i would want to think it has something to do with wanting to be taken more seriously, but he still uses that symbol guitar which i personally find atrocious

uuhson said:

i would want to think it has something to do with wanting to be taken more seriously, but he still uses that symbol guitar which i personally find atrocious

maybe just the sound

when was the symbol last used? thought that had been outta the game for a while too?

Those extra shapes can get in the way and they add more weight to the instruments.

The real reason is probably that he thinks they belonged to a different era and look sort of dated now. I think that most musicians these days aren't going to be as impressed by custom instruments and usually consider the classics more desirable.

I was a fan of the Cloud guitar, but now a days i can care less

That purple symbol guitar looks pretty sweet

sfinky1 said:

The blue cloud guitar 'died'. Watch the live in Las Vegas DVD. In it you'll see him lay it to rest on the ground & place a white cloth over it. As far as I know he retired it then and hasn't used it since. A huge shame though cos that beast had a wicked tone!!

Wow, I didn't know that. I will have to watch that show.. You mean Aladdin ONA in Vegas?... The filming and quality of that production on the DVD was so bad, I have never been able to watch it all the way through. If I would have know it featured the death of the blue angel, I would have kept going...

novabrkr said:

I think that most musicians these days aren't going to be as impressed by custom instruments and usually consider the classics more desirable.

Exactly. 1950s guitars are in, so Prince is sticking with his strats and the Honer. He can still get pretty close to his cloud tone on the red strat, which has the same pickups. He still has access to his old amps and pedals, so it’s no trouble to get a similar tone as long as he rolls back the bridge tone.

funkylust said:

sfinky1 said:

The blue cloud guitar 'died'. Watch the live in Las Vegas DVD. In it you'll see him lay it to rest on the ground & place a white cloth over it. As far as I know he retired it then and hasn't used it since. A huge shame though cos that beast had a wicked tone!!

If I would have know it featured the death of the blue angel,

The original Blue Angel (ie the Lovesexy model) was retired long before the ONA tour.

Later blue clouds were darker in colour and had some had gold volume controls etc.

There was only one cloud known as the Blue Angel, and that was the Lovesexy model.

[Edited 5/10/12 8:23am]

The "last" time i ever saw a cloud guitar in Prince's hands was in the Superbowl promo as he walked down the corridor after the meeting.

@ sfinky1-

yeah, he "killed" a few other instuments on public performances.

Like the one-eyed bass right before "Kiss" on the Rave dvd.

Or the black symbol guitar at the end of "Peach" on the European MTV awards.

There was another cloud "put under" at the end of the "Sacrifice..." video, right?

I still miss the Cloud, too!

Prost!

I'm trying to keep it alive......maybe one day it will be resurrected! There are alot of people who love the cloud and who build there own! Long live the cloud!

[img:$uid]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p1SCIXJSl5g/T6bRt_MPRwI/AAAAAAAAD9A/rdVcZGEZVbo/s988/Header%2BYellow%2B2b.png[/img:$uid]

I think the Cloud guitar is iconic, it embodies his style beautifully. It would be a shame to see it retired forever.

I burned a cd for a friend recently that focused on his guitar playing...

Fury (SNL)

Whole Lotta Love (Indigo Nights)

The Ride (Sacrifice of Victor)

Come (Wallpaper)

Johnny B. Goode/Anotherloverholeinyohead (Superbowl press conference)

Instrumental Jams ?/Courtin' Time (from NPG Ahdio Show)

The Question of U (version that preceded two above jams)

Purple House (Power of Soul)

Habibi

Zannalee

If I Had a Harem (acoustic)

Five Women (Work It)

Just My Imagination (Small Club)

Crimson & Clover

Beautiful Strange

I have been jamming out on this for days now, it truly rocks. I wanted to include more songs, but was restricted to cd length... some near contenders:

When I Lay My Hands On U

Rock Hard in a Funky Place

Purple House (Rave Into Concert)

She's Always In My Hair

Sign O' The Times ('87 live)

There are some others I am totally forgetting, lots of songs that aren't blues based, and could easily compile a pt.II soon.

While I am here, I wanted to get people's opinions on whether this might actually be Prince on this jam:

It sounds like his style, but maybe someone here knows for sure

The Cloud and the Hohner are his most iconic, trademark "Prince" guitars. They are the guitars that people think of when they think of Prince. The Strat may or may not be a better guitar, but it looks boring.

I wish he´d bring back the cloud in a new color. I didn´t like the dark blue model that he used between the name change until 2002.

if any of prince's goons are patrolling the site at the moment, i hope they tell him to bring back the clouds

kenkamken said:

While I am here, I wanted to get people's opinions on whether this might actually be Prince on this jam:

It sounds like his style, but maybe someone here knows for sure

Nope. That's Johnny "Guitar" Watson.

Weren't Prince and Johnny on the Bellmarks Records Label around the same time? Prince for his TMBGITW single, and Johnny for his record Bow Wow? I have a hard time hearing Johnny's style on the Dre single, he seems to have a more jazzy or blues style instead of the shredding rock style, but I'm no expert here.

"Watson died of a myocardial infarction on May 17, 1996, while on tour in Yokohama, Japan. According to eyewitness reports, he collapsed in mid guitar solo. His last words were "ain't that a bitch", probably in reference to the song "Ain't that a Bitch"

What a way to go, at least he went doing the thing he loved.

sfinky1 said:

The blue cloud guitar 'died'. Watch the live in Las Vegas DVD. In it you'll see him lay it to rest on the ground & place a white cloth over it. As far as I know he retired it then and hasn't used it since. A huge shame though cos that beast had a wicked tone!!

Sorry but that's not why he did it. I forget who it was but a famous guitarist had just passed and it's a way to pay homage.

kenkamken said:

Weren't Prince and Johnny on the Bellmarks Records Label around the same time? Prince for his TMBGITW single, and Johnny for his record Bow Wow? I have a hard time hearing Johnny's style on the Dre single, he seems to have a more jazzy or blues style instead of the shredding rock style, but I'm no expert here.

"Watson died of a myocardial infarction on May 17, 1996, while on tour in Yokohama, Japan. According to eyewitness reports, he collapsed in mid guitar solo. His last words were "ain't that a bitch", probably in reference to the song "Ain't that a Bitch"

What a way to go, at least he went doing the thing he loved.

Prince was never signed to Bellmark, he just licensed TMBGITW to them. Anyway, that was in 1994. Let Me Ride was recorded in 1992.

It sounds like Johnny to me, it's not his usual style but he was a versatile player and I hear some of his hallmarks there. Besides, I think Dre has spoken about it before.

mzsadii said:

sfinky1 said:

The blue cloud guitar 'died'. Watch the live in Las Vegas DVD. In it you'll see him lay it to rest on the ground & place a white cloth over it. As far as I know he retired it then and hasn't used it since. A huge shame though cos that beast had a wicked tone!!

Sorry but that's not why he did it. I forget who it was but a famous guitarist had just passed and it's a way to pay homage.

This is the first that I've heard of this homage to a famous guitarist who had just died. Can anyone provide more information on this?

kenkamken said:

KoolEaze said:

The Cloud and the Hohner are his most iconic, trademark "Prince" guitars. They are the guitars that people think of when they think of Prince. The Strat may or may not be a better guitar, but it looks boring.

The strat does look boring and way too common... They are amazing funk guitars, though along with iconic lead tones. Personally, and I'm almost positive that it won't happen... but, I'd like to see Prince rocking a Paul Reed Smith. A fancy Custom 24 with birds, a deep 10 top maple flame and gold hardware... I can totally picture him with one.

I think it is really a matter of convience, who want to tour with 5 or 6 guitars when you can get the same sound with the hohners and strats he uses.

He could bring back the clouds when he feels like it, like people said he was thinking about using it during the superbowl.

It was cool when he brought back the Batman Model C Bass for the W2A poster, and use the white Model C at a new york show. I bet people didnt expect him to bring back that guitar from retirement from the 90s.