udo said:

Any ones that he used for great guitar solos, Jimi Hendrix covers and whatnot...

I think his best solos and guitar based music came when he started using the Strat.

rogifan said:

udo said:

Any ones that he used for great guitar solos, Jimi Hendrix covers and whatnot...

I think his best solos and guitar based music came when he started using the Strat.

The insane SNL "Fury" is testament that he mastered it.
But that's debatable. There are so much insane solos scattered throughout all periods.

rogifan said:

udo said:

Any ones that he used for great guitar solos, Jimi Hendrix covers and whatnot...

I think his best solos and guitar based music came when he started using the Strat.

great point I thought it was only me thinking that!

bonatoc said:

rogifan said:

I think his best solos and guitar based music came when he started using the Strat.

The insane SNL "Fury" is testament that he mastered it.
But that's debatable. There are so much insane solos scattered throughout all periods.

True. I was just never a fan of the cloud or symbol guitar. To me the symbol guitar never had a great sound. And the cloud guitar looked like a toy.

funkman88 said:

rogifan said:

I think his best solos and guitar based music came when he started using the Strat.

great point I thought it was only me thinking that!

Nope! Though I should point out I was never a fan of the whammy bar. Perhaps Prince just didn't know how to use it properly.

You know, I always felt the more "gimmicky" guitars like the symbol guitars, the model C, the Sardonyx, the Orr, and yes even the cloud guitars.... were more like cool-looking stage props than awesome, inspiring instruments. I just can't imagine using a symbol guitar at home or in the studio, it's kinda crap. So for that reason, I always really liked it when he played more ordinary instruments.

Like the Madcat. I love the fact that he loved it so much. It's really not that special to look at onstage, but I love that it seemed to inspire him to play for so much of his career.

The big Ibanez, that big chunky jazz-box kinda made no sense with his look or music of the time, but it was obviously a cool guitar that he loved playing.

The Vox, these were cheap mass-produced guitars with weird pickups and were pretty much a flop at the time, but clearly he bonded with them and enjoyed how it made him play a little differently at that time in his career.

And the strats, ofc fittied with FR trem and EMGs. There was a time when he was kinda clueless about how to use trem for anything other than stunts, like he did in the 90s. But later in his career he was doing really expressive, interesting things with the Floyd Rose trem - he probably overdid in some ways but it was cool to see him growing as a player and branching out etc.

Even just a regular Fender jazz bass or something, no bullshit, no gimmicks.

Other stuff like the vintage Epiphone, or the big Gretsch... so awesome.

[Edited 7/22/20 14:34pm]

ian said:

ian said:

You know, I always felt the more "gimmicky" guitars like the symbol guitars, the model C, the Sardonyx, the Orr, and yes even the cloud guitars.... were more like cool-looking stage props than awesome, inspiring instruments. I just can't imagine using a symbol guitar at home or in the studio, it's kinda crap. So for that reason, I always really liked it when he played more ordinary instruments.

Like the Madcat. I love the fact that he loved it so much. It's really not that special to look at onstage, but I love that it seemed to inspire him to play for so much of his career.

The big Ibanez, that big chunky jazz-box kinda made no sense with his look or music of the time, but it was obviously a cool guitar that he loved playing.

The Vox, these were cheap mass-produced guitars with weird pickups and were pretty much a flop at the time, but clearly he bonded with them and enjoyed how it made him play a little differently at that time in his career.

And the strats, ofc fittied with FR trem and EMGs. There was a time when he was kinda clueless about how to use trem for anything other than stunts, like he did in the 90s. But later in his career he was doing really expressive, interesting things with the Floyd Rose trem - he probably overdid in some ways but it was cool to see him growing as a player and branching out etc.

Even just a regular Fender jazz bass or something, no bullshit, no gimmicks.

Other stuff like the vintage Epiphone, or the big Gretsch... so awesome.

[Edited 7/22/20 14:34pm]

great post

The one shaped most like a penis so probably the symbol one.

fortuneandserendipity said:

The one shaped most like a penis so probably the symbol one.

its a vibrator!

IAdoreWeronika said:

who's he screaming at and what happen to his teeth they gone??

RJOrion said:

IAdoreWeronika said:

that pic should also be posted in the "Iconic Photos Of Prince" thread.

RJOrion said:

i miss seeing Prince & Dez play their Telecasters together Dez Dickerson is maybe the most underrated, overlooked and oft-forgotten member of P's Kingdom... other than Prince himself, NO ONE looked cooler holding and playing a guitar, than the mighty Desmond D. Dickerson... him, P, Andre & The Doctor had incredible chemistry and energy on stage, and i ALWAYS missed that...

so whos better Dez orWendy?

SPYZFAN1 said:

Yup. I've seen him with the Roland,

.

[Edited 7/27/20 0:53am]

The Hohner !

The777Man

amazing that his stamp was so strong, no one ...absolutey everyone would look ridiculous standing with it.

RJOrion said:

i miss seeing Prince & Dez play their Telecasters together Dez Dickerson is maybe the most underrated, overlooked and oft-forgotten member of P's Kingdom... other than Prince himself, NO ONE looked cooler holding and playing a guitar, than the mighty Desmond D. Dickerson... him, P, Andre & The Doctor had incredible chemistry and energy on stage, and i ALWAYS missed that...

no that would be Jesse Johnson..truth be told he could smoke Prince and Dez

funkman88 said:

funkman88 said:

Se7en said:

It's a cross between the Clouds and the Madcat "Telecaster".

From a purely visual standpoint, the Cloud guitars were iconic to PRINCE. You see that guitar, you think Prince immediately, even when photographed in silhouette. And, the fact that Prince re-invented his look with corresponding Cloud guitars to match . . . first white, then black, peach, blue, black again, yellow, blue again, unused orange, etc. Surprised he never had a red one, that would have fit him very well during Musicology.

But, there's something about the Hohner Madcat that is just pure rock and roll. I think I first saw it in the Controversy video as a kid (didn't think too much of it then) but then really loved the photo of him holding it in the 1999 album sleeve and every appearance of the guitar afterward. There's a video of Prince performing Purple Rain live in Italy (I believe 2010) on the Madcat and it's amazing.

I always wonder why he abandoned the Cloud?

i totally agree with you...maybe he abandoned clouds because they were so synonomous with Purple Rain era??i think the madcat tele is like your 1st girlfriend in high school that you never forget.

This is perfect.

I got to see the Madcat at Paisley Park last summer. It is SO beat up when you see it up close, but it was so well loved!