue)

could be but orange amps are really popular now, too

I know Rhonda & Mike Scott use Mesa amps, I wonder if they influenced Prince to use one too?

It's strange to me that Prince used Marshall amps only on some concerts ,aftershows like London 1993.

Marshall is the best guitar amp

thebanishedone said:

It's strange to me that Prince used Marshall amps only on some concerts ,aftershows like London 1993.

Marshall is the best guitar amp

could be that those were amps that belonged to the venue, not to Prince, especially overseas

But it's weird that ALL his gear seems to be not the best that he could get his hands on. I think he is not a geek about his gear. There are accountants with better pedalboards.

Ndru have you seen how many pedals Prince use.

I think he is gear geek, but he is more about vintage gear i think

thebanishedone said:

Ndru have you seen how many pedals Prince use.

I think he is gear geek, but he is more about vintage gear i think

but he uses almost all Boss pedals! Every dork still playing Cliffs Of Dover (expect Eric Johnson) has at least three hand made overdrive pedals on his board, and not a single Boss pedal, unless it has been modded by Keely or Analogman

No, Prince's tone is awful, when compared with the sweet, molten magic he was pumping out on his Clouds back in the day. He's gone from iconic to generic.

As for modded pedals, I'm interested in seeing what Keeley can do with one of my Crybabies. I'm sending it off early next year.

ThreadBare when did you notice Prince's guitar sound is not that good anymore?

I love Cloud guitar sound but on Rave 2000 dvd it sounds awful.

I think his sound improved over the last decade

He is using two Mesa Nomad 100 heads. I have seen them in a picture from Coachella and I saw them at Amager Bio 20/10-2010. He hasn´t changed the left side of the pedalboard since London 2007.

Prince has been using Mesa-Boogies from almost day one.

His 80's Sign O The Times/Lovesexy Guitar tones with the Cloud Guitar/Mesa Colisiuem Heads/Boss Pedals are my favorites.

The tone of the cloud guitar back in the day almost sounded like he was playing the sound of a jet airplane into a melody sometimes.

ufoclub said:

The tone of the cloud guitar back in the day almost sounded like he was playing the sound of a jet airplane into a melody sometimes.

It was equal parts Brian May and muscle -- you're right.