FunkyStrange said:

yeah I don't know why anyone would waste so much cash on a crappy Schecter knockoff version

I don't play the guitar, but am thinking of getting one to display on the wall in my office.

milesb said:

motherfunka said:

TXfan said:

It just fitting, the cloud and purple are synonymous with Prince I think.

Agreed. I heard there was a pink one, but have never seen it. Hopefully the new instrument book from Paisley Park will have photos of all 121 guitars. I remember reading an article from one of his guitar techs, many years ago, that the clouds were painted over, rather than getting new ones. The orginal peach one and blue angel may not even exist anymore. I was at a party/show at Paisley Park back in '95 and Prince had just done a video shoot for I Like It There. There were a lot of guitars hanging from the sound stage ceiling. It was never officially released, but you can find it online.

Off topic: do you remember what month in 95 that was? I've been trying to place that I Like It There video shoot, I'd say around October/November 95?

FunkyStrange said:

yeah I don't know why anyone would waste so much cash on a crappy Schecter knockoff version

Marco81 said:

motherfunka said:

Agreed. I heard there was a pink one, but have never seen it. Hopefully the new instrument book from Paisley Park will have photos of all 121 guitars. I remember reading an article from one of his guitar techs, many years ago, that the clouds were painted over, rather than getting new ones. The orginal peach one and blue angel may not even exist anymore. I was at a party/show at Paisley Park back in '95 and Prince had just done a video shoot for I Like It There. There were a lot of guitars hanging from the sound stage ceiling. It was never officially released, but you can find it online.

Off topic: do you remember what month in 95 that was? I've been trying to place that I Like It There video shoot, I'd say around October/November 95?

It was definitely around that time. Sometime between August and October '95. There were a lot of shows around that time, so I don't remember exactly when. The footage for the Love 4 One Another VH1 special and live versions of Days of Wild and The Ride from Crystal Ball were also done then.

Anyone get the blue one and care to share a pic please?

milesb said:

Anyone get the blue one and care to share a pic please?

Yes please i am thinking of buying the Blue Angel.

Guitarhero said:

SuperHero said:

williamb610 said:

themend said:

FunkyStrange said: Those crappy Schecter knockoff versions were officially produced and approved guitars sold through NPGonline, so were the only way to get one. I have to say I've not had any problems with mine since I bought it 13 years ago (thru-neck) no paint coming off, maybe there were good and bad ones as with anything else mass produced?

What amp(s) do you use with it? What pedals? Can you get close to Prince-esque sounds with it?

You don't need a cloud guitar to get prince-esque sounds out of a guitar.

you just gotta play!

dippydippywaveofmydo said:

SuperHero said:

It is not the blue angel, the one they are selling now is the dark blue version as used during the Act I and Act II tour.

Didn't know that the Dark Blue Cloud was from the Act I & II tours first. Always thought it was from the Rave Un2 era. That's why the Dark Blue Cloud appeals to me more over the White. First time I saw Prince playing a Cloud Guitar was on TFI Friday, performing Baby Knows back in 1999. I was 15 at the time and the Rave album was the first album I bought when it was actually released. Good times!

Yeah Act I/II . See the Peach or Undertaker videos

Just get ANY guitar and put EMG SA and 81 pickups in it.

Get some boss pedals.

there ya go!

You certainly odn't need some goofy looking guitar to sound like prince.

PRACTICE>PRACTICE>PRACTICE>PRACTICE>PRACTICE>PRACTICE>PRACTICE>PRACTICE>

Loefie said:

thegamecock said:

Did you make your dog incognito?

Saw that too [Edited 4/3/17 10:15am]

I thought he/she was wearing somekind of doggy shades to look cool.

So one year and one day after Prince left us for uptown, my very own Cloud has arrived!

To say I was excited was an understatement; this is the guitar I've dreamed of owning since I first started strumming years ago.

Some folks on here have asked for details of the guitar as I ordered it from Rare Electric Guitars (www.rareelectricguitars.com) a Chinese website. Gotta admit, I was a bit sceptial about ordering but reviews on YouTube sounded positive and the inital correspondence with website was good.

I placed my order on 3rd Feb 2017. Deposit was $150 paid through Paypal. My specifications were purple finish, gold attachments, as per their website. My one adjustment was the plate on the back that unscrews to access the internals; picture on website had it finished in black so I asked for it to be purple to match the colour of the body.

Comms throughout the process were fantastic. You can tell that English isn't their first language but it didn't affect the emails. I got confirmation of my order and during the build process pictures and updates were sent without prompting from me. The pictures were very cool and showed the various stages of build. Each picture had the date and my name on a piece of paper next to the guitar to show they were genuine. I only had to email once asking for an update and I got an email back the same day (taking time difference in to account).

They emailed on 11th April when guitar was finished with full pictures and asked if I was happy with the finish. Final cost on top of deposit was $518, so $668 in total for the guitar and postage. As soon as I made payment confirmation and tracking number was sent through ...

... tracking was through EMS website and was easy to use with regular updates:

[Edited 4/22/17 7:38am]

... got a letter from Parcel Force Worldwide yesterday saying I owed £39 in customs fees. I paid this online and an additional £12 for next day delivery. Parcel arrived 11.00am this morning. And here's what the parcel looked like:



My biggest concern was that the guitar would get knocked about in transit, knowing how some parcels get chucked about! No worries here though. The guitar was basically sealed in a polystyrene coffin, very tightly sealed, with no signs of internal movement. Spare pieces of polystyrene were placed inside to ensure a tight fit and guitar was well wrapped. They had even thrown in a free guitar strap, free guitar cable and some picks ... very nice freebie extras!!

Gave the guitar a quick dust ... and here it is. Was smaller than I was expecting but then you forget that we're use to seeing it in the hands of Prince all these years. The finish is fantastic, pristine paint all over, nothing out of place, no chips or marks.

Guitar needed a good tune up, but once tuned it sounded fantastic. Unfortunately I only have a cheap practice amp and I haven't played for months, but even in my novice hands it has a great feel and tone. Beautiful movement up and down the frets, great play in the strings for some funky bends.

Only downside I can see so far is wanting to give it a bit of a thrash if playing something a bit heavier (gave it a tentative spin through She's Always In My Hair) ... its so beautiful I didn't want to abuse the thing!!

I'm by no means a guitar expert, but any questions happy to try and answer...

And here's a couple of pics I was sent during the build process:

Someone posted their white cloud guitar recently received. Looked amazing. Came in a purple 'crushed velvet' looking case. I'm not at home right now but will try to find it later.

There are other replicas out there. It could be that Bruno was using one of those

I just want to thank you for your detailed review as I've seen them (hard to decide which one!) So this review truly helps. Great choice - it looks amazing!

DaveT said:

And here's a couple of pics I was sent during the build process:

ForeverPaisley said:

I just want to thank you for your detailed review as I've seen them (hard to decide which one!) So this review truly helps. Great choice - it looks amazing!

DaveT said:

And here's a couple of pics I was sent during the build process:

No probs ... thought I'd get the info on here for others, at it was info I could have done with before I took the plunge and placed my order.

Not sure if the Paisley Park model is superior in terms of sound but either way they don't offer it in purple which is the colour I always wanted (for obvious reasons!) ... not to mention the price difference for those of us with less disposable income.

Only thing I'd want to go with it is a decent case, but I've kept the polystyrene 'box' it came in as it might form the basis of a decent case one day if I can find an outer case that would work with it.

motherfunka said:

TXfan said:

It just fitting, the cloud and purple are synonymous with Prince I think.

Agreed. I heard there was a pink one, but have never seen it. Hopefully the new instrument book from Paisley Park will have photos of all 121 guitars. I remember reading an article from one of his guitar techs, many years ago, that the clouds were painted over, rather than getting new ones. The orginal peach one and blue angel may not even exist anymore. I was at a party/show at Paisley Park back in '95 and Prince had just done a video shoot for I Like It There. There were a lot of guitars hanging from the sound stage ceiling. It was never officially released, but you can find it online.

Prince's long-time guitar tech Takumi did an inventory of the guitars in storage just last month - sadly, there is no trace of the 3 original Clouds made by Dave Rusan. Takumi thinks they must have been damaged and discarded by Prince, or otherwise stolen.

MachineElf said:

motherfunka said:

Agreed. I heard there was a pink one, but have never seen it. Hopefully the new instrument book from Paisley Park will have photos of all 121 guitars. I remember reading an article from one of his guitar techs, many years ago, that the clouds were painted over, rather than getting new ones. The orginal peach one and blue angel may not even exist anymore. I was at a party/show at Paisley Park back in '95 and Prince had just done a video shoot for I Like It There. There were a lot of guitars hanging from the sound stage ceiling. It was never officially released, but you can find it online.

Prince's long-time guitar tech Takumi did an inventory of the guitars in storage just last month - sadly, there is no trace of the 3 original Clouds made by Dave Rusan. Takumi thinks they must have been damaged and discarded by Prince, or otherwise stolen.

That's horrible to hear!

Did he find the others? The Blue Angel, the peach cloud, the black cloud from the Parade tour? or were these repainted?

I ordered one built personally by Rusan.

Gonna be expensive but at least it will be a REAL guitar.

JorisE73 said:

That's horrible to hear!

Did he find the others? The Blue Angel, the peach cloud, the black cloud from the Parade tour? or were these repainted?

AFAIK those were just repaints of the same 3 Cloud guitars. Dave Rusan made 4 in total, 3 for Prince and one for a competition giveaway - I think these were used for the next 6 or 7 years with repaints each album, until Andy Beech made a bunch of copies around 1993.

Even if they were banged up pretty good, I can't imagine Prince discarding them...they would retain both historical and $$ worth in a big way.

mothyham said:

I ordered one built personally by Rusan.

Gonna be expensive but at least it will be a REAL guitar.

Awesome, same here! I'm lucky enough to have the first one of the new series to be built.

JorisE73 said:

MachineElf said:

Prince's long-time guitar tech Takumi did an inventory of the guitars in storage just last month - sadly, there is no trace of the 3 original Clouds made by Dave Rusan. Takumi thinks they must have been damaged and discarded by Prince, or otherwise stolen.

That's horrible to hear!

Did he find the others? The Blue Angel, the peach cloud, the black cloud from the Parade tour? or were these repainted?

Takumi said there was white, peach, light blue, yellow (which was a resprayed white), dark blue and two black versions. He wasn't sure the history of each.

He said Prince always toured with one only (usually the black).

MachineElf said:

mothyham said:

I ordered one built personally by Rusan.

Gonna be expensive but at least it will be a REAL guitar.

Awesome, same here! I'm lucky enough to have the first one of the new series to be built.

Nice to meet you Mr. Taylor!

I've got a year and a half to wait for mine.

Hope you like that purple finish!

I'm going classic original white....but I was tempted!

DaveT said:

So one year and one day after Prince left us for uptown, my very own Cloud has arrived!

To say I was excited was an understatement; this is the guitar I've dreamed of owning since I first started strumming years ago.

Some folks on here have asked for details of the guitar as I ordered it from Rare Electric Guitars (www.rareelectricguitars.com) a Chinese website. Gotta admit, I was a bit sceptial about ordering but reviews on YouTube sounded positive and the inital correspondence with website was good.

I placed my order on 3rd Feb 2017. Deposit was $150 paid through Paypal. My specifications were purple finish, gold attachments, as per their website. My one adjustment was the plate on the back that unscrews to access the internals; picture on website had it finished in black so I asked for it to be purple to match the colour of the body.

Comms throughout the process were fantastic. You can tell that English isn't their first language but it didn't affect the emails. I got confirmation of my order and during the build process pictures and updates were sent without prompting from me. The pictures were very cool and showed the various stages of build. Each picture had the date and my name on a piece of paper next to the guitar to show they were genuine. I only had to email once asking for an update and I got an email back the same day (taking time difference in to account).

They emailed on 11th April when guitar was finished with full pictures and asked if I was happy with the finish. Final cost on top of deposit was $518, so $668 in total for the guitar and postage. As soon as I made payment confirmation and tracking number was sent through ...

Dude, you must be in heaven! I was looking at Prince's one yesterday and its suprising how small they are.