...quite so much?

I Honestly thought he put those down after ... when...? 1999-ish (the year, obv)..., probably before when all the name chnage shenanigans were going on... and yet here he is playing the thing in 2000 and something and 2000 and something after that.

It was one of my defining arguments about Prince losing who he used to be...and now it's been rendered defunct.

I guess - ultimately - what I'm saying is - when it all boils down to it - please could you furnish me with both pictures of Prince playing the cloud after the year 2000 and, perhaps more pertinently, could you furnish me with your theories and ideas as to why he played to fast and loose with this iconic instrument during the latter part of his career?

SimonCharles said:

...quite so much?

I Honestly thought he put those down after ... when...? 1999-ish (the year, obv)..., probably before when all the name chnage shenanigans were going on... and yet here he is playing the thing in 2000 and something and 2000 and something after that.

It was one of my defining arguments about Prince losing who he used to be...and now it's been rendered defunct.

I guess - ultimately - what I'm saying is - when it all boils down to it - please could you furnish me with both pictures of Prince playing the cloud after the year 2000 and, perhaps more pertinently, could you furnish me with your theories and ideas as to why he played to fast and loose with this iconic instrument during the latter part of his career?

.
Well, he changed his name BACK to Prince in 2000 - and had been playing various Clouds up to that point (despite being a 'Symbol') - and then he plays them at the Rave Unto concert and beyond...

.
I don't have any pics to hand, other than to say that it seemed he didn't use the Cloud much during his tour with 3rdEyeGirl - probably because he was using much 'rockier' looking guitars - a matt black one, and one with a multi-coloured tie-dye effect.

.

I have a few regrets in my life. One of the lesser silly ones is I wish I'd bought a cloud from the npgmusic club when I had the chance. but 5 grand or whatever it was, was too much at the time. Ho hum, no doubt someone here got one, hope they enjoy it

He played the blue Cloud on ONA tour (it´s on the DVD)

I really love Cloud and Symbol guitars. I know he is associated with the Hohner and loved playing it, but I always saw that kind of Telecaster more suited to guys like Bruce Springsteen and Keith Richards.

GustavoRibas said:

He played the blue Cloud on ONA tour (it´s on the DVD)

I really love Cloud and Symbol guitars. I know he is associated with the Hohner and loved playing it, but I always saw that kind of Telecaster more suited to guys like Bruce Springsteen and Keith Richards.

Gustavo, good to see you back on the org.

.

I felt the same way about the Hohner when I was younger, and always saw the Cloud as THE original and most iconic Prince guitar but as I got older the Hohner became the number one Prince guitar for me.

What I didn´t like at all was to see him playing those technically great but very normal looking guitars , like the Fender Stratocasters he played in the mid 2000s or his Vox guitars but, if I had to choose my one favorite Prince guitar, it´d be the Hohner.

As far as I remember, the Aladdin show was the last time he played the Cloud.

He had an orange (or rather red) Cloud in the commercial for the Superbowl but didn´t play it.

milesb said:

KoolEaze said:

Gustavo, good to see you back on the org.

.

I felt the same way about the Hohner when I was younger, and always saw the Cloud as THE original and most iconic Prince guitar but as I got older the Hohner became the number one Prince guitar for me.

What I didn´t like at all was to see him playing those technically great but very normal looking guitars , like the Fender Stratocasters he played in the mid 2000s or his Vox guitars but, if I had to choose my one favorite Prince guitar, it´d be the Hohner.

Hey, it´s good to be back (I´d rather be back for other reasons....). Good to see that old orgers are still around

.

Well, I know the Hohner was his main guitar in most of his first albums, such an important part of his sound and his fave guitar. And Prince only trusted it to play his funky rhythm chops (he rarely used Cloud and Symbol for that). But I always thought that Prince was so cool with his custom guitars....and this kind of Tele is mostly associated with folk-country, etc....so...

.

I have almost the same feeling about the Strat and Vox. I really love his playing and his sound with the Strat and Floyd. And I didnt like the Vox years. But I´d rather see him with Cloud and Symbol.

aiden said:

milesb said:

I have a few regrets in my life. One of the lesser silly ones is I wish I'd bought a cloud from the npgmusic club when I had the chance. but 5 grand or whatever it was, was too much at the time. Ho hum, no doubt someone here got one, hope they enjoy it

I have the same regret, they wer $1000 but you realise they were not made anywhere near the same quality as the originals... I had a replica made for $650 and I think it's perfect! I'd go for a replica

For a $1000, I wouldnt think they would come close to the original.

KoolEaze said:

As far as I remember, the Aladdin show was the last time he played the Cloud.

He had an orange (or rather red) Cloud in the commercial for the Superbowl but didn´t play it.

When Paisley Park opened as a museum, they had the orange cloud in the Sign O' The Times room. Everyone knows the SOTT cloud was peach. It has since been removed and replaced with the brown acoustic guitar with the heart shaped mirror he used in Forever In My Life in the SOTT film.

I agree with the comments about the telecaster, to an extent. I quite enjoyed the duopoly those two seemed to hold on Prince - in particular the Lovesexy tour and the manner of their use there.

I don't know why but my brain seemed to have blocked out Prince playing the cloud ever since the name change and the use of the symbol guitar. I think I became increasingly blinkered over the years and immune to pictures/videos of his picking up the old favourite....not seeing what was in front of my eyes. The video of his playing the darker blue version at the Nokia concert - I think - again a misremembered memory probably - prompted me to wonder aloud.

I couldn't agree more with the comments about Prince playing the "normal looking" guitars...even though the Hohner is one of the most normal looking guitars created. It actually belongs to Prince (smiles)...watching Graham Norton the other night and the Coldplay guitarist came on stage with a telecaster...it didn't look quite the same.

aiden said:

aiden said:

milesb said:

I have a few regrets in my life. One of the lesser silly ones is I wish I'd bought a cloud from the npgmusic club when I had the chance. but 5 grand or whatever it was, was too much at the time. Ho hum, no doubt someone here got one, hope they enjoy it

I have the same regret, they wer $1000 but you realise they were not made anywhere near the same quality as the originals... I had a replica made for $650 and I think it's perfect! I'd go for a replica

Can you direct me to the people who will make a replica? Like their email address? Their Phone number?

kewlschool said:

aiden said:

milesb said: I have the same regret, they wer $1000 but you realise they were not made anywhere near the same quality as the originals... I had a replica made for $650 and I think it's perfect! I'd go for a replica

Can you direct me to the people who will make a replica? Like their email address? Their Phone number?

And, roughly, how much they're charging?

I know, heady on nostalgia and cider, I have a memory of being on Paris standing outside a shop on Le Pigalle staring at one of the neon signs from the SOTT stage set and seeing a Hohner in the window of a music store and thinking...I should buy that...but, being 17 and without work and only being on a school trip, I didn't. To this day....

kewlschool said:

I like his strats and would love to get my hands on one with the same setup.

mothyham said:

I like his strats and would love to get my hands on one with the same setup.

.

Hmmm...dont know the exact setup, but it´s mainly a Stratocaster with Floyd Rose-type bridge and active pickups (Prince used EMGs)

Paisley Park is selling them again:

http://us14.campaign-archive1.com/?u=4e9f6c5c26c6e21077c4ff69b&id=f2ebf97933&e=a90f05276c